Talk:Screw terminal

they're connectors
"One advantage of screw terminals are that no connectors are used, thus no compatibility problems with mismatched sizes or shapes."

A screw connector strip _is_ a connector. Its a device that connects wires. I don't know what the writer meant. 86.4.152.167 (talk) 04:55, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

You are right. I think the original writer is trying to contrast Is there a better way of expressing this "compatibility" advantage of screw terminals (and speaker terminals) over other kinds of connectors in the article? --68.0.124.33 (talk) 00:50, 12 October 2010 (UTC)
 * most electrical connector have two parts: a permanent plug attached to the end of the cable, and a permanent socket that it plugs into. All too often people are frustrated some electrically-compatible but mechanically-incompatible plug doesn't fit into some socket, so they find some sort of adapter or other work-around. The variety of AC power plugs and sockets, a variety of connectors for RS-232 leading to breakout box, a variety of audio connectors, etc.
 * a screw terminal has only one part: the screw terminal "socket". They require no permanent plug attached to the end of the cable. It is "compatible" with practically any cable (perhaps after chopping some permanent plug off the end).

Some re-writing and expansion. Hopefully, this had made things clearer. Fredquint (talk) 15:09, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Luster terminal
Can an expert please expand this section and discuss why luster terminals are used, how they are different from normal screw terminals, etc. Ham Pastrami (talk) 02:20, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

While I cannot claim to be an "expert" I may be able to "shed some light" on this matter.

The term “Luster terminals” results from using a mis-translation of part of the German term of “Lüsterklemmen“ (or “Leuchter klemme”), meaning “Chandelier terminals”, into a similar sounding English word with the American spelling of “luster". Also, (while I do not speak German) I note that Google Translate gives “chandeliers” as an English translation of the German word “Lüster”, and vice versa.  However, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) gives the definition of “lustre” (or luster”) as
 * A gentle sheen or soft glow: • (E.G. the lustre of the Milky Way.)  (While some examples of these terminals may have "A gentle sheen", this is simply an accident of their manufacture and in no way describes or relates to their function.)

This definition in the OED (and other dictionaries) in no way relates to the items presently being illustrated in the Category of “Luster terminals” in Wikimedia Commons. They would all appear to be best described, in English, as “paired screw terminals” – and most of them are multiple "paired screw terminals”. Hence, I have suggested that, in Wikimedia Commons, under the existing Category of “Electrical connection terminals”, there be created a new category of “Screw terminals”  (which has been done.). Then, under that new Category of “Screw terminals” there should be created a further new Category of “Paired screw terminals”, to which all items in the existing Category of “Luster terminals” should be be transferred.

Incidentally, Google translate also tells me that "Paired screw terminals" would be translated into German as "Gepaart Schraubklemmen", which in my view would be preferable to “Lüsterklemmen“.Fredquint (talk) 14:39, 13 April 2014 (UTC)


 * Thank you for investigating this. I've been puzzled by the term “Luster terminals”, and agree that “Screw terminals” is  a much better term.  Reify-tech (talk) 16:01, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

no ferrules
Some of the images in this article show stranded wires in screw terminals without ferrules. That is rather dangerous and certainly not good workmanship, perhaps such ought not be shown here? Perhaps an example with ferrules or a single strand wire could be found instead. 199.7.157.9 (talk) 03:33, 25 October 2014 (UTC)

These are screw terminal _blocks_, not screw terminals.
This article is misnamed: these are terminal blocks. Screw terminals are single-wire, bare PCB terminals: https://www.digikey.de/en/products/filter/terminals/screw-connectors/396. The ones in this article are multicircuit and have a housing: they are "blocks": https://www.digikey.de/en/products/filter/terminal-blocks/wire-to-board/371 Davide Andrea (talk) 18:12, 14 June 2023 (UTC)


 * Isn't a screw terminal block simply a set of screw terminals arranged on a block? This article is a broad-concept article covering both individual screw terminals and blocks of them. – wbm1058 (talk) 10:35, 14 March 2024 (UTC)

This likely needs some rework and new subsections that clarify various types:


 * screw terminals (bare) - https://www.digikey.de/en/products/filter/terminals/screw-connectors/396


 * screw terminals (plastic housing) - https://www.digikey.de/en/products/filter/terminal-blocks/wire-to-board/371


 * barrier - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BarrierStrip.jpg


 * euro -.

I need to come back later to complete this comment.

• Sbmeirow  •  Talk  • 06:56, 16 March 2024 (UTC)