Suitable connectors

A bit more on the specification might be in order, like, is this to be connected/disconnected often, environmental specs etc... If it is to be (dis)connected seldomly, I'd go with a molex with lock tab, crimped, maybe a dab of contact (conductive) grease and seal it in with shrinktube.

If it is to be regularly (dis)connected, I'd go with a 6-pin DIN with a lock tab or screw-on lock, or one of the similar connectors used by various PTT's for radios. They're not that much more expensive than generic DIN's.

Yet another option would be phoenix/euro blocks (basically, those jackable contact blocks with 1/10 or 2/10 inch spacing. Those come in variants secured with screws.

/Teo.

In theory, it will not be disconnected regularly -but this is a prototype car and in prototypes you end up (re)moving things more often than was anticipated. I have tried to search a suitable molex connector but are unable to find what I need amidst thousands of results (even restricting to farnell or digikey). Can you provide a keyword to narrow down the list?

I didn't know of DIN connectors with lock. Will look them up

I had considered this possibility, but am worried if vibrations will loose the screws?

Thanks for your help!

Pere

Try "MicroFit 3" style connectors.

Those should work. When I worked aerospace-lite, we used a lot of 0.1 pitch rectangular connectors with polarized housings but no clips, and things worked just fine in spite of being bolted to helicopters (which vibrate like hell when they fly).

It's probably more important that they get the wire dress correct -- put cables in bundles, with a bit of slack to the boards and the bundles nailed down to chassis elements. Anywhere there's going to be relative movement use service loops, and if the relative movement is going to be constant (like, to a sensor on a wheel), consider getting wire that's rated for continuous flex (if you can find it).

M12 connectors are often used in industrial harsh industrial applications. DeviceNet seems to specify a 5 pole connector CAN_H/CAN_L, Power_Plus/Power_Minus and shield.

Thanks for your info! It is good to know what worked in such a harsh environment.

Pere

Great! That's what I was looking for!

Pere

Thanks for the pointer. These look good indeed. Probably better (and more expensive) than the other alternative that has been given. And there seems to be no version for PCB mounting...

Pere

My main objection is that you should not use direct female connectors on the PCB due to the vibration. I would not use such constructions for any heavy diesel machinery and I guess that the racing car systems are not that different.

Just use female connectors on the frame of the box and then use flexible cables to the PCB.

You make a good point here. However, with this approach the size of the box increases... It would be ideal if the "intelligence" of each sensor could be made as small as possible. Let's see if they manage to fit everything in a sufficiently small box...

Pere

RL

Great! Thanks, Pere