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Outdoor DC power connector 50V/10A, 2-contact

J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jon said:
AMP makes a line of circular plastic connectors, similar to mil-spec
but all plastic, I'm pretty sure they make an environmental version
for a bit more. This is their CPC line. Oh, $10 for the PAIR?
Not going to be much available in that price range.

Unfortunately much in CPC series has been obsoleted, not sure whether
that is because it's now owned by TE. When I click "in stock" on the CPC
stuff at Digikey the number of hits goes from 728 down to 40. Not a good
sign. But thanks anyhow for pointing out this series.

And yeah, prices are a bit "highish" :)
 
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
Basically if something looks dicey, you don't do it. On par with getting
your ass sued is a device failing in the field. It generates ill will
with the customer, and they don't come back.

For example, I heard of some company that had a component manufacturer
fail to deliver parts on time, and said company has been dissing' the
manufacturer on usenet for years. Even though the manufacturer has sales
exceeding two billion dollars, said company claims the manufacturer
never delivers parts. ;-)

You wouldn't be defending your former employer, M***M? For the record, I was
told by our management they don't f**k over tier-1 companies; "don't worry.".
At least they believed it until two weeks ago. Never again - another bridge
burned.
I didn't mention this, but I use canons for home brew power connections
all the time. It is a solid connection. I use the 3 pin connectors since
I know what I am doing. That of course would be a disaster in the field
since many low level signals go over 3 pin canons, hence the use of 4
pin canons for power.
Canon == XLR?
 
Yes. Digikey also still has some with more than two pins. But the vast
number of non-stock ones and the discontinuance notices on many 2-pin
versions has me concerned. So I better concentrate on Conxall and
Neutrik. But first I have to wrap up a switcher design. Done dozens by
now,  it gets to be boring :)

I've always liked Neutrik, they just feel solid very simple to
assemble
with the best strain relief, and almost all types and genders fit in
the
same panel cutout

always hated the switchcraft XLRs, assembled with small screws an
what
not, but I see they have now made a series similar to Neutriks

-Lasse
 
M

miso

Jan 1, 1970
0
If I and people I worked with would have followed that philosophy during
our engineering life a lot of medical equipment would not exist. Or to
say it more bluntly, many people would die that don't have to.

This is also why I do not subscribe to the philosophy that progress can
only occur incrementally and following a rigid plan. That's been tried
in far away and not so free countries. It didn't work.

You don't get it. Looking dicey is in the eyes of a skilled engineer.
That doesn't mean you don't tackle difficult problems. Rather it means
you don't do something asinine to save a few bucks.

Man, it must hurt to carry that chip on your shoulder all day.
 
S

Spehro Pefhany

Jan 1, 1970
0
Yes, XLR. I guess you really can't call them Canon these days.

A great cheap connector.

They were Cannon. Canon is the company that makes cameras.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
 
Hello Everyone, Looking for a DC connector that can take up to 50V and upto 10A. Two contacts, water- and weather-proof. One male bulkhead in the unit and then one female plug for the two wires. Should be <$10 for the pair, so the fancy military ones from companies like Deutsch are out. So are the single-contact solar MC4 connectors. Seems every time something gets called solar the price goes up 3-4x. It is to connect a small solar panel in the 50-100W category. The issue is that the connector must point towards the outside of the unit and is exposed to the elements. So they both can get rain when it's unplugged but also when plugged in. The plug on the cable could worst case even be laying in a puddle for hours. I remember an example from Europe but way too big here: Their standard trailer connectors from the 70's. it could literally drag through the mud for half a day, you'd hose itoff, plug in, bingo. Does anyone know about such a connector? -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/

BobS,

Try Deutsch DT series, environmental, reasonable cost and have flange mount.. Or
Weatherpack, low cost, enviromental, flange mount??
 
K

Klaus Kragelund

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hello Everyone,



Looking for a DC connector that can take up to 50V and up to 10A. Two

contacts, water- and weather-proof. One male bulkhead in the unit and

then one female plug for the two wires. Should be <$10 for the pair, so

the fancy military ones from companies like Deutsch are out. So are the

single-contact solar MC4 connectors. Seems every time something gets

called solar the price goes up 3-4x.



It is to connect a small solar panel in the 50-100W category. The issue

is that the connector must point towards the outside of the unit and is

exposed to the elements. So they both can get rain when it's unplugged

but also when plugged in. The plug on the cable could worst case even be

laying in a puddle for hours.



I remember an example from Europe but way too big here: Their standard

trailer connectors from the 70's. it could literally drag through the

mud for half a day, you'd hose it off, plug in, bingo.



