2-pin female crimp connectors for 2.54mm pins

[miggyb]

SmashTV's boards are based around the 2.54mm spacing, and when you buy his kits, they come with complimentary DIL pins so you don't have to solder cables to the copper contacts.

Without any additional parts, though, you end up having to solder cables to the pins. And I would prefer not having to do that.

I had a plan to count out exactly how many 5-pin female headers i would need, how many 4-pin female headers, how many 2-pin female headers... etc. But considering the seemingly endless amounts of interconnections needed to have a Step-C 4x SID Midibox, I gave up on the idea and decided to buy 100 2-pin female headers.

I have had immense difficulty finding this part.

Mouser seemed promising, but what they have to offer has a 10-week waiting period, for some reason. And it also has a 1,000 order minimum.

http://www.mouser.com/search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=M20-1060200virtualkey57420000virtualkey855-M20-1060200

I was wondering if any Midibox builders out there have had any luck with different pin headers or if this is the only 2-pin female crimp header out there. (it looks pretty similar to what SmashTV offers.)

If it is, then I am wondering if anyone else would be interested in sharing the order with me. I don't know what I'd do with 1,000 of them. They'd probably get stored in a box somewhere, while someone else had a similar problem to mine.

Any comments would be appreciated.

-miggyb

[Davo]

Jameco is a much better source for that kind of thing.  See http://www.jameco.com/

[Durisian]

Check out Futurlec

http://www.futurlec.com/ConnHead.shtml

HDCONNS2 looks like what your after http://www.futurlec.com/Connectors/HDCONNS2.shtml

don't forget to order the the actual pins as well (HDPINF) :-[

[smashtv]

Check out Futurlec http://www.futurlec.com/ConnHead.shtml

Futurlec is not doing so good for a while now.....Many reports of credit card fraud (see http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Futurlec) and orders that simply never make it.

I know with my slow shipping it's a bit like throwing stones+glass house, but I can't sit back and watch Futurlec shown as an option when I know they are ripping people off (or enabling it with bad security).

Best

SmashTV

[Durisian]

Interesting...

Personally havn't had a problem with them, neither has a friend who places orders once a month or so.

But will be weary in future. Thanks for the heads up.

[Wilba]

Futurlec are bad. They were good with a few of my orders, then totally stuffed one up and stopped replying to emails. I reversed the credit card charge even though I did receive 80% of what I ordered, and feel no guilt whatsoever. However, karma might have caught up with me, the sockets I bought are cheap crap and the contacts are already tarnished....  >:(

[Twin-X]

That's odd. 3 weeks ago i placed an order and it arrived within 2 weeks.

In the order were 10 CA3080E these are brand new. Also the mylar caps are very good.

All my orders in the past are ok.

Maybe it makes a diffrence from what office the order is being made. I know mine all go trough there office in london.

[miggyb]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone!

I stayed away from Futurlec and looked for the parts at Jameco.

This is what I found:

http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=346773

It's something simple and cheap, and I think it will do the job. However, this brings up a whole new slew of questions:

1) Do I need to buy the tin contacts inside of the nylon housing, or do they come included?

This is what I mean by "the tin contacts inside of the nylon housing":

http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=234931

2) Would they be "stackable"? What I mean is that if I have a 2x5 grid of pins, could I just use 5 of those 2-pin connectors, or would I have to buy a 10-contact dual-row connector?

3) Would I just be better off buying 100 ten-contact dual-row connectors anyway, since it seems to be the most common connection used by SmashTV's PCBs? I'm assuming the greater the number of contacts, the more time-consuming it is to connect them to a cable. I don't know if I am correct in this assumption, however.

[Echopraxia]

I was wondering about using 10 pin idc connectors on everything but it does not make sense in some cases where one 10 pin header on the core needs 5 pins to go to din and 5 pins to go to dout. I was also wondering about smash's newer board layout for din and dout that use 10 pin idc connectors. On the MBSEQ 3.2 schematic on ucapps it shows only the 5 pin rows and not the updated 10 pin rows. My concern with IDC connectors is that every "other" wire gets connected to the next button or led ect..

I.e pin 1, pin 3, pin 5, pin 7, pin 9, pin 2, pin 4, pin 6, pin 8, pin 10 would be the wiring for connecting everything one by one (I think) :P. I guess practice makes perfect. I am waiting on a futurelec order for some 10 pin idc conncetors, a few 2 pin headers and crimp conncetors and its been almost two weeks so I will let you know how that goes. Hey smash how are the orders coming along? You must be real busy.

[Echopraxia]

I got my order from futurelec and it looks all good. The sil headers and crimps pins don't seem to be very good or I am just f***ing them up because I don;t know what I am doing. Is there a tutorial on connecting a wire to a crimp and then connecting it to a connector which goes on the header. After I do it in that order, my crimped pin in the black connector doesn't hold to the header on the pcb. Any help would be appreciated.

[ultra]

for idc headers and single row connectors, i bought the tyco cst-100 series from http://www.alliedelec.com.  for dual row connectors, i think i will buy again from futurlec.  despite the problems with them, the connectors are good and the ribbon cable is cheap.

