Size and configure rectangular connectors
Beke Nieszytka | 13. August 2019
In the area of heavy rectangular connectors for the industry, there are several reputable manufacturers in the market – Harting with its well-known Han Series, Weidmüller Rockstar, Wieland Revos, Ilme, Lapp Epic, HTC, Tyco, Amphenol, Multicontact, Phoenix, Wain and many more.
The application areas of these connectors are equally varied. For example, they can be found here:
- Mechanical engineering
- Traffic engineering
- Power generation and distribution
- Solar and wind energy
- Automation technology
- Industrial devices
- Telecommunication and broadcasting technology
- Industrial networks
- Medical technology
- Event and stage technology
When choosing the right plug-in connector for your own application, you can produce an almost unlimited amount of combinations of different housings. First, you have to decide between connector housing, connector base, attachment housing and coupling housing with different contact inserts. These in turn can be combined with different connector technologies, from crimp, cage clamp, base terminals and solder, axial, quick connections, compliant termination to axial cage clamp technique.
How do I choose the right connector?
The ground rule is: always assemble the connector from the inside to the outside…
1 Choose the right contact insert
Based on the required contact points, you first choose the right contact insert that is equipped with the according number of poles. It is important to take socket or bolt into account during selection.
2 Choose the right housing
The size of the selected contact insert then determines the housing to be used. Here, in addition to different housing types (connector housing, connector base, attachment or coupling housing), the size of the thread and the type of the locking mechanism need to be considered.
3 Choose the right screw connection
Choose the right screw connection based on the cable diameter and the thread size at the connector housing…
…and there you go.
Okay…this simplified formula might not depict every single variation – such as for example the question of the type of contact.
Which type of connection is generally the best?
If for example you want to connect high performance with accordingly high core cross sections, your choice is limited. In this case, you will have to go for an axial screwed connection.
But often you do in fact have a choice. – Given the choice, I will go for the best option at the lowest price. – But what is the best option? Crimping, screwing, soldering…?
Where handling in the field is concerned, it means an ideally tool-free grounding at the building site. Then, you are very well-equipped with a screwed contact or a cage clamp terminal. A screwdriver, a cable stripper and some core cable ends should be part of a building site’s standard equipment.
When profitability combined with high quality is concerned, the machine-processed crimp contact is unbeatable. If you like us at igus® use the stripper crimper for loose ferrules AM03 by Zoller+Froehlich, you will recognise the advantages of this processing method quickly.
If we at igus® are addressed regarding the delivery of harnessed cables with “Harting connectors”, the customer is usually looking for a cable that he can install as it is without having to make any alterations in the field. Then, a lot speaks in favour of the machine processing of the contacts.
Quality, throughput, productivity and hence also price are good reasons to choose this processing method. Combining the machine processing of the contacts with upstream machine cable processing, specialised harnessing areas and Kanban bearings, leads to delivery times that will make eyes shine.
For the right plug-in connector, visit our Connector Shop.
Or find your harnessed cable in the readycable® Product Finder.