I found a place that sells nano connectors. These are real small. a nine pin 5 over 4 double row is 3/8" wide and 1/8" height. They have no minimum order requirements and you can get both male and females pre-wired. pin spacing is .025"
http://www.glenair.com/nano/ (http://www.glenair.com/nano/)
Cool! Thankyou!
Charles
I sent them a e-mail and hope to hear back from them.
PD, I hope you won't be too disappointed if you don't hear back from them. Companies selling space/military grade hardware rarely respond because if you are not in the business and don'thave a backer with deep pockets, you probably cannot afford to buy their products.
Jim
Your probably right. Maybe I should contact digitrax and give them the link
I have contacted Digitrax. Will wait
I have also contacted scale shops about this.
Digitrax thanked me for the link. We'll see what happens.
I got this reply from glenair
Good Morning Paul – Here are the standard prices, please let me know if the pricing is something you are interested in then we may be able to go further – Best Regards, Becki
http://www.glenair.com/micro-d/pdf/891-001.pdf
Part Number: 891-001-9PA2-0C1-18J
Qty: 10 pcs @ $95.41 each
Qty: 50 pcs @ $57.13 each
Qty: 250 pcs @ $49.13 each
Part Number: 891-002-9SA2-0C1-18T
Qty: 10 pcs @ $88.99 each
Qty: 50 pcs @ $53.09 each
Qty: 250 pcs @ $45.83 each
Delivery: 12 wks ARO
Becki Archuleta
Glenair, Inc.
Senior Product Specialist, Micro-D Products
Ph: 818) 247-6000 x 2457
Email: barchuleta@glenair.com
Looks like Jim Banner was right , the prices were steep . Mil spec connectors are expensive they are made to perform dependably in very hostile environments. Glen-air is a good company , Pyle National used to Buy components for some of the miniature connectors they made in the 1990s. Those connectors were not inexpensive either. Isn't there a consumer level manufacturer / distributer ie. Newarks or Radioshack ?
Thos are normal prices for the items.
Here are a couple suggestions. I have used the 9 pin JST. I found the 6 pin JST photo in aa Yahoo group run be a DCC online shop.
Here is a photo of a fairly small connector. The 9 pin JST connector. It measures 3.49mm X 14.95mm X 5.89 with 1.28m pin spacing. Carefully cut off what you do not want with a razor saw.
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/richg1998/DCC/NinepinJSTA.jpg)
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/richg1998/DCC/NinepinJSTB.jpg)
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/richg1998/DCC/SixpinJST.jpg)
Rich
My thought is to find a dependable small connector to use between the tender and locomotive. Actually Bachmann sells an ideal one. Their 4 and 2 pin connectors are ideal but they don't sell the other pieces separate from the tenders wired board. Please make both ends available for us. I would like to see a 2 and 4 pin wired connectors for both male and female here. 6" to 8" leads for both would be just fine. Even if you could give us the little circuit board they plug into with 6" or 8" leads that would be excellent. Lets get this into the Bachmann site as a part PLEASE
These work fine between loco and tender. Female is prewired, male needs wires soldered to pins. They are not polarized, so need to be marked.
http://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/home.php?cat=256
That is an advantage of the Bachmann plugs, they are polarized
On his Wiring for DCC website, Allan Gartner has a new page devoted to small plugs and sockets.
http://www.wiringfordcc.com/locos.htm#a21 (http://www.wiringfordcc.com/locos.htm#a21)
Jim
Almost all those connectors have a .1 pitch. The same as I get from Futurlec.
http://www.futurlec.com/ConnHead.shtml (http://www.futurlec.com/ConnHead.shtml)
The Bachmann connectors are half that size and very reliable.
Jim, the socket strips shown on al gartners site can be purchased at futurlec for about 1/4 the cost. An 8 pin machine tooled IC socket goes for .25 cents. They are not exactly the same on the plastic side but the metal parts are identical. They can still be cut to size.
http://www.futurlec.com/SockIC.shtml (http://www.futurlec.com/SockIC.shtml)
I got the idea from my Roundhouse steamers. Sometimes you have to compromise.
