What This 11-Position Buchanan Block Does
The TE Connectivity Buchanan 1-284414-1 is an 11-position, single-level PCB terminal block with a 3.50mm pitch, designed for top-entry wiring where the screw axis is vertical to the board. It uses a screw-driven rising cage clamp — turn the M3 screw and the clamp rises, pulling the stripped wire against the current bar for a gas-tight connection. The 12 A per-circuit rating at 300 V covers most panel-level power distribution and control wiring inside an enclosure. The green polyamide housing carries the UL94 V-0 flame rating typical for equipment inside an enclosure.
Wiring and Termination — Screw Torque and Wire Range
The rising cage clamp accepts wire from 12 AWG down to 30 AWG — solid or stranded — and the M3 screw should be torqued to 0.25 Nm (2.2 Lb-In). That torque spec is the sweet spot: too light and the clamp won't pull the wire tight against the bus bar; too heavy and you strip the threads in the PA66 housing. The clamp and screw are both brass with nickel plating, which resists corrosion in humid cabinet environments. The contact bar is brass with tin plating — adequate for the rated current, but if you're cycling connections repeatedly, the tin surface can cold-weld under the screw head; a ring lug under the screw is the field-proven fix for that.
Ganging Multiple Blocks with the Side Interlock
The 1-284414-1 includes an interlocking feature on the side — the dovetail profile lets you snap multiple blocks together to build a wider terminal strip without losing the 3.50mm pitch between positions. This matters when your BOM calls for more than 11 circuits on a single board edge: you gang two blocks for 22 positions, three for 33, and so on, maintaining the same screw-terminal density across the assembly. The interlock is a mechanical key, not a power bus — each block still needs its own circuit traces on the PCB.