picoflex

I usually use a small vise to assemble idt connectors, can't really tell if that would work for picoflex maybe if you mate it with a connector without pins for support

-Lasse

Yes, that is what I do for the - maybe similar - "Micromatch" type

I will have to get some samples of the picoflex I guess.

I'm using the Micromatch ones too, I find them reliable and generally excellent. One of the best features is that the range covers both male and female types on board, and on ribbon cable (ever been stumped by the fact that you needed a female on a ribbon so it was back-compatible with something but only males were available?) But assembling them is a nightmare. Using a vise, you have difficulties keeping the ribbon at exactly 90 degrees to the connector - just 5 degrees off and you'll get shorts between pins; and the vise often results in pins being crushed.

So I had a colleague knock a jig together with a milling machine, started with 2 plates of scrap metal but one has recesses for the IDC connectors at exactly the right distance apart for the cable assemblies we want. Converts a vise to a precision tool. Having tried the plain vise technique, which tends to crush these expensive connectors, the assemblers love the jig. But you do need a skilled craftsman to create it.

Yes, there are also even versions for individual wires (with crimped terminals)

They are what we are using now, and I like them. But the mated height is just a bit too much for this application. For prototyping needs I have a female half soldered on to a bit of FR4. The male half is plugged into this during the squashing on of the ribbon, so the pins don't get crushed. Not noticed problems with ribbon angle but perhaps I have just been lucky so far.

ed,

an

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I guess you could put two pins or something like that on the pcb a little away from the connector so that the when ribbon fits between it is aligned

-Lasse

We have been using the Picoflex series for several years, a sub-assembly we buy in has the IDC part fitted to a ribbon cable.

We had to re-work a few hundred of them due to an assembly error, we tried doing it manually using a vice but it's very easy to mash the contacts. In the end we bought the crimp tool you linked to, works OK but as you say, a bit expensive for a small run.

If you only want a few prototypes assembling I may be able to do them for you using our tool - IIRC you're based somewhere nearby? PM me if interested - the address in the headers works.

One other thing to watch out for with the Picoflex series - the SMT PCB part doesn't seem to like the reflow process our PCB stuffers use. The contact pins come out all tarnished. They couldn't figure it out so ended up hand soldering that part. Very strange, we use lots of other Molex parts and they don't have this issue.

R.