Your Top Three All-Time Best and Worst Electronics Connector Designs

[NiHaoMike]

Not sure if it really qualifies as a connector, but BGA test sockets are by far the worst I have worked with. They're guaranteed to have contact issues after only a few uses. Of course, where those are used, there's no other choice...

F connectors often have the center pin out far enough that it's easy to accidentally bend it, but the part I dislike most is that it takes a lot of turns to connect/disconnect...

The 9V battery connector is designed so that it's easy to short it out or touch it backwards.

Not a problem with the connectors per se, but I have seen a lot of adapters (mini HDMI to regular HDMI, for example) that put a lot of stress on the connectors.

IEC mains connectors are pretty good, but someone mentioned poorly made connectors that are loose. I found that it's usually because there's a little too much plastic (as in an extra 2-3mm) and a knife fixes that in seconds.

SMA and BNC connectors are very good. Pretty robust and they just work.

I also like pin headers. While they are pretty fragile as far as connectors go, they're generally supposed to only go inside equipment.

Worst is the "cigarette lighter" style power connector common among mobile consumer electronics, to plug into a car's electrical system.  Way too bulky, ill-fitting, and most implementations of the plug have a spring which exerts force that tries to push the plug out of the socket!  I realize that this standard wasn't really "designed", but it more-or-less evolved.  Anderson Powerpoles, while not perfect, are such a huge improvement that I've installed them on all my 12V gadgets, and installed them in my car.

USB is the worst among those that were recently designed.  The USB committee has no excuse for ignoring the lessons of those who went before them.  The fact that it always has to be flipped three times as the cartoon demonstrates is quite annoying.  And I can attest that it is possible to fit them in the wrong way, but the results aren't pretty.

RCA audio connectors are pretty awful, because the center connects before the shield, and the shield often doesn't connect at all.

US style mains power connectors are pretty bad, because, when partially inserted, the mains power is available on exposed conductors.  I was discussing this with co-workers, and every single one of us could recall receiving an electric shock as a child due to this feature.  For most of us, it only took once and we learned to avoid touching them, but...

Agree with all of them. The sad thing is, I can think of simple ways to fix the problems without breaking compatibility in either direction.

It's not a problem with the connector per se, but the EPS12V 8-pin and PCIe 8-pin connectors are almost exactly the same. They're both Mini-Fit Jr. 2x4 pin connectors carrying +12V and ground. One powers your CPU, the other powers your graphics card. The only difference is the keying. The problem is if you flip one upside-down you can jam it into the other's socket. And oh, what do you know, now you have +12V shorting straight to ground. Every PC component maker gets RMAs due to this shit, and every time you have to either swallow the cost of the user's stupidity, or explain that it's their fault; and then take the hit from a poor product review.

Why on earth couldn't they make EPS12V and PCIe pin-compatible? They both carry +12V and ground!

And to add to that, some Xilinx boards have a 12V power connector that looks just like the PCIe connector but is incompatible with it. But yeah, if I were to design it, I would just use the 8 pin EPS connectors for GPUs.

USB A. Pushed USB connector into RJ45 socket.  It can be done!  Result was blown Ethernet on laptop. Grrrr.  Had to install a PCMCIA Ethernet because of that, drove me nuts.

I have never heard of an Ethernet chip being damaged by shorting the pins in the connectors. ESD is more likely, but that's because some engineer decided that the 1M resistor to ground "did nothing", not a fault of the connector. The locking clip breaking off too easily is indeed a real problem, but the better quality cables have covers over them.

[ejeffrey]

The stupidest connector ever designed is the MHV high voltage BNC.  Its only good thing about it is one of its fatal flaws: it can be forcibly mated with a regular BNC.  That is good when you have some stupid piece of equipment that uses one and you don't have an adapter cable, but defeats the entire purpose of a special high voltage connectors.  In general, it is an unmitigated failure as a high voltage connector.

Probably my most hated connector (MHV is stupid, but too rare to be most hated) is GPIB.  It is bulky, expensive, hard to orient due to the thick, stiff cable coming out the side, and the retaining screws always disconnect at the wrong point.  This is particular bad when you have more than one connector stacked as the left and right screws will disconnect in different places and you won't be able to remove the connectors at all until you go grab the knurled surface (no hex nut!) with a needle nosed pliers. 

