I want to connect 5 pins of a very small PCB to another PCB. I’m looking for a connector that has the 5 pins as close together as possible (2mm pitch at the most). Ideally, the connector should have a small footprint and a small thickness. Any ideas?
I’ve searched online (and at digikey) but don’t really know what to search for. I always have trouble finding appropriate connectors while designing PCBs… does anyone know of any good resources or tutorials on connectors?
Check the usual suspects (Samtec, Hirose, JST, Tyco, Molex) and look for board-to-board connectors. Usually there is a category for micro connectors. There is a huge variety so you usually have to slog through until you find one that will fulfill your requirements. Many of the sites have a selector that allow you to specify different parameters such as pitch, number of terminals, etc.
These are 1mm pitch parts. The header is a right angle, 5 position, surface mount part and is only 7mm wide. The plug has tabs on the sides for easier extraction and is 8mm wide. The contacts are very small and could be difficult to crimp properly without the right tools. They are barely 4mm long and use 28-32 gauge wire.
All the crimp tools for that connector seem to cost more than $1000. Bill, do you think it would be possible to crimp those pins using pliers or other misc. tool?
Not when they get down to that size, you need the proper tool. Distributors will usually make up small quantities for prototypes; Toby, who distribute Samtec here in the UK are very helpful.
Instead of crimping, you could get the IDC version of those 1mm connectors. That’s what I use. The caveat there is you need to pay specific attention to the wire guage and insulation diameter. I don’t use the tool for the IDC connectors, just a small screwdriver. (I might eventually make something better shaped for getting the wire in)