Does anyone know about such a connector?
The trailer version from europe:

http://www.thansen.dk/products.asp?c=7430253773&n=-1040802239

Goes for 15 USD for a set, but thats just from a store, I bet you you can get it below half price if you look for it.

Regards

Klaus
 
   The Switchcraft had one screw that didn't come out when you opened
the connector.  It was left hand thread that went down into the
connector body when turned to the right. It was the only brand I would
use.  Amphenol made one with a tiny screw that could fall out, and often
stripped, or came loose.  I replaced hundreds ofd them with Switchcraft
back in the '60s & '70s.  I didn't like the Cannon series. They were a
pain to use.  I've had people drive over the Switchcraft, and all they
did was scratch the finish.  I saw a lot of damaged Amphenol & Cannon.

'60s & '70s that was before my time ;)

don't know when Neutrik came with their XLRs, but I'd still say they
are much
better don't even require tools

Neutrik is last at around
11:30

-Lasse
 
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
miso said:
You don't get it. Looking dicey is in the eyes of a skilled engineer.
That doesn't mean you don't tackle difficult problems. Rather it means
you don't do something asinine to save a few bucks.

Man, it must hurt to carry that chip on your shoulder all day.

The first sentence you wrote in your first reply was, quote "My concern
is getting sued".

Well, for me it simply is not. I tend to think outside the box and, yes,
that does include taking a risk at times. Technological development
stops if people don't. I simply asked if anyone knew low cost connectors
that fulfill the requirements. Some respondents have.
 
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
Klaus said:
]
I remember an example from Europe but way too big here: Their
standard

trailer connectors from the 70's. it could literally drag through
the

mud for half a day, you'd hose it off, plug in, bingo.



Does anyone know about such a connector?
The trailer version from europe:

http://www.thansen.dk/products.asp?c=7430253773&n=-1040802239

Goes for 15 USD for a set, but thats just from a store, I bet you you
can get it below half price if you look for it.

Yes, that's the one I remember from my parents' cars and travel trailer.
But it is way too big and bulky. In the US they are smaller but usually
not panel-mountable.
 
   What good does that do, when you need a soldering iron?

XLR is used and abused for so many different things, I can't tell you
how
many times I've opened one up to check if it was what I needed.

sometime is it twisted pair for rs485, sometimes shielded pair
microphone cable,
sometimes speaker wire, sometimes wired for unbalanced etc.
   What is it with videos with almost no soundf, and completely out of
focus?  There was no need to remove the saddle on that Cannon connector,
if it had the proper sized strain relief, and  the cannon didn't provide
a connection between the sheild and the housing.  It was a royal pain in
the ass at a transmitter site.  You could lose the lock & spring on the
Cannon, as well.

   Those are not the classic Switchcraft A3F or A3M connectors.

http://sigma.octopart.com/9857915/i...ustomcables.com/images/Switchcraft XLR.jpgare the
real Switchcraft XLR connector with the captive screws.

   I don't like all plastic audio connectors for any application.  A
chuck?  It's a collet!

the Neutrik is also metal, only the cable entry is plastic/rubber just
like
the switchcraft
   I can't find any photos of the original style Amphenol 'XLR' with
their blue inserts.

looks like the current Amphenol XLRs are a copy of the Neutrik ones

-Lasse
 
Hello Everyone,



Looking for a DC connector that can take up to 50V and up to 10A. Two

contacts, water- and weather-proof. One male bulkhead in the unit and

then one female plug for the two wires. Should be <$10 for the pair, so

the fancy military ones from companies like Deutsch are out. So are the

single-contact solar MC4 connectors. Seems every time something gets

called solar the price goes up 3-4x.

You do understand that the descriptor "female plug" is a contradiction? Plug is synonymous with male, and receptacle or socket is synonymous with female.
It is to connect a small solar panel in the 50-100W category. The issue

is that the connector must point towards the outside of the unit and is

exposed to the elements. So they both can get rain when it's unplugged

but also when plugged in. The plug on the cable could worst case even be

laying in a puddle for hours.



I remember an example from Europe but way too big here: Their standard

trailer connectors from the 70's. it could literally drag through the

mud for half a day, you'd hose it off, plug in, bingo.



Does anyone know about such a connector?

Yep- they're still in use in great quantity in the automotive market but once again your unrealistic demand of requiring hundreds and hundreds of mating cycles disqualifies them.

How the heck did you get yourself in the bind of requiring a bulkhead mount plug???
 
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
You do understand that the descriptor "female plug" is a
contradiction?