Rounding out my list would be F connectors and USB-A for the reasons already mentioned.

Honorable mention to BNC.  True, it is convenient and the connector body is mechanically rugged.  However in practice most commercial cables use inexpensive but unreliable crimp connections for the ground shield.  They have a high out-of-box defect rate, and a high failure rate in service.  The frustrating thing is that a broken ground shield may result in something that appears to work but has strange behavior or very poor noise performance, and it may only show up when connecting two cables with a barrel connector.  It is possible to get reliable cables, so I don't count this in the same category as the above connectors, but because of its ubiquity it gets judged harder than other flaky connectors.

Connectors I like are SMA, ordinary dsub connectors, and IEC mains plugs.  USB-B is not too bad, although not great.  Of course several of the high-end circular connectors such as those from LEMO and Fischer are nice, but for what you pay they had better be.

[richard.cs]

Probably my most hated connector (MHV is stupid, but too rare to be most hated) is GPIB.

Of course this is even worse if you have older equipment with the unified threads. It becomes a real mess and you end up with horrible bodges or cables that fall out unexpectedly.

[TerraHertz]

HDMI was originally a "change rarely" thing, but with every camcorder, laptop, smartphone supporting HDMI now, it's a silly design as you will be frequently changing ports to connect these portable devices.... Plus most entry level TVs only have 2 ports, which means that you will be swapping if you've got a camera and two fixed devices (HD receiver, blu-ray...)

The biggest fail with HDMI is the one-wire 'system control bus' the hardware guys thought to include. Hey, so you can control all your interconnected devices with one remote control! The early HDMI adverts actually boasted this.

Only problem... they failed to work out a protocol. How exactly would that 'one remote control' thing work, with TV, DVD, etc gadgets from multiple different manufacturers? End result - you still have to have multiple remotes, and the DVD player (say) can't be mounted on the other side of a wall from the TV, and controlled via the TV remote.
Supposedly the 'power off' command is recognized fairly universally. Terrific.

Or has this been fixed since the last time I struggled with HDMI and read the specs?

[wkb]

good: N-connectors, subD connectors, bC and C connectors

Diabolical: SCART, F, RJ45 without cable shrouds to protect the always breaking bleedin' retention clip 

[MichaelKavanagh]

Good:
BS1363 - Cause its British, and therefore amazing
Commando style connectors (IEC 60309/BS 4343) - Not really 'electronics', but still good. Big and beefy and I like that. Difficult to break 
The normal IEC 'kettle plug' thing
XLR
Speakon

Bad:
Clover leaf, WHY!?
PS/2 - Surprised it wasn't mentioned earlier, glad its now redundant. What idiot thought delicate pins, useless keyway and 'arm round the back of a pc' would be a good mix?

Hate:
Any type of connector which isn't bloody suitable for the environment its in. Have to keep replacing these 'link cables' at work which have £20 worth of connector on each end because they keep getting broken due to not enough mechanical strength. Idiot designers.

[ptricks]

Or has this been fixed since the last time I struggled with HDMI and read the specs?

It is sort of fixed. Most items like a blu ray player will let you do commands like play, pause through the tv remote but things like menus, subtitles ,etc still require the original remote.

[dentaku]

S-Video connectors are stupidly delicate. The pins can easily get bent and just like PS2 there's no way to know if you have it oriented correctly when you're reaching around the back of something.

[tealsuki]

I've started to develop a dislike of RCA plugs, especially since I accidentally ripped the centre plug out of one when I was removing it from my TV. D'oh.

My first MP3 player had a USB B-mini connector. It took me nearly 6 months when the first one broke to find a CHEAP replacement for it, since nobody actually used them at the time (This was back when every cellphone used a proprietary data connector). Then when I got my 4th mp3 player (this one could play video!), the b-mini connector was so fragile I had to send it away for service, TWICE.
That being said, I also strongly dislike any non-standard connector for consumer electronics (cameras, cellphones, mp3 players) because I'm bound and determined to break the frickin' cord, and I end up having to order a new one from China, or wait 3 months to get one from the manufacturer (pushing my device out of the warranty period, if I'm really lucky)

