Off-the-shelf cable assembly accelerates project completion

Harwin has widened the scope of its portfolio of ready-made high-reliability cable assemblies. The Gecko Screw-Lok (Gecko-SL) 1.25mm connector family grows on the options already offered employing the company’s Datamate products. A more extensive range of cable assemblies can be sourced, circumventing any upfront investment in equipment and staff training costs to carry out this work in-house.

Offered in both single and double-ended arrangements, the cable assemblies fully comply with the set IPC-620 cable and wire harnessing industry standard. They can be defined for either cable-to-cable or cable-to-board implementations. Each cable has a 26AWG wire gauge PTFE construction and is offered in 150/300/450mm (6/12/18") lengths. The assemblies are completely compatible with current metal backshells, for both added mechanical robustness and strong EMC resilience. Due to the hexagon-slotted screw fixings and mate-before-lock mechanism, these strong assemblies are straightforward to deploy, particularly in space-constrained environments. They benefit from the inherent resilience that the connectors display to high degrees of shock/vibration and extreme temperatures, including their relatively strong current carrying capacity (2A per contact, notwithstanding the narrow pitch).

Customers can choose from six to 50-pin arrays for their assemblies, all offered from stock via the company and global network of distribution partners. This indicates that there are no lead times to factor in, and end system production is not delayed. The required fixing hardware is provided – either directly or as part of the backshell kit.

“We have already seen a big of uptake of our Datamate-based off-the-shelf cable assemblies, and received a lot of positive feedback on their convenience, so bringing this capability to other connectors that Harwin manufactures was clearly a valid course of action,” explains Harwin’s product manager John Brunt. “Gecko-SL is the preferred high-reliability connector in situations where there are multiple mating operations involved. By offering these cable assemblies, we are now better able to address a more extensive spectrum of customer needs, so they can source the optimal solution.”