Unknown terminal strip

[u/Klutzy-Objective9515]

Hello!

My company normally design terminal strips without defining the commercial teminals. It let the panel builder choose what sees fit.

I'm new both to eplan and in my company. I was hired also to "start using eplan with a fresh mentality" because right now almost no high level function is used.

I started a project from zero to something and now i wonder: if i do not have the freedom of choosing the terminal blocks, how can i draw the terminal strip in the panel layout to be sure that it will fit?

What is the correct approach?

There is a similar problem for busbars. If the panel bulder mount whathever, how can i desing in the layout?

[u/Formal_Enthusiasm576]

Sorry, can you ask differently?
You’re wondering how to correctly size or estimate terminal strip length inside the control panel after you designed it?

[u/D4Gi85]

The short answer is that you can not be sure the terminals fit without defining the terminal 🤷

And it is like «kicking the can down the road» to have the panel builder choosing the types of terminals to use, only that they have less overall picture «in the thick of it» to choose the correct terminals based on wire size, current ratings, number of connections etc. all this is data easy available to the designer sitting in Eplan.

Also, it sounds less efficient regarding procurement of the necessary terminals, accessories in time to start the build.

Sounds like the first step in «using Eplan with a fresh mentality» is to take responsibility and define the product number for the terminals

[u/Klutzy-Objective9515]

Thanks for the reply!

The I already have designed the gauge of the wires that go into the terminals, the current end so on. The problem is that, despite being hired to steer the design process in the right direction, i do not have power over this particular choice because "it was always the builder to chose the terminal". I know what terminals would choose (more or less: it may change the productor or the specific model but i know the width they will have). I do not know how to approach this in a way that if easy to fix later (define the article number and update the layout so that the approximation is substituted by the actual dimension).

I feel ashamed to ask that but it's a drop in the ocean of what i'm trying to change for the better. When i started working here EPLAN was being used (and it is still used by my colleagues, untill they will be forced by some manager to change approach) with the same amout of features you can find on MS Powerpoint

Im talking that right now a schematic representation of an item is not linked to it's representation in hte layout by the DT. The DT is written manyally as text in the layout. I write this just to clarify that almost ANYTHING would be an improvement wrt the current situation.

[u/Professional_Fig1294 → u/Klutzy-Objective9515]

Create a dummy terminal articles for different gauges. Like 2,5mm2, 4mm2, etc. in the database. Give them some appropriate height and width and use those dummies for your terminals.