The only true honest to god hate I have is for the early SATA connectors in my computer, especially since I swap parts and fiddle now and then. Newer ones are of better quality, but you still have to hold your tongue at the right angle and get your fingernails good and in the crevice to pop the retaining doohickey out. They make the molex connectors easy to use by comparison.


tl;dr

Hate

• USB (and its spawn, B and B-mini)
• SATA
• Proprietary doohickies, dongles, and cords I'd rather hang myself with
• DVI (Seriously, why make 4 different types of connectors for different levels of use when the only obvious difference is that little + shaped thing)
• Cheap ethernet retainer tabs on LONG EXPENSIVE cable
• Cheap DIN connectors (PS/2, S-Video) with cheap pins on cheap cable (that is stupidly overpriced because it carries a video signal in S-Video's case)

Meh

• Molex
• All the nonsense I've encountered when trying to install a car radio including a few pigtails covered in tape
• Marrette connectors for my mains

Love

• That co-ax thing I can't seem to name that connects the cable box to the house, and the telly to the box. Seriously that thing has an iron grip

Sorry, I think I needed to get those years of frustration off my chest LOL

[fcb]

4mm banana plug. Period.

[c4757p]

4mm banana plug. Period.

Best or worse?

[ddavidebor]

Both for me

[Smokey]

• Cheap ethernet retainer tabs on LONG EXPENSIVE cable

Expensive RJ45 ethernet cables?  Are you a monster cable customer?  or even worse.... Denon!!!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9967991-1.html

Here is the solution to everyone that is complaining about RJ45 locking tabs...
http://www.frys.com/product/3065009?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

[tealsuki]

• Cheap ethernet retainer tabs on LONG EXPENSIVE cable

Expensive RJ45 ethernet cables?  Are you a monster cable customer?  or even worse.... Denon!!!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9967991-1.html

Oh god no. I may be on medication but it's not for severe delusions.
I spent a little over $30 on (iirc) a 20ft cable. I didn't have a wireless modem at the time so I networked the apartment the old fashioned way. I could have spent $3 on a won hung lo 7ft cable, but it just didn't have the reach.

[jamesp15]

• Cheap ethernet retainer tabs on LONG EXPENSIVE cable

Expensive RJ45 ethernet cables?  Are you a monster cable customer?  or even worse.... Denon!!!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9967991-1.html

Oh god no. I may be on medication but it's not for severe delusions.
I spent a little over $30 on (iirc) a 20ft cable. I didn't have a wireless modem at the time so I networked the apartment the old fashioned way. I could have spent $3 on a won hung lo 7ft cable, but it just didn't have the reach.

Is Canada that much more expensive than the US?  you can get 500ft of Cat 5E cable for ~$50 or even less without too much looking in the US... 
Premade cables cost more per foot, but a 50ft pre-made cable is still only ~$10-15 again without too much looking.

[rollatorwieltje]

Here is the solution to everyone that is complaining about RJ45 locking tabs...
http://www.frys.com/product/3065009?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Those suck, get the type that presses flat on the connector like this:

These don't have anything that can be bumped/warped out of alignment. The price difference is not even worth mentioning.

[TerraHertz]

Here's a CAT-5 RJ-45 connector locking tab protection method I hadn't seen before I found these today.
Looks like it might even work.

[Rick Law]

Let me present you.... X-jack!

Winner!

Actually, in the days of MODEMs and PCMCIA card, I rather like the XJack.  PCMCIA cards without XJACK uses dongles - as easy to break as the XJack and a hack of a lot easier to loose.

I suspect a forward thinking hotel staff back then could have made a good business selling left-behind used dongles of all sort.

[NiHaoMike]

Expensive RJ45 ethernet cables?  Are you a monster cable customer?  or even worse.... Denon!!!
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9967991-1.html

For that price, it better do at least 10G or preferably 40G...

[peter.mitchell]

Like:
4mm Bananas, easy to connect/disconnect, good enough current carrying capability,stackable sometimes, pretty sturdy unless you cheap out
The IEC kettle/computer/anything plug, it makes good contact, earth connects first, good insertion feel, solid
JST-XH Mini connector, good retainer, solid feel, standard 0.1" spacing! just don't get the cheap ones, which take the socket housing with the plug leaving just the pins on the board when you disconnect them.
The new apple lightning connector - the only problem is it is proprietary and has a fucking IC in the cable.
DisplayPort and MiniDisplayport - they fit solidly and don't anywhere near as bulky cables as HDMI.


