I’m looking for a 5 pin connector type that I can easily find chassis plugs for both male and female.
I’ve looked at DIN and mini xlr connectors, but have unsurprisingly been unable to find male chassis sockets.
The pins needs to support 12V 10A*
*realistically only expects about 6-7A flowing through 1 pin and one fourth of that through the 4 others.
What are your other requirements?
- Is this for a production or a one of a kind hobby/repair project?
- How budget aware are you?
- you mention portability. How often would you need to unplug it? And will it be done by you or someone who requires a bit more user proofing?
Have you considered using more than one pin per pole? Ie if you had a 15pin connector, that can take 3A per pin, then shorting 3pins will give you 5 pins 9A. There will be more considerations to this though. Like how can you make sure that the parallel pins present a similar resistance, so you don’t get an unbalanced load.
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One of a kind hobby project. I want to experiment with time of day controlled LEDs, and see how they work as a light based wake up alarm.
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I’d rather not break the bank for needlessly overkill connectors, the total for the project so far is only ~220$, and I only sporadically work on it.
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portability isn’t all that important, but the chassis the connectors would connect to should preferably be as small as possible. The PWM circuitry without connectors are ~8cmx3cm.
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I wouldn’t mind using connectors with more pins. The primary challenge is just finding a connector with both male and female socket plugs that seems to easy to plug in and out, within specs.
Thanks for the update. In that case I would be looking at terminal block plugs. They can easily handle the current, they come in a wide variety including panel mount, and they’re cheap. What’s even better, they don’t require crimping and one I saw didn’t even use screw terminals https://www.digikey.com/en/products/filter/headers-plugs-and-sockets/370?s=N4IgjCBcpgHAzFUBjKAzAhgGwM4FMAaEAeygG0R5YB2BAFhCKtvgFZHKaBOMABg%2BY8ITbmABMA0QxHUuYhgF0iABwAuUEAGVVAJwCWAOwDmIAL7mgA
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Anderson powerpoles. They’re like Lego, non-gendered, and will handle your current requirements. I use them to make harnesses in my scientific equipment applications all the time under specs similar to yours.
The connectors needs to be gendered so that input and output can’t be mixed up by mistake.
I’m a big fan of Amphenol mil-spec connectors. They’re a bit expensive, but not terribly so. You could almost certainly find one that meets your requirements.
You could try these: https://www.amazon.com/PIN-PANEL-MOUNT-MICROPHONE-CONNECTOR/dp/B00H57AJEI/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?sr=8-6
https://www.amazon.com/5-PIN-CB-MICROPHONE-PLUG/dp/B00H573MO2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?sr=8-1
Both of these match up nicely and are rather beefy though they don’t actually say the current rating.
There’s also these that are rated for 300V 15A https://www.amazon.com/5-08mm-Terminal-Connector-Pluggable-Connector-Phoenix/dp/B0CM3Y1WS5/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?sr=8-1
There’s also these that are rated for 300V 15A https://www.amazon.com/5-08mm-Terminal-Connector-Pluggable-Connector-Phoenix/dp/B0CM3Y1WS5/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?sr=8-1
I use something like this when repairing screw terminals that my students have applied too much torque to and broken the through hole pins on. It’s a great type of connector. But if we’re talking portability, then it’s maybe not the most ergonomic.
PCIE 8-pin connectors supports up to 150W (12V/12.5A), but they’re meant for internal use, not chassis.
If you want to get 120W, chassis-mounted, your best bet is usb-c.
10 amps is a crazy ask. Are you trying to power the entire device with this port? If so, consider common ports (what’s wrong with IEC C14?).
How about a 6 pin connector?
Cable side connector with strain relief. https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/amphenol-industrial-operations/PT06SE-10-6P-SR/341057
Bulkhead connector. https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/amphenol-industrial-operations/PT02SE-10-6S/341071
To include or exclude the strain relief, add or remove the “(SR)” from the part number.
Dang 10A is kind of beefy, what is this for?
Do you need IP rating?
If you didn’t need 10A I would have recommended M12 connectors
A few meters LED strips.
According to the spec sheet only 7.5A should be necessary with a recommended 25% margin for a total 9.4A for the power supply. I rounded up to 10 for simplicity, and that’s the spec of the power supply I have.
Measuring max current at peak brightness is only at ~6A though, so 10A isn’t strictly necessary.
IP rating isn’t necessary, it should all fit into a small box with some circuitry for PWM signaling used inside a normal room.
Are you concerned about the voltage drop on the strip itself? A second connector feeding power to the opposite end might be wanted.
I haven’t noticed any difference in brightness between the first and last LED. Since the power is sent via PWM controlled mosfets, splitting the power wouldn’t work all that well since it inevitably have to connect the box (with the connectors) with the PWM circuitry.
Would Molex Mini-Fit work for you?
