Author Topic: Current Ranger small mofication  (Read 4535 times)

alexsh1

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Current Ranger small mofication
« on: November 12, 2018, 09:46:37 AM »
Hey all,

I have done a small mode to the input posts of the Current Ranger to isolate any noise when touching them while measuring current.

Please see photos here
https://imgur.com/a/LbKjUz0





Cheers

Alex
« Last Edit: November 13, 2018, 10:33:38 AM by Felix »

alexsh1

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Re: Current Ranger small mofication
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2019, 04:20:00 AM »
The final look


« Last Edit: February 03, 2019, 04:29:02 AM by alexsh1 »

Felix

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Re: Current Ranger small mofication
« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2019, 11:06:10 AM »
Alex, thanks for sharing your new mods. Those terminals look nice.
I have been quite frustrated with the GOLD terminals and I am looking for an upgrade. In fact I find the smaller basic terminals much better. With the green thumb terminal, the need for large terminals that grab the wires is eliminated. I find that repeated use of the GOLD terminals ultimately damages wires which need rework etc, while the green terminal is much better for this purpose.

I like your OLED frame as well, nice addition. Maybe I can include this in the next version kit or at least make it available for people to 3D print themselves, if it's something you want to share.
Also nice red case! ;)

alexsh1

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Re: Current Ranger small mofication
« Reply #3 on: February 04, 2019, 02:10:33 PM »
Alex, thanks for sharing your new mods. Those terminals look nice.
I have been quite frustrated with the GOLD terminals and I am looking for an upgrade. In fact I find the smaller basic terminals much better. With the green thumb terminal, the need for large terminals that grab the wires is eliminated. I find that repeated use of the GOLD terminals ultimately damages wires which need rework etc, while the green terminal is much better for this purpose.

I like your OLED frame as well, nice addition. Maybe I can include this in the next version kit or at least make it available for people to 3D print themselves, if it's something you want to share.
Also nice red case! ;)

That's exactly why I decided to install the green terminal. Gold terminals in my view should be replaced with Pomona 4243 (Digi-key Part Number 501-1126-ND) or more expensive 3750 (Digi-key Part Number 501-1321-ND).

I'll share STL file for the OLED bezel. Looks neat in my view.

Felix

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Re: Current Ranger small mofication
« Reply #4 on: February 04, 2019, 02:27:18 PM »
I like low profile terminals. Users can source their own terminals of choice if they don't mind paying $20 for a pair  :-X
The "GOLD" appearance has nothing to do with better conductivity, it's not even gold at all. Maybe the expensive terminals might have an ultra thin layer but it will wear off with use over time.

alexsh1

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Re: Current Ranger small mofication
« Reply #5 on: February 07, 2019, 04:19:17 AM »
I like low profile terminals. Users can source their own terminals of choice if they don't mind paying $20 for a pair  :-X
The "GOLD" appearance has nothing to do with better conductivity, it's not even gold at all. Maybe the expensive terminals might have an ultra thin layer but it will wear off with use over time.

That's even better - you give different pricing on Moteino.
Why not applying the same concept here? CR with Pomona terminals, CR without terminals etc.

Yes, sadly GOLD appearance has been used for marketing. It does make a premium feel and there is a nice explanation from physics perspective for such terminals.

Felix

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Re: Current Ranger small mofication
« Reply #6 on: February 07, 2019, 01:00:26 PM »
Alex,
It actually bothers me that the pomona terminals are $9 in 1QTY and just $1 cheaper in 100QTY.
Another thing that hinders me from considering those is that they are very long, it could annoy people that don't have the perfect LiPo battery to fit between them (input/output), or the box would need to be 1CM deeper and things like that... Also would need to posibly change the terminal holes to fit them right.
Having a separate PCB revision just to make those terminals an option, is not feasible.

alexsh1

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Re: Current Ranger small mofication
« Reply #7 on: February 08, 2019, 03:48:15 PM »
Hi Felix,

It was just an example. I have used these on my LTZ1000 precision voltage case. They are of the best quality banana plugs I have seen, but there plenty others and much cheaper. All I suggested was that you can give users a choice of a few banana sockets.

Felix

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Re: Current Ranger small mofication
« Reply #8 on: February 08, 2019, 06:05:05 PM »
I will definitely look around for alternatives.
I disliked the GOLD chinese terminals, they suck in terms of quality, had many issues across the batches I purchased, they are inconsistent in dimensions as well...
I think my threshold is $5 for quality terminals. They are just molded plastic onto custom machined screws.
For now the default will be the basic low profile terminals.

alexsh1

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Re: Current Ranger small mofication
« Reply #9 on: February 13, 2019, 09:21:14 AM »
I will definitely look around for alternatives.
I disliked the GOLD chinese terminals, they suck in terms of quality, had many issues across the batches I purchased, they are inconsistent in dimensions as well...
I think my threshold is $5 for quality terminals. They are just molded plastic onto custom machined screws.
For now the default will be the basic low profile terminals.

I am happy with those ones I have in the photo above. I think they were $7, which is still expensive in my view.

I have also used this one recently: https://www.digikey.co.uk/products/en?keywords=314-1308-ND


sparky

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Re: Current Ranger small mofication
« Reply #10 on: February 13, 2019, 10:42:16 AM »
Alexsh1,

Printed case looks nice.. what printer do you have


alexsh1

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Re: Current Ranger small mofication
« Reply #11 on: February 14, 2019, 05:40:36 AM »
Alexsh1,

Printed case looks nice.. what printer do you have

I do not have one. The bezel was printed by a friend of mine and for the case I used 3dhubs.com.
If I buy one, it would be SLA/SLS one.