Special clamps, known as nuts, refer to common designs used to connect conductors. They resort to their help in situations when it is required to make a branch from a wired trunk without breaking it.
Connector design
You should start by getting to know the internal structure of the product, the study of which will help you understand the principle of branching and why it is called that. The fact is that in its shape this connector with steel clips is very similar to a nut (photo below).
Such a connector consists of the following parts:
- An oval dielectric outer shell, which is the body of the product with latches located on it.
- A kind of "core", which is a structure of metal plates tightened by bolts.
Note: To access the inside of the polycarbonate product, just bend the latches and open the case.
After disassembling the nut, two dies are visible with grooves (grooves) on each of them, designed to fix and clamp the bare ends of the wires. Their depth and width depend on the cross-section for which the given sample of branch compression is designed. The most common models of products of this class and the cross-sections of the cores fixed in them are indicated in the table below.
The samples of "nut" type clamps given in it are used in alternating current networks with operating voltage up to 660 Volts inclusive.
The order of forming a connection
To make a connection using these products, you will need to do the following operations:
- First, it is necessary to disassemble the clamp body, after which the through conductor is stripped of insulation to the length of the crimp plates and inserted between them.
- In the same way, a second wire (smaller section) is prepared and then placed between the branch plates.
- After that, you need to tighten the 4 fastening bolts with effort, being careful not to overdo it and not to rip the thread.
- The result should be the branched connection shown in the photo below.
At the end of the installation operations, it remains to return the "walnut" body to its place (that is, to assemble it in the reverse order).
Advantages and disadvantages
The positive sides of a nut-type connection include:
- the possibility of combining conductors from dissimilar and chemically incompatible metals (aluminum and copper, for example);
- formation of the desired branch without breaking the main (main) wire;
- simplicity and convenience of installation operations, which will take a minimum of time.
To complete the entire complex of work, you will need the simplest set of tools from an ordinary knife and a Phillips screwdriver. The list of advantages of this type of clamps is completed by the low cost of the products themselves.
The disadvantages of connecting structures include a low level of tightness and the impossibility of using them in junction boxes (due to their significant size).