Easy question on connectors for automotive applications

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1

Hi,

I’m building a simple project that measures the temperature in an automobile oil pan.

Input: thermister based temp sensor mounted to oil pan

Output: RGB LED who’s color is based on temperature bands

Brains: Arduino Pro Mini on a 2.54mm pitch protoboard, contained in a small project box

I need to understand more about which connectors I can use- since this is automotive, connectors will be subject to vibration and temperature - project will be mounted on the interior of the car so outdoor weather resistance is not a concern.

I’m going to need 3 connections coming into my project box: Power (2 positions), Input (2 positions), Output (4 positions)

Originally I was thinking I would want to mount 3 connectors on the project box itself (ie cut a hole and mount a connector in the hole), and that I would also have connectors mounted to the protoboard as well.

At first I was looking at Molex SL and Molex KK254, but I don’t see anything that would allow me to mount a connection in a hole on the project box. can someone help me out? I was hoping ot use the same family of connectors throughout but if that isn’t possible I could probably use molex on the protoboard and something else mounted on the box…

thanks in advance

2

I’m a big fan of [circular connectors. Round holes are easier to drill than milling rectangular slots in enclosures.

“Cannon-type” connectors have been used for decades on military and industrial products and they come in a variety of pin counts. However, they’re not particularly cheap. Probably the lowest-cost round connectors are the DIN connectors used on audio equipment. They are available from many sources and at all price points depending on quality and features (gold pins, locking tabs, etc)](http://www.cedarlakeinstruments.com/blog/archives/23)