We are asked all kinds of questions about both the electrical and mechanical properties of our mated connector sets. This makes sense because interconnects are obviously electromechanical components.
On the electrical side, the two we answer the most are:
- what is the current rating of a connector?
- how does Samtec establish a voltage rating?
Mechanical FAQs include:
- how many cycles will this connector handle?
- do you test to my specifications?
- what is the force required to mate or un-mate a connector set?
Several months ago we posted a blog that answers all of the questions above. Click here to read it: There Are No Stupid Questions – Interconnect Test Report Frequently Asked Questions.
Another frequently asked question is how do connector companies calculate mating and un-mating forces for their connectors? We can’t speak for everybody else, but Samtec’s Kevin Meredith can speak for Samtec — he prepared a paper documenting our process.
In this paper Kevin discusses how the forces resulting from the mating and the unmating of electrical connectors are a function of contact geometry, contact normal force, friction, and insulator binding or bottoming-out. Binding and bottoming-out are to be avoided and controlled more by the designer. Designers should also use this force data in the design of the system to determine if inject/eject hardware is needed, and what size it should be.
Samtec makes this data readily available to customers in the form of qualification test data taken for the smallest, middle, and largest position count connectors. Values for position counts not directly qualified may be found by simple linear interpolation or they may be calculated directly by the methods outlined in Kevin’s paper.
Speaking of Kevin’s paper, here’s the link. And speaking of links, here are other links that may be of interest to you:
- Dissimilar Metals And The Risk Of Galvanic Corrosion in Mating Connectors
- Interconnect Susceptibility To Galvanic Corrosion
- Fretting Over Fretting Corrosion
- Interconnect Test Report Frequently Asked Questions
- Advice On Selecting and Processing Connectors
- Guidelines To Ensure Electromagnetic Immunity In Connectors
- Guidelines For Paste-In-Hole Reflow Processing
- The Facts Of (Extended) Life
- Best Practices For Connector Models
- FAQ Interconnect Test Reports
- Interconnect Processing Handbook
- Interconnect Processing Page
- FAQ About Interconnect Processing
- Effects of Lubrication On Connector Processing
- Calculating Mating and Un-Mating Forces For Samtec Connectors
- Selecting The Right Contact For Your Board-to-Board Interconnect System
- New High Speed Connector Rating That Accounts For The Entire System