New vertical poke-home connector competes against hand soldering in 18AWG applications

AVX have a new vertical connector capable of successfully bridging the gap between inexpensive, but wildly inconsistent hand soldering processes and expensive, exceedingly reliable two-piece connector systems in high volume, 18AWG applications with perpendicular terminations and limited board space. These include power supplies, LED drivers, and industrial and motor controls. Carefully tooled to effectively compete against hand soldering processes, which are all but completely devoid of materials costs, the new 58-9296 Series single position, vertical poke-home connectors finally provide design engineers with a compact, cost-effective, and electrically and mechanically reliable alternative to hand soldering. Featuring a unique, stamped and formed phosphor bronze box contact that maximizes both board attachment and wire capturing strength, the new vertical poke-home connectors are 23% smaller than existing vertical connector solutions, allowing them to fit into the extremely tight spaces between larger, densely populated plated through hole (PTH) components, and have tight tolerances in critical areas to minimize the potential for ingress resulting from the secondary potting or epoxy encapsulation processes commonly employed to protect industrial electronics from water and other harsh environmental hazards. "Our new 58-9296 Series vertical poke-home connectors deliver reliable, repeatable solutions for a wide variety of 18AWG applications with vertical terminations and limited board space at a price/performance ratio that any design engineer who's open to examining their true applied costs - which include quality, process issues, and throughput - will find attractive," said Tom Anderson, connector product manager, AVX. "It was challenging to strike the appropriate balance between cheap, but inconsistent hand soldering processes and consistent, but expensive two-piece connector solutions, but this new series successfully delivers electrical and mechanical reliability in a minimal x/y footprint at a cost that will finally allow EEs to prioritize performance while simultaneously minimizing costs."