Suggestions for board connectors

[mbless]

I'm looking for wire-to-board connectors, but I haven't found anything suiting all of my desires. I want to use a fine-ish pitch connector (<=2mm pitch) either SMD or THT. It will be used for signal wires (<100 mA) and the wire bundles range from 4-26 individual wires.

What I have used so far are the Hirose DF50 series http://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/h/hirose/df50-board-wire-rugged-small-form-fact-conne-system
I like the small pitch, black color, multiple configurations and satisfying click. My only issue is that there aren't cable assemblies I can buy, and crimp the pins by hand is a PIAT  . The specialized crimper is $2000, so that's a no go for a hobbyist.

What are your go-to board connectors?

[CM800]

These have pre-crimped wires available:
http://uk.farnell.com/molex/501330-0800/housing-1-0mm-pico-clasp-8way/dp/1835966
http://uk.farnell.com/jst-japan-solderless-terminals/shdr-30v-s-b/housing-receptacle-shd-30way-1mm/dp/1830842
http://uk.farnell.com/hirose-hrs/df20f-10dp-1v-55/header-straight-no-boss-10way/dp/1518789

The crimp tool is only £800 on farnell by the way

[mbless]

These have pre-crimped wires available:
http://uk.farnell.com/molex/501330-0800/housing-1-0mm-pico-clasp-8way/dp/1835966
http://uk.farnell.com/jst-japan-solderless-terminals/shdr-30v-s-b/housing-receptacle-shd-30way-1mm/dp/1830842
http://uk.farnell.com/hirose-hrs/df20f-10dp-1v-55/header-straight-no-boss-10way/dp/1518789

The crimp tool is only £800 on farnell by the way

Where are the cable assemblies? Are you referring to this? http://uk.farnell.com/molex/92001-1198/cable-assmbly-28awg-300mm-black/dp/1836002?MER=sy-me-pd-mi-acce

[CM800]

These have pre-crimped wires available:
http://uk.farnell.com/molex/501330-0800/housing-1-0mm-pico-clasp-8way/dp/1835966
http://uk.farnell.com/jst-japan-solderless-terminals/shdr-30v-s-b/housing-receptacle-shd-30way-1mm/dp/1830842
http://uk.farnell.com/hirose-hrs/df20f-10dp-1v-55/header-straight-no-boss-10way/dp/1518789

The crimp tool is only £800 on farnell by the way

Where are the cable assemblies? Are you referring to this? http://uk.farnell.com/molex/92001-1198/cable-assmbly-28awg-300mm-black/dp/1836002?MER=sy-me-pd-mi-acce

Indeed, there are cheaper ones for some of the other connectors there.

Equally you could call around the local harness builders and see what crimp tools they have... some of the crimping companies will surely have these.

[mariush]

If the maximum length is 15cm or 20cm (fixed), you should also look into flat flex cable - you get fine pitch and usually each wire can do 0.5A or something like that (but you can use multiple conductors for one signal)

30 core and 40 core are quite common, but 2 x 4...13 core are also quite common...  You could standardize on some widths and stock just 2 or 3 different widths in order to get better price for each quantity.
0.5mm and 1mm pitch are quite common

Here's links : http://uk.farnell.com/ffc-fpc-cables  for cables  , and here's the connectors : http://uk.farnell.com/ffc-fpc-board-connectors

May find a much wider selection on Digikey and Mouser and others.

[mbless]

If the maximum length is 15cm or 20cm (fixed), you should also look into flat flex cable - you get fine pitch and usually each wire can do 0.5A or something like that (but you can use multiple conductors for one signal)

30 core and 40 core are quite common, but 2 x 4...13 core are also quite common...  You could standardize on some widths and stock just 2 or 3 different widths in order to get better price for each quantity.
0.5mm and 1mm pitch are quite common

Here's links : http://uk.farnell.com/ffc-fpc-cables  for cables  , and here's the connectors : http://uk.farnell.com/ffc-fpc-board-connectors

May find a much wider selection on Digikey and Mouser and others.

I did think about FPC cables but they won't play nice when the other end isn't FPC. My current project will have the board connector to a panel mount USB breakout and a 0.1" pitch connector, so I don't think a flat flex cable would work for that.

[max_torque]

TE connectivity MicroMatch

http://www.te.com/usa-en/products/connectors/pcb-connectors/wire-to-board-connectors/ffc-fpc-ribbon-connectors/intersection/micro-match.html?tab=pgp-story


You can get pre-made ribbons, or just the connectors to push onto ribbons.  They do board to board and board to ribbon parts too.

[CM800]

TE connectivity MicroMatch

http://www.te.com/usa-en/products/connectors/pcb-connectors/wire-to-board-connectors/ffc-fpc-ribbon-connectors/intersection/micro-match.html?tab=pgp-story


You can get pre-made ribbons, or just the connectors to push onto ribbons.  They do board to board and board to ribbon parts too.

I'd be the first to say I hate those connectors. One of the manufacturers for drives that our company sells use them and they are a pain. Really not a fan.

[exmadscientist]

For what it's worth, we compared the DF50 against the competing series from JST (I think it was GH, but they all kind of blur together) and the JST parts were much easier to assemble than the Hirose. In general I have found JST products to be usually good choices, while I cannot say the same for Hirose. The JST catalog is my first point of call when new crimp wire-to-board connectors are required. Molex also makes some good options.