Bob,

Are you looking at 200 Amps of DC power or AC power?  What kind of wire are you thinking of using?

The Keystone parts are only rated for 30 Amps, so you'd need 7 of these for just for  "one connection".  If you cut them down to be SMT capable I would be concerned with the mechanical strength during screw tightening not to mention during operation with minimal vibration.  For this level of current I would opt for multiple ring lugs screwed directly to heavy pads on the circuit board.  Remember that your connection(s) are limited by the current the wire and "connector" can carry.  Ring lugs are typically good for 15 Amps unless you have a huge one that fits onto 3/0 welding cable.  Then you have to think about the amount of copper on the circuit board to handle the 200 Amps.  That is a lot of copper assuming it is DC.  If it is AC or pulsed the rules will change, slightly.

These are common design problems we face daily with our high voltage power supply designs, some have been as high as 52kW.

Phil Nutting

-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Robert Kondner
Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2013 10:32 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [TN] 200A Connections to PCB

Hi,

 

I was wondering if anyone had suggestions about making high current connections to a PCB.

 

I am working with a design for a 2KW DC to AC converter. Input current will reach about 200 amps. The PCB will be a heavy copper single sided Aluminum PCB much like that used for high power LED apps. Conductor temp rise is not an issue as the thermal conduction to the Al base is very high and the base is on a heat sing. The FETs will dump much more heat than the copper.

 

The problem is bringing wire terminations to the PCB. Any Ideas? The Al base is applied against a heat sink so using through board type studs or bolt is difficult. I am considering the use of a couple of Keystone screw terminals with their legs cut off. The bodies could then be SMT reflowed to the copper planes.

 

http://www.keyelco.com/products/specs/spec186.asp

 

Any other ideas out there?

 

Thanks,

Bob K. 



______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
For more information please contact helpdesk at x2960 or [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
For more information please contact helpdesk at x2960 or [log in to unmask] 
______________________________________________________________________