Headers and Housings

[smallbearelec]

As I mentioned, I'm working on the redesign of my Trem. I want to pick standard two- and three-pin headers, housings and pins for connecting pots and switches to the board. I did some catalog homework, talked with Molex, and came up with these Mouser numbers for the 3-pin version:

Header-- 538-70543-0002
Housing-- 538-50-57-9403
Pins--538-1602-0103

I have confirmed that the pins can be crimped with ordinary chain-nosed pliers, so you don't have to buy a $70.00 tool...

Would this style be a good choice for the stock list?

[bioroids]

They look nice... I never got to use this because I have no idea how to get the pins into the housing 

Miguel

[Processaurus]

I use these at my work, they're easy.  Of course we have the $70 tool   Its not that bad putting them on with needle nose pliers, you just have squeeze the "v" shaped part into a "c" shape before squarshing it down on the wire, and then the same for the part that grabs the insulation.  The only time I've used them for stompboxes is for the plastic DC jacks, so you don't have to desolder anything to extricate the circuit from its box.  I would only use the connector system with the pots and switches if I envisioned having to fix/change a circuit a bunch.  Which is hard to envision because everything always works the first time and everything is always perfect.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Its not that bad putting them on with needle nose pliers, you just have squeeze the "v" shaped part into a "c" shape before squarshing it down on the wire, and then the same for the part that grabs the insulation. 

I didn't enjoy doing this. I think it makes a lot of difference what kind of wire one uses. Still, I think it's the best available, in small format. Personally, I've had more success with IDC (insulation displacement) ribbon cables & sockets. that gets bulky & expensive though, compared to the molex.

[chokeyou]

is there a method of doing this that connects directly to a socket that can be stuck through a perfboard/PCB?

I've been looking for something like this FOREVER!

[Processaurus]

yeah, the pins that the header attaches to are 2.5mm spacing and fit into regular perfboard or veroboard.