Pluggable connections

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jdriscoll
 
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Pluggable connections

Post by jdriscoll »

I want to be able to connect and disconnect several two-wire connections from a project board. Is there a good ready-made solution for this? Phono plugs would work but aren't very perf-board friendly (afaik). Any ideas?

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zener
 
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Re: Pluggable connections

Post by zener »

There are these:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2880

But not really made for perf boards.

You could use:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/373

Those are usually for power but can technically be used for anything.

If you have, say, 4 pairs of circuits that you want to connect all at once you could use these:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/3122 and https://www.adafruit.com/product/3123

You would have to add wire to the perf board.

Or good old terminal blocks:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2234

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: Pluggable connections

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

What kind of signals do you want to connect?

For low-current signals, pin header is popular for a good reason.. it's simple and works for loads up to about 2A. We have jumper wires with female terminals and rectangular housings in various sizes:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/3141
https://www.adafruit.com/?q=wire%20hous ... r%20cables

You can also buy the terminals and housings in bullk at Digikey (their product pages are fantastic about listing the housings that work with a given terminal and vice versa):

https://www.digikey.com/products/en/con ... at=1442670
https://www.digikey.com/products/en/con ... at=1442556

and we have crimpers in the shop that should work with all of the smaller sizes:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1213

There are a hojillion different variations on the theme, including terminals with larger pins and wider pitch for power connections.

I suggest using keyed connectors (like the JST connectors we use for LiPos) or barrel jacks for power.. I haven't allowed myself to use anything else for years, having killed enough circuits by swapping positive and negative for it to stop being fun. Keyed connectors are also good for any other signal where swapping the connections Would Be Bad (or at least annoying). I'm also a big fan of arranging wires in groups that are logical, but have different numbers. It's a lot easier to connect the 6-pin header and the 4-pin header than to play "okay, where does this go?" with five 2-pin headers.

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jdriscoll
 
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Re: Pluggable connections

Post by jdriscoll »

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm looking to connect in 1 or more temp sensors and a heating pad (https://www.adafruit.com/product/1481). A JST seems like a good choice for the heater. Maybe the sensors too if I use thermistors. If I use the 3-prong analog sensors I will look at pin headers.

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