Dislike:
USB connectors in general, the type A connectors should be uni directional, like the lightning connector, the micro b just isn't solid enough for repeated insertions like it is.
USB "thin" thumbsticks/drives/flash devices - usually one side is metal, so if you put it in backwards, you short your USB port, sometimes turning off the computer.
HDMI - not enough physical support for such large cables, also, you can mash a USB plug into it.
BS1363 - I find they sit too flush and make them too hard to remove from sockets, feel solid though.
"Lighter" sockets - they're old, big, don't fit well, don't carry much current, just bad all round
Almost all terminals for cylindrical batteries - you have a bunch of batteries in a holder, bump the holder and you lose connection for a moment, making the device restart!



Undecided:
DVI - while it isn't entirely clear which way it connects, its pretty damn solid for being such a big connector - i have never felt a flimsy dvi connector.
Australian Power Plug AS/NZS 3112 - I haven't ever really had any issues with it, and it's somewhat compatible with the chinese plug too, however, it can be a bit odd to plug in "blindly"
RJ45/8P8C/ethernetthingo - For new plugs and sockets, they feel solid and feel nice to insert, however the tabs can break off or act like hooks on other cables, there are plugs wiht flanges to fix this but no "diy" plugs have them.
"DC" barrel jacks - they carry current well and are easy to connect and disconnect but there are so many varieties that it is too confusing to use, also, the sockets often seem to ahve inadequate strain relief and break off the boards.
Apple Magsafe - they're good in theory for not smashing your laptop, and they're reversible, but they're proprietary, i haven't had one wear out but others have mentioned it, i can see this being an issue as with exposed contacts.


Other:

I noticed a bit of mention of RC connectors in this thread and I thought I'd chime in with opinion;
I use packs in series very often, 12S packs are ungodly expensive, so I need a connector that can join packs in series, which pretty much any "safe" connector can't do, because it requires positive to negative connection, so usually you have to use bullet style connectors, but these leave the bullets exposed when disconnected, and that is a very bad situation, my connector of choice is the XT150,
it's pretty big, and rated for 150A~, it comes in three colours (so you can use them from motor to ESC too), there are shrouds on both male and female connectors to avoid shorts but can be connected in series.
Just a pic of them: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/677635/IMG_20130825_151357.jpg

[ejeffrey]

USB "thin" thumbsticks/drives/flash devices - usually one side is metal, so if you put it in backwards, you short your USB port, sometimes turning off the computer.

off-topic, but if this is happening to you, your computer is defective.

[peter.mitchell]

USB "thin" thumbsticks/drives/flash devices - usually one side is metal, so if you put it in backwards, you short your USB port, sometimes turning off the computer.

off-topic, but if this is happening to you, your computer is defective.

In a word, no.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=usb+over+current+shutdown

[vsq]

I've started to develop a dislike of RCA plugs, especially since I accidentally ripped the centre plug out of one when I was removing it from my TV. D'oh.

Neutrik makes an excellent RCA-connector. Will endure almost any kind of abuse and makes ground contact first!
And here's a link: http://www.neutrik.com/en/phono-rca/profi-cable-connectors/

[rollatorwieltje]

Is anybody really stupid enough to make one of those flat USB keys out of metal? I've only seen plastic ones that can be inserted upside down.

I use one similar to this:


And another one that does have a metal back like this:

But that one cannot be inserted upside down as it still has the side edges of the connector.

I didn't expect the first one to survive as long as it did, but I have it for several years now on my keychain without the protective cover and it still works.

[tealsuki]

I've started to develop a dislike of RCA plugs, especially since I accidentally ripped the centre plug out of one when I was removing it from my TV. D'oh.

Neutrik makes an excellent RCA-connector. Will endure almost any kind of abuse and makes ground contact first!
And here's a link: http://www.neutrik.com/en/phono-rca/profi-cable-connectors/

Those look lovely. They don't appear to be very expensive either. +1!

USB "thin" thumbsticks/drives/flash devices - usually one side is metal, so if you put it in backwards, you short your USB port, sometimes turning off the computer.

off-topic, but if this is happening to you, your computer is defective.

Computers have all kinds of over-current protection built into them nowadays. If it didn't shit down I'd be worried