Phoenix Contact was established in 1985 and currently has over 20,000 employees worldwide. Phoenix Contact strives themselves to be the Global market leader and innovator for electrification, networking, and automation on the path to a smart world. Phoenix Contact products are used wherever a process is automated, wherever data flows and where power is controlled. Terminal blocks are components with an insulated frame that have the sole purpose of securing the connection between wires in electrical systems. A pluggable terminal block is also known as a pluggable connector, plug-in terminal block or modular terminal block.

What is a Phoenix Contact pluggable terminal block?

Pluggable terminal blocks are an efficient tool and reliable choice for expediting the wiring process of control cabinets. The efficiency of this process in control cabinet building is improved with preassembled solutions that are linked via plug-and-play. Typically, time is the major constraint and limiting factor of completing a project in control cabinet building, because wiring takes up a large proportion of the production time. Reliability, efficiency, and versatility are at the core of these products. The two components that form a complete pluggable terminal block is the header and the plug. The socket half of the plug is known as the receptacle and is soldered to the PCB like a standard PCB terminal block. This then creates a header for the plug side of the connector to be connected to. Pluggable terminal blocks eliminate the need to unscrew wires to interrupt the power flow. It is important to select a terminal block that can handle the specified voltage, current, and wire gauge in your panel. If an incorrect terminal block is utilised, it can cause electrical performance difficulties which can in effect pose a risk to equipment or persons.

What to consider when choosing a Phoenix Contact pluggable terminal block?

Aspects relating to functionality must be considered, for example, do you need to connect just a couple of wires with a feed-through terminal block, or does it need to do something with that circuit? Phoenix Contact feed-through blocks are ideal for simply connecting one device to another; but, if the current must be halted at any time during testing, the block must be disconnected. At RS we offer a range of Phoenix Contact pluggable terminal block types such as feed through header, feed through inverted header, feed through plug, header, hybrid header, hybrid plug, inverted header, inverted plug, pin header, plug, plug kit and receptacle. The range we offer will fit your needs like a glove!

Phoenix Contact pluggable terminal blocks enable fast and secure connections through its plug-in design that are suitable for a range of application types. It is important to consider the electrical ratings, number of connections, pole count, wire size and pitch. The separation between each pole is known as the pitch. Whereas the wire size is generally measured in gauge or AWG. Finally, when discussing electrical ratings and connections, it should come as no surprise that each terminal block has both a current rating and a voltage rating. When looking at these ratings, it's usually a good idea to find a pluggable terminal block that outputs at least 150% of the maximum expected current. Otherwise, overheating, and serious damage may occur. The potential for voltage surges must also be considered when evaluating the rated voltage.