Axial lead is a connection configuration used on many electrical and electronic parts designed for board or carrier mounting. The leads are typically long enough to allow for easy installation into most PCB layouts. Axial lead configurations are found on a wide variety of components, including carbon resistors, electrolytic capacitors, fuses, and LEDs. The conductors on smaller straight lead electronic components usually consist of a solid single core wire. Heavy-duty components designed to carry large currents can be equipped with stranded cables terminated with bolted lugs.
An axial lead is a connection configuration used on many electrical and electronic parts and components designed for board or carrier mounting. Locate a part’s conductors or wires axially or in a straight line, with one exiting the component at either end. Common examples of axial lead configurations include carbon resistors, electrolytic capacitors, fuses, and light emitting diodes (LEDs). The leads are typically long enough to allow for easy installation into most printed circuit board (PCB) layouts. Generally, the conductors are solid, single-stranded, although some high-current axial conductor components, such as fuses and capacitors, have twisted or braided conductors.
Dual lead electronic components designed to mount flat through holes in a PCB generally have one of two lead configurations: radial and axial. Radial lead components have both leads placed on one side of a component, typically placed close to each other. The axial configuration of the conductors places the conductors on opposite sides of the component in a straight line, or axially, with the body of the component. Axial lead configurations are found on a wide variety of components, including carbon and wirewound resistors, electrolytic capacitors, and diodes. Batteries, fuses and lamps such as LEDs are also presented in axial lead configurations.
The cables or wires on axial cable components are typically made long enough to accommodate as many PCB layouts as possible. The norm however with most boards is to keep the holes for a component as close together as possible which means that most of the lead is usually cut off and discarded after soldering. If the holes are too close together to mount the component flat, you can insert it vertically through one hole with the opposite cable folded next to it. Typically, however, the axial components are mounted horizontally on the printed circuit board.
The conductors on smaller straight lead electronic components usually consist of a solid single core wire. Heavy-duty components designed to carry large currents can be equipped with stranded cables terminated with bolted lugs. These are typically found on components such as heavy duty fuses that hang in insulating holders with their two leads bolted to bus bars or connections on other components. Several types of heavy-duty capacitors in high-load direct current (DC) applications also feature twisted or stranded straight leads. This type of twisted or stranded cable is usually made of a fairly fine cored copper wire capable of carrying the large current loads involved.
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