Electronic – How to secure cables to a PCB

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What is a good way to secure cables to a PCB?

There are some good advice in the following post, but the application is slightly different:

Securing electrical cables to holes in enclosures?

In this case, the strain-relief/securing of the cables will be onto the PCB, not to a casing. (The PCB will be encapsulated or just given a layer of conformal coating, so there isn't any casing.)

I'm considering to run the cables to the edge of the board. Then at the edge, press the cables between the PCB and a metal bar. The metal bar is pressed against the PCB with bolts and nuts (nylock or thread lock).

What might be the problems of this solution and what other methods should I consider?

Best Answer

Zip ties are a good way to provide strain relief for cables attached to a PCB. You lay out a path for the cable on the PCB, and put adequately large holes on either side of this path for the zip tie.

I've done this many times on custom assemblies in which using a connector would have been counterproductive.


Here's one example. It's a board that functions as a "hub" among several different devices in a cramped aerial photography pod. Each device requires a USB connection, a power connection and/or a control connection. The wiring for one of the devices is shown installed. Adjacent zip ties share the same hole.

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