joining TECs wires to PSU wires

[ppe1700]

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[Neuromancer]

If you are heating up/melting. I would suggest geteting a higher gauge wire and use clamp connects.

[aja]

Solder and heatshrink tubing or electrical tape is the only way imo, see picture or go here (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v27/plague/P1010008.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.overclock.net/peltiers-tec/1933-make-your-own-peltier-tec-psu.html&h=600&w=800&sz=22&hl=en&start=12&sig2=_4tcU4UUrzaslNx7cgaDXQ&um=1&tbnid=EOw3t-OoQAeH9M:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&ei=qisSR6-YCI3UgQLbyOHzCg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhow%2Bto%2Bconnect%2Bpeltier%2Bwires% 26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rls %3Dcom.microsoft:en-za%26sa%3DN)

Also look into those connectors in the second pic - blade and bullet disconnects - see here (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.capsante.com/images/05_electricalcon_B.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.capsante.com/Articles/howto_electrical.htm&h=509&w=300&sz=5&hl=en&start=76&sig2=aOj74cfoEVGxRktbva2Ivw&um=1&tbnid=C-NqP4exP5Xa-M:&tbnh=131&tbnw=77&ei=9CsSR5bhBZHshwLVpvWBCw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dconnect%2Belectrical%2Bwires%26start% 3D63%26ndsp%3D21%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%2 6safe%3Doff%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-za%26sa%3DN)

[rhino56]

when i was running tecs i would always replace the wires with a bigger one. from inside the psu to the tec itself. they always have too small of wires. get some quality deans connectors from a hobby shop or like you said a nice distribution block. the problem is the wire size and strand count. get as many strand wire as you can with a larger gauge.

[bing]

Once you rewired that cables, you can measure the voltage drop across the cable to see how good your those wire conducting high current.

Lower the voltage drop across the cable is always better.

For example, if the cable is dropping 0.2 Volt and say your pelt is consuming 30 Amp, then that cable it self is eating up = 0.2 Volt X 30 Amp = 6 Watt of power and heating the cable it self, which is bad. :(

[bing]

Very easy, gimme few mins, I'll be back here with illustration on how to do that and will update this post !

[bing]

Ok, I haven't start it yet ! LOL :D

You should buy yourself a DMM, even the cheap one is good enough !

Just PM me once you have it and I'll help you to measure and make sure you have a really good wiring, this is important since you're dealing with high current device here.

OT, but I think its related, check my post HERE (http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php?p=4951728&postcount=31), it is a method to measure how large a peltier is consuming the power. The method that I was going to give you is similiar with that one, except without the resistor.

Once you understand that post, I believe you will able to make a really good high current connection and measure the true power consumption of your peltier too or better, you will able to tell if your power supply is good enough to drive that peltier. ;)

[xilix]

If you need nice connectors that are rated for insane amounts of juice then get some Deans connectors. They're meant for R/C cars, but they handled 35A on my brushless RC18T without any problems at all. They're just bar none some of the best connectors around, and I'm sure someone could adapt them for PC use. Very, very low resistance.

[ratbuddy]

I deal with pretty high amp loads in my car system, and there's never a problem finding cables and connectors that are rated plenty high enough - does anyone use these components in computer applications?

It would be pretty darn sweet to see some braided silver and blue 4 gauge power cables, big fused distribution blocks, that sort of thing running inside a PC case..

In case it's not common knowledge you can get away with a thinner gauge wire when it's a shorter run - the closer to your PSU you snip the wires and splice in fatter ones, the less the thin wire will heat up. As an example, check this site:

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

Notice the Ohms/1000ft section. That's resistance on the wire, which is gonna cause heat. If you only have very short sections of thin gauge wire, they aren't going to heat up as much as longer ones. Like I said, I'd love to see a PC wires with automotive grade cable and fused distribution blocks.