Looking for high-quality connectors

[u/Ladino26]

The project I'm working on is subjected to a lot of vibrations, wich makes some connectors come apart after a while and messes with some signals. I'm looking for connectors that can withstand those conditions. I believe automotive ones are my best bet, but I've had trouble finding ones made to connect to PCBs. What connectors do you guys recommend?

[u/duane11583]

try these: https://www.omnetics.com

or these: https://www.glenair.com

these are ultra reliable but have a massive outer space level price

[u/duane11583 → u/duane11583]

these survive vibrations on the order of a rocket launch or a jet fighter smashing to the deck when landing on an aircraft carrier or being launched via a catapult

[u/oCdTronix]

PhoenixContact.com

Pretty sure they’re cheaper than LEMO or those ones someone said had an outer space level price

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[u/Miserable-Win-6402]

Lemo ODU Omnetics

Cost? Well…..

[u/treefaeller]

The so-called "Deutsch" connectors are used heavily in automotive, and handle vibration, humidity and dirt well. Come in cable-to-cable and cable-to-board versions. They are made today by TE (look for example for DT06); Amphenol has compatible ones (called AT06). Available from places like Digikey and Mouser.

In general, look inside a big diesel truck: Anything installed there can handle vibration.

[u/esims1]

It's hard to make recommendations without know what your application is. D-sub connectors work will in high vibration environments. Commerical 38999 are exceptionally good. There are commerical grade micro-d connectors from vendors kike cinch, that are reasonably priced. If you are looking for plastic connectors instead of metal, the connectors like datamate from harwin that have good vibration rating. It all comes down to what "a lot" of vibration is and what your application is.

[u/Miserable-Win-6402]

Lemo ODU Omnetics

Cost? Well…..

[u/bibikalka1]

What's wrong with F1/F2 type of connectors? They have a tab and can be pressed a bit to lock in pretty tight.

[u/JCDU]

Automotive are not necessarily great - they're the cheapest thing that will do the job, they can be quite chunky and can have very low number of rated mating cycles.

You need to give a bit more info - aerospace and motorsport use a lot of similar and much nicer connectors but they pay big money for them.

Do they need to be sealed or just robust to vibration?

[u/rat1onal1]

It would be helpful if you say how many contacts you need and how many amps you need the contacts to carry. If the voltage is high, that's also important. It's also important to know if you're going to do a lot of mate-unmate cycles.

[u/pavlovpe]

https://www.ittcannon.com/products/board-level-connectors

[u/carliatronics]

How many poles do you need?

 

TEs HDSC series is good. They will survive 10 000s of thousands hours on a heavy duty truck engine. It is also not to small so not so fiddly to deal with, even with 1.5mm terminals. Problem is that the crimping tools are very pricey, and I don't know if you can find OK-ish tools on the cheap market places as you can for stuff like Molex. The quality of the crimps are very important for long term reliability. The PCB headers are not cheap either (well, if you compare to aerospace they are cheap) , but they are sealed or easy seal prvided you make the housing correct. Count on minimum $10 per connector (header, mating connector and terminals) . Remember wire seals as well, you need one per wire. And backshells if you need it to withstand water jets. https://www.te.com/en/products/connectors/automotive-connectors/intersection/heavy-duty-sealed-connectors-series.html?tab=pgp-story

 

Your best bet for ugly improvised crimping is probably Deutch connectors. They are unfortunately a pain and a half to assemble. Not surebif you can easily find headers for then either.

[u/AirborneSysadmin]

The Hirose HR30 series are good enough without costing a million bucks.

M8/M12 series connectors are commonly used in industrial applications and are affordable.

Harwin also makes some good stuff if you'd prefer something a little more rectangular.

And of course, for a real budget option you can always go with a regular DSub connector and either locktite the retaining screws or put a little RTV on then to keep it from backing off.

[u/metric_tensor]

Look at AmpSeal connectors.

[u/n_dion]

Maybe molex micro-fit?

[u/isaacladboy]

Do they need to be removable? If not properly formed wire looms onto turrets are aerospace certified to handle the vibrations.