Our longtime friend Dave Scopelliti has prepared a succinct paper where he shares his insights on the issue of Galvanic (Electrolytic) Corrosion and interconnects. Dave has a wealth of test, application, industry, and processing knowledge, and is well-respected and well-known in the industry. That’s a polite way of saying he knows a lot and has been around for a long time. Think Moses in a lab coat. If you've ever seen Dave you understand what I'm talking about … [Read more...]
Search Results for: galvanic
Dissimilar Metals And The Risk of Galvanic Corrosion in Mating Connectors
I am fascinated by the concept of dissimilar metals and galvanic corrosion. I stayed up until 3:45 am last night surfing the web to learn more. Of course I'm lying, but we do field questions about galvanic corrosion. Robbie Huffman, Samtec's Interconnect Processing Engineer, recently shared some information on this subject with our Field Sales Engineers. I hope you find it helpful: When choosing connectors for your application, it is important to choose mating connectors with similar … [Read more...]
Connector Plating FAQs
Like most electronic components, the quality of countless subcomponents and processes directly affects the quality and performance of the finished product. With PCB-level connectors, those factors include pin material, type of plastic, the quality of the molded plastic bodies, coplanarity of the tails, the quality of the surface finish (plating), choosing the correct connector plating, the manufacturing/assembly process (putting the pins in the plastic), and packaging, among others. … [Read more...]
Connector Plating FAQs: Practical Advice About What Works and What Doesn’t (Part 5)
This is the fifth and final installment of our series on connector plating FAQs with Phil Eckert, Samtec’s Quality Engineering Manager, and Matt Brown, Principal Engineer. As we've mentioned in just about every one of these blogs, the choice and quality of the connector plating (or surface finish) is critical to the success of the component, and it's a topic that generates many questions from our customers. Before we get to question set #5, here's links to the previous four connector plating … [Read more...]
Connector Plating FAQs: Practical Advice About What Works and What Doesn’t (Part 1)
Like most electronic components, the quality of countless subcomponents and processes directly affects the quality and performance of the finished product. With PCB-level connectors, those factors include pin material, type of plastic, the quality of the molded plastic bodies, coplanarity of the tails, the quality of the surface finish (plating), choosing the correct connector plating, the manufacturing/assembly process (putting the pins in the plastic), and packaging, among others. … [Read more...]
Shaken, Not Stirred: An Introduction To Connector Vibration Testing
In his latest paper, Dave Scopelitti explains the ins-and-outs of connector vibration testing. In particular, Dave discusses the rationale, techniques, and procedures used to perform vibration testing at Samtec. Dave begins by telling us that connector vibration testing is routinely performed to assess the mechanical and electrical stability and performance of a connector when subjected to the types of vibration that may be encountered during normal use. The type of vibration and the … [Read more...]
The Top 10 Connector Blogs Of 2019
Here’s a list of the top 10 connector blogs (i.e., the most-read Samtec blogs) of the last 12 months or so. Several of these were written a few years ago but are still very popular; I think of them as the blog equivalent of Dark Side of the Moon. 1. The Legacies of Sam Shine: Sam Shine, the founder of Samtec, passed away this year. Although he hasn’t been involved with the running of the company for the last 25 years or so, his impact on Samtec and the electronics industry was huge. … [Read more...]
Creepage and Clearance and Why We Care About It
Every day Samtec’s Application Support Group answers questions about a connector's mechanical, thermal, and electrical performance. One frequently discussed topic is connector creepage and clearance. Creepage and clearance is ultimately about safety and meeting regulatory standards, regardless of the system design. The ongoing trends to reduce PCB size and increase density become a design challenge when these smaller, denser PCBs incorporate high voltage circuits. Dave Scopelliti, President … [Read more...]
Solder 0.15 mm Coplanarity Connectors With a 0.10 mm Stencil
COPLANARITY AND STENCIL THICKNESS STUDY Samtec and Phoenix Contact recently completed dual studies that show when PCB processing requirements dictate using a 0.10 mm (.004”) stencil, the coplanarity requirements for most connectors can be relaxed to a maximum of 0.15 mm (.006”). In other words, Samtec and Phoenix Contact both successfully soldered PCB connectors with 0.15 mm coplanarity using a 0.10 mm thickness stencil with optimized apertures. CHALLENGE FOR DESIGNERS Designers … [Read more...]
Top 10 Most Popular Connector Blogs Of 2018
I like end-of-the-year top 10 lists. I just read the top 10 movies of 2018 (at the box office) and five of them were Marvel movies. Retrievers are the perenniel #1 most popular breed of dog. As a volleyball junkie here's my top VB play of the year (although I am a bit biased, Kenzie (the player who makes this remarkable save) played club ball with my daughter). We had record blog readership this year; "Connectors 101" and DesignCon were the most popular topics, but the topics are varied. Here … [Read more...]