Life of round DIN connectors ?

Manufacturers tend not to give a figure for the number of insertions their DIN connectors can take. I've never seen one fail but those don't tend to be the type you plug/unplug ten times a day. Does anyone have data or experience with that ?

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André Majorel 
"Buy in bulk, that\'s my advice." -- Lemmy
Reply to
Andre Majorel
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Yes I do this far more often ! I've yet to have a plug fail, but I have had the odd socket loose a leg from the mating part. After that all you can do is replace the socket. Which sadly I've had to do several times. Same with USB sockets. How people manage to break the plastic tongue off beats me !

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Best Regards:
                     Baron.
Reply to
Baron

I hate DIN sockets and DC sockets where the only way the socket is anchored is by the solder joint to the board. Why dont more of these use a screw thru the top to anchor the socket????

Reply to
GMAN

Replacing the DC socket on a PCB is easy compared to the USB and Dual Mini DIN ones. Although I have seen the DC sockets with a metal shroud over them that is soldered to the board ! They are a lot more robust. Its usually the pin that breaks off though.

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Best Regards:
                     Baron.
Reply to
Baron

I see, thanks. I'm after an 8- or 9-way connector for a home brewed polyphonic modular synth. Frequencies involved are DC to

20 kHz, 30 Vpp, input impedances on the order of 100 k.

Modular connectors (RJ45-style) have for them low cost and the availability of pre-made patch cords. But when life expectancy is specified, it is very low, on the order of dozens of cycles.

High quality DE-9 are available but even the Canon ones are only spec'd to a few hundred insertions at most. And there is the problem of making a D-shaped hole in the panel.

It better be a low-cost part because I'll need several hundreds. In itself, replacing a panel connector is not a big deal if there is a wire-to-board connector behind it. The problem is that spotting one bad contact can take a while.

--
André Majorel 
"Buy in bulk, that\'s my advice." -- Lemmy
Reply to
Andre Majorel

The frequencies are not a problem for the mini DIN and I doubt that the natural impedance is either !

AFAIW the mini DIN is similar ! Just a few hundred !

Their expensive and the punch for the hole is around £25 !

Most if not all low cost connectors don't have high make/break lifetimes !

Wouldn't it be prudent to have a chat with somebody like AMP's tech support people. Quite a while back I needed a high voltage connector

5.5Kv and they were very helpful.
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Best Regards:
                     Baron.
Reply to
Baron

That was my way of saying that the currents involved are on the order of 0.1 mA so a very low contact resistance is not needed.

I was afraid of that...

Yes, and punching a hole with a hand punch and die is rather time consuming in my experience.

With the notable exception of 1/4" phone jacks. I need an 8-way

1/4" phone jack. :-)

Good idea, thanks.

--
André Majorel 
"Buy in bulk, that\'s my advice." -- Lemmy
Reply to
Andre Majorel

Andre Majorel Inscribed thus:

With very low currents I would have thought that you would need a low contact resistance and probably gold plating as well.

Yes I agree it can be. I used to have a bench press that I used for punching chassis. It took more time jigging up or drilling pilot hoes to accurately locate the punch than it was worth.

I've see six pole post office type jacks ! But I wouldn't like to have to buy any. They must have cost the post office a fortune.

You could always make a test jig for that job.

Let me know how you get on.

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Best Reagrds:
                        Baron.
Reply to
Baron

My possibly naive thinking was that with so little current, you wouldn't need a super-low contact resistance to achieve low voltage drop and low dissipated power. What am I missing ?

Apple used a 4-way jack in one of their insanely great projects.

Let me guess... Single-sourced from a factory in Taiwan that won't even speak to you unless you need 10,000 a month... :-D

from your description of the failure mode (one branch of the fork breaking), regular visual inspection would be the fastest method.

Will do, if/when I get around to building *that* pyramid.

--
André Majorel 
"Buy in bulk, that\'s my advice." -- Lemmy
Reply to
Andre Majorel

Noise ! This is a potential problem with any connectors particularly in audio circuits.

Quite probably !

Yes I agree it probably would. I have to use a big magnifying glass to see the ends of the tines. The other thing that I see quite often is the someone has stood on the plug and bent the shroud and sometimes one or two of the pins. (usually keyboards and mice)

Along similar lines I had a client this morning with a broken USB connector on his computer. Now how on earth do you manage to break off the white plastic bit that supports the contacts ? Fortunately its on the front panel, so its not as time consuming a repair as replacing a motherboard one.

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Best Regards:
                     Baron.
Reply to
Baron

Can anyone point me to an online document going into the when, why and how of that ? I searched for "contact noise" and variations thereof but got nowhere.

Maybe they stepped on the cable. The plug gives quite a bit of leverage for the height of shell.

--
André Majorel 
"Buy in bulk, that's my advice." -- Lemmy
Reply to
Andre Majorel

That surprises me ! I would have thought that there would be some information about it. Maybe it has a different description ?

I didn't see what they had plugged into it... I just get to fix it ! :-)

Hi Andre, I'm not going to be around for the next four weeks. I'll be in Calais tomorrow evening heading for the sunnier parts of France ! So no computers, internet or servicing ! Just a total get away from it all ! Catch you when I get back !

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Best Regards:
                     Baron.
Reply to
Baron

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