You could cut the 9 pin JST connector into a four pin and 2 pin just like the Bachmann connectors. One end has wires, the other is ready to be mounted to a tender or loco. I have taken apart a 4-6-0. The part with the pins is mounted into the bottom of the loco.
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/richg1998/Roundhouse%20steamers/Tenderbarwires.jpg)
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/richg1998/Roundhouse%20steamers/Couplingwires.jpg)
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/richg1998/Roundhouse%20steamers/Microattached.jpg)
Rich
Where do you get the male side of these connectors? They are all female. ( female / male )
I get them from the adapter that comes with DCC "Ready" locos.
I would think you can bum one or two from members of this group.
Another option.
https://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/product.php?productid=2450029&cat=76&page=1
Rich
would that be the top 2 items here?
https://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/home.php?cat=256 (https://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/home.php?cat=256)
Yes, those should be suitable. One is female, the other male. I would recommend contacting Bruce at Litchfield Station. He is very helpful. I buy all my DCC stuff from him. I see him in the Yahoo SoundTraxx group but I do not recommend anyone joining Yahoo Groups anymore. The Spammers have gotten into the groups and Spam quite a lot and lately they send out emails encouraging you to join a "new" Yahoo group. My Spam filter catches them.
Rich
The other side of the connector is right in front of you. I have been using those high-grade chip sockets for connectors dfor years--cut out the number of pins needed. The pins on the back that usually are soldered into a pc board are the male side. The sockets the female.
I usually look for a socket made on fiberglass board rather than plastic, and with as many pins as possible--they last a long time-- I usually leave some of the "background" on the femqle side to allow anchoring it to the tender body (or whatever)
gj
Would one of these boards be usable?
http://www.futurlec.com/ProtoBoards.shtml (http://www.futurlec.com/ProtoBoards.shtml)
NO--those are for building circuits. You need a "chip" (I.C.) Socket. gj
like these?
http://www.futurlec.com/SockIC.shtml (http://www.futurlec.com/SockIC.shtml)
If it is, then we are back to square one as these are .1" pitch
YES!! the machine tooled chip sockets-=- I buy at least the 40-pin type. Work quickly to solder the wire into the socket--and a bit of shrink tubing on the pins. gj
I have used these before but the overall connector is rather large but these pins are easier to cut apart than IC sockets. Put the link in your favorites folder.
http://members.shaw.ca/sask.rail/plug-and-socket/Little-Plugs-and-Sockets.html
Rich
Paul,
The pin spacing on the NEM 651 is only .05". The entire connector is only .33" wide X .11" thick. The prewired female socket has 12" leads, enough matching color wire for soldering to the male plug.
In fact, you don't even have to solder any wires to the male connector. Use two prewired female sockets, then use one double ended male connector as a joiner. This makes a 24" long unpluggable harness. By making the plug connection in the tender, you can also eliminate the extra wire clutter between the loco and tender.
I doubt if you will find a smaller or simpler inline connector. If your only concern is polarity, simply match up the wire colors, make tiny marks on one side or whatever for visual identification.
If you are waiting for Bachmann to release the plugs/sockets separately, I wouldn't hold my breath. :D
Please hold your breath, I can smell it from here! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
I also suggest that you not light a match in your basement. >:(
OOOPPS, I'll be there in a minute! :o :o :o :o :o :o
I purchased a set of plugs with the wires about a year ago from Bachmann. They were to replace a damaged set. I could not purchase the matching ones in the 4-4-0 loco.
I suspect the connectors are installed in China so I doubt Bachmann would know the source of connectors. I have the massive Digi Key and Mouser paper catalogs and have spent a lot of time looking for these but have not found them.
I doubt any Bachmann workers in the USA facility in Philadelphia are model railroaders. That is what happens when bean counters buy up small model railroad companies.
Rich
There are many Nano connectors available, as noted earlier they tend to be very expensive MIL-SPEC.
These are polarized, available as prewired however the coding follows the EIA/IEC color convention.
http://www.omnetics.com/index-1.asp
Wire colors for the prewired NEM651 female connector are:
Red, Black, Orange, Gray, Yellow, White.
I just got my connectors from litchfield station. they are the same size as the bachmann plugs but are 6 pin straight. They look like a winer. I'l update when I install them.