[Echopraxia]

Thanks for the heads up. On the site's data sheet it shows two types 1 and 2 for the cst-100 housing. What are the differences between these? It not clear to me. http://www.alliedelec.com/catalog/pf.asp?FN=143.pdf

Will both work with smashtv's sil and dil pin headers? I see that they are both .100 size so they should work right?

[ultra]

the connectors i'm using for two-pin are sku# 512-2954, so that would be the cst-100 II connectors.  i'm not sure what the difference is between these and the regular cst-100 connectors besides price and i don't know why i ordered them instead.  yes they do fit standard idc headers like smashtv uses, and i use the 2, 3, and 4 pin connectors for power, midi jacks, and din/dout connections.  for din/dout, which come off the same two-row header on the core, i used a knife and removed the small plastic ridge on the plastic connector (you'll see what i mean).

be sure to get the crimp pins for them too.  for these, i strip back a bit of wire, use a needle nose pliars to crimp it around the insulated part of the wire, and put a dab of solder in and solder the bare part of the wire to the crimp pin.  sounds like a pain but it's really not that bad.  then i carefully insert the crimp pins into the connector.  pay attention to the direction they need to go.  usually you should hear them click into place and will be able to see the metal tab of the crimp pin sticking out past the plastic tab on the connector.

:)

ultra

[Echopraxia]

Yeah the way you describe it it should be easy. When I try to insert my crimped wire into the header it won't fit. I can try to force it but the header starts to warp. I will have to try tyco brand. Also about the 4 pin connectors for the din and dout. Shouldn't you get 5 pin housings for those?

[ultra]

sorry yes it's five.  next time i think i will make a two row 10 pin connector on one side and two five pin connectors on the other.  once i figure out the length each one needs to be.

[Echopraxia]

Last thing about allied electronics. They say shipping is not calculated untill it ships and your order may be shipped from several locations. WTF does that mean are they gonna charge for multiple shippings if they have to ship from two or more wherehouses?! Ultra please let me know how your shipping charges where from them and how many different items you got from them. I also plan to buy my 17 bourns encoders from them as they are $0.89 ea with no switch

[smashtv]

I was wondering about using 10 pin idc connectors on everything but it does not make sense in some cases where one 10 pin header on the core needs 5 pins to go to din and 5 pins to go to dout. I was also wondering about smash's newer board layout for din and dout that use 10 pin idc connectors. On the MBSEQ 3.2 schematic on ucapps it shows only the 5 pin rows and not the updated 10 pin rows. My concern with IDC connectors is that every "other" wire gets connected to the next button or led ect..

Moving to IDC connectors is both cheaper and faster to build than the SIL stuff.  Yes there are spare conductors, but that's trivial compared to time saved.

Hey smash how are the orders coming along? You must be real busy.

Insane....Chipping away at a stone that varies in size.  ;)

Last thing about allied electronics. They say shipping is not calculated untill it ships and your order may be shipped from several locations. WTF does that mean are they gonna charge for multiple shippings if they have to ship from two or more wherehouses?! Ultra please let me know how your shipping charges where from them and how many different items you got from them. I also plan to buy my 17 bourns encoders from them as they are $0.89 ea with no switch

Welcome to the wonderful world of line item charges and 'multiple warehouses'.....Please tell me you did not just spend $8 on shipping just to save $1.87 vs. my encoder price!

Yeah the way you describe it it should be easy. When I try to insert my crimped wire into the header it won't fit. I can try to force it but the header starts to warp. I will have to try tyco brand. Also about the 4 pin connectors for the din and dout. Shouldn't you get 5 pin housings for those?

Since they can't all be IDC - SmashTV's MIDIbox Site - Make crimp connectors - I'll have the right tools at a good price in the store when time permits.

Also just a heads up, some of those pins and connector bodies linked in this thread are not what you want for a standard pinheader.

Back to the kit mill with me....

Best Regards

Smash

[ultra]

i remember everything coming in one shipment (i ordered a lot of stuff) and i don't remember being alarmed at the price.  but i can't offer any guarantees.

[Echopraxia]

Don't worry smash I just put in an order for 17 encoders, IIc kit, 8x banksticks, and some panel mount midi jacks from you. And Don't worry . I'll be back  ;D    Thanks.

[Echopraxia]

Back again. I got my sil housings and crimps tyco cst series. When I push the crimp into the housing, it goes in but it is able to move up and down about 1-2mm inside the housing. Is this normal? Ultra I followed everything you said except that I crimped both parts of the crimp connector (part with insulated wire and part with bare wire). Then I soldered the crimped bare wire. Did I mess up on these or is this workable? Will they break on me or something later on because I crimped the bare wire part? These connectors seem very nice but I still think idc is more stable/strong at the moment. Does anybody make 1,2,3,4,5 pin idc connectors?

[ultra]

no i don't believe they should move.  did you put them in the right way?  they should click into place and you can usually hear it click.  also you can see the tabs are locked together.