This would be a plug with female contacts:

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Neutrik/NAC3FX/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvlX3nhDDO4AJHDeJdaDC8RkNtPhMdUvC0=

... Plug is synonymous with male, and receptacle or socket
is synonymous with female.

In some parts of S.F. that may be different :)

Yep- they're still in use in great quantity in the automotive market
but once again your unrealistic demand of requiring hundreds and
hundreds of mating cycles disqualifies them.

Actually, it appears two of the choices discussed here (Conxall and
Neutrik) can do that. But first I want my client to play with them, see
which ones they like best. Then we'll try to fill in the blanks that
connector datasheets often leave.

How the heck did you get yourself in the bind of requiring a bulkhead
mount plug???


Solar array -> generates power -> plugs into unit that needs a bulkhead
connector. You don't want kids playing with a loose connector and make
sparks by sticking a nail head in there or do some other nonsense :)

A wee challenge with that is that most connectors aren't rated for
connection under power. Since we only use a fraction of rated power I'll
also inquire about that at the manufacturer of choice.
 
Perilex? Those are a tad big and not waterproof :)

Nope.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60309

I think it would be acceptable to run the grey 2P+E variant. for your
needs.

If the application really is connecting solar panels at 50 V 10 A, I
do not understand why you complain about size, after all 50V@10A is
500 W and you need in practice about 5 m² of solar panels, so the
connector size should not be a problem.

Regarding waterproof solar panels, do you really need IP67
(submerged)?

I would guess something like IPx2 (rain proof) would be enough ?

However, if you are talking about solar panels on a sailing boat,
there are much more demanding issues like the salty sea water
spray:).
 
R

Rich Webb

Jan 1, 1970
0
On Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:34:14 -0700 (PDT),
You do understand that the descriptor "female plug" is a contradiction? Plug is synonymous with male, and receptacle or socket is synonymous with female.

And then there's the issue of whether the gender refers to the contacts
or the overall connector body.

There isn't any consensus. Here are the results from one on-line survey
(that got it wrong, IMHO)
<http://www.jameco.com/Jameco/workshop/challenge/maleorfemaleresults.html>

Plugs are on cables and are "mobile" while receptacles are on
bulkheads/panels/equipment and are "fixed."

Gender is usually associated with the conductive element, the actual
electrical contact. Thus a DB-9 female plug is on a cable with a
backshell (or overmolded equivalent) and has the conductive mating
surfaces in the form of open cylinders (sockets). The DB-9 male
receptacle is a panel mount on the equipment with, perhaps, a strain
relief inside but no backshell and the conductive mating surfaces are
closed cylinders with a tapered point (pins). The original IBM PC serial
cables (and their DB-9 progeny) have two plugs, one male and one female.

But it is also true that gender applies to the overall housing, so if
the housing of A fits into the shell of B then A is the "male" housing
side, even if it carries sockets vice pins. That is, this
<http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/865609SLTLF/609-1467-ND/1001781>
would be a "male receptacle" since the housing is inserted inside this
<http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/5-747904-4/A102056-ND/2262185>
Of course, that's backwards from the usual terminology.

Long story short: There are eight possible states: plug or receptacle,
male or female housing, and male or female contacts.

Round MIL-style panel-mount receptacle housings are usually male (they
fit inside the shell housing on the mating cable plug) but they and the
plugs can usually (it depends on the series) be ordered with inserts
that carry either male or female (pins or sockets) contacts.
 
J

Joerg

Jan 1, 1970
0
Nope.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60309

I think it would be acceptable to run the grey 2P+E variant. for your
needs.

That's still almost the size of a European trailer hitch connector.

If the application really is connecting solar panels at 50 V 10 A, I
do not understand why you complain about size, after all 50V@10A is
500 W and you need in practice about 5 m² of solar panels, so the
connector size should not be a problem.

Regarding waterproof solar panels, do you really need IP67
(submerged)?

I would guess something like IPx2 (rain proof) would be enough ?

IP65 would be good. The Neutrik and some others supposedly are. My
client likes them but we'll have to have custom solar cables made
because the max OD they can take is 0.470" or 12mm.

So they ordered some yesterday and later will try them out, hold the
hose onto it, and so on.

However, if you are talking about solar panels on a sailing boat,
there are much more demanding issues like the salty sea water
spray:).

No sail board use :)

But it will be used right at the coast so some sea spray is possible. A
big issue with the Perilex would be the 40C limit. We'd be way above a
lot of times because the unit could sit in places like New Mexiko, in
the full sun all day long, and no wind.
 
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