Does it exist? Single wire "ribbon cable" type plastic socket connectors?

[kimelopidaer]

Hi. Do any of you folks use this type of connector? Can it be purchased?
Those white plastic socket connectors found at the end of ribbon cable...you can just push them into the female fitting usually mounted to a pcb.
I was thinking...how useful a single wire version would be; connecting pcb's to enclosure mounted hardware for instance.


Do any online companies come to mind who provide this type of fitting?
I've only seen the multiwire variety.
Regards,
K

[frank_p]

Go to the Molex site:
http://www.molex.com/molex/products/group?key=wire_to_board_connectors&channel=products
They are sold by a lot of the major distributors.

[Ice-9]

FrankP beat me to it, I was just going to say, this type of thing below.

http://uk.farnell.com/molex/503320-2560/recept-fpc-0-25mm-1-65mm-ht-25way/dp/2061539

I have used the plug and socket type in before and they are really cheap but the Molex crimping tool to wire the pins was a huge coming in at £200.

[StereoKills]

FrankP beat me to it, I was just going to say, this type of thing below.

http://uk.farnell.com/molex/503320-2560/recept-fpc-0-25mm-1-65mm-ht-25way/dp/2061539

I have used the plug and socket type in before and they are really cheap but the Molex crimping tool to wire the pins was a huge coming in at £200.

Those clasp connectors for flat ribbon cable are very very delicate! I have broken the clasps off of more of those by looking at them wrong than any other component I work with.

Edit: These are slightly different from what I am used to working with, but they have a very similar clasp system.

[waltk]

I use the 3-pin (molex KK-type) connectors quite a bit for pots and jacks.  the spacing of the pins is .1", so they work on many of the layouts out there.  I connect the crimp-terminals for the female connectors myself and usually just use single wires with them - but it would be easy to use ribbon-cable as well.

Advantages:
If you keep a collection of pre-wired pots and jacks, you can just plug them in for testing.
They fit on most layouts (and all of mine).
If you use them for all the connetions on a board, you can easily replace it in a finished enclosure (no unsoldering).

Disadvantages:
They take up space (sometimes I start with connectors, and replace them with solder connections later)
The connections are good, but not rock-solid.

[Jdansti]

FrankP beat me to it, I was just going to say, this type of thing below.

http://uk.farnell.com/molex/503320-2560/recept-fpc-0-25mm-1-65mm-ht-25way/dp/2061539

I have used the plug and socket type in before and they are really cheap but the Molex crimping tool to wire the pins was a huge coming in at £200.

Those clasp connectors for flat ribbon cable are very very delicate! I have broken the clasps off of more of those by looking at them wrong than any other component I work with.

Edit: These are slightly different from what I am used to working with, but they have a very similar clasp system.

Those clasp type connectors are definitely delicate.  I've broken several SMD type. Talk about a nightmare!

[Gurner]

I have used the plug and socket type in before and they are really cheap but the Molex crimping tool to wire the pins was a huge coming in at £200.

Agreed about the cost of the manufacturer's crimpers (it was going to be £450 for me!), so I bought a universal crimp tool which at least does a few different types of crimps across the main manaufacturers (including the Molex KK)....

http://www.precisionhandtools.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=53

(there's a video of it in action here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxMYjJ4Lwi0 )

....it's not exactly cheap  -  yet still about a tenth of what Molex were going to charge me ...but it crimps well.

[Ice-9]

I have used the plug and socket type in before and they are really cheap but the Molex crimping tool to wire the pins was a huge coming in at £200.

Agreed about the cost of the manufacturer's crimpers (it was going to be £450 for me!), so I bought a universal crimp tool which at least does a few different types of crimps across the main manaufacturers (including the Molex KK)....

http://www.precisionhandtools.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=53

(there's a video of it in action here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxMYjJ4Lwi0 )

....it's not exactly cheap  -  yet still about a tenth of what Molex were going to charge me ...but it crimps well.

Ahhhhh, excellent find Gurner. It looks like that does the molex connecters i use ( MicroLatch,2.0mm) So no more pain in th ebehind hand crimping with bad results. Timimng og this thread is great as I was just about to buy the expensive crimper asfer a 6 month search got me no where .   

[kimelopidaer]

Thankyou to all for the links and photo evidence.
It really seems to me that a single wire connector for easy connection/disconnection would be such a useful item for people building
Pedals.

Almost everything I've seen though, has minimum two wire connectors.

K

[kimelopidaer]

The following update I'm pleased to share.
I discovered these at RadioShack!
Snap connectors...these in particular are suitable for 18 - 22 gauge wire.
The store was also selling connectors called "quick disconnects", which are similar in function (single wire connecting) but shaped differently.

I hope it could be useful for some of you, even just for prototyping.

K

[springtank]

Greetings All - I use these all the time ...

http://www.gravitech.us/juwipaffq24.html

I cut them in half and solder to pots, then plug/unplug onto headers on my PCBs/breadboards.  Having different colors is a nice plus.  Easy to use. 
I use them for board-to-board power/signal connnections during checkout.  They are fairly rugged, not super strong, but reliable enough for testing.

These things used to come on a one-color roll and were very expensive; these are cheap by comparison.

Best of luck with your projects.

Brian