Selective gold-tin plating is Samtec’s most popular plating option because it provides designers with the best of both worlds. Tin will oxidize, and therefore a higher amount of normal force and contact wipe is needed to break through the inherent layer of oxidation. Tin is used in the connector contact area where the proper normal force can be generated, and it is used in benign environments. In other words, we would use tin if we could. Therefore, due to physical size constraints of microminiature connectors, gold is often the only choice available. Fine pitch connectors do not have the space for a relatively large, thick contact beam with high deflection this is needed to generate the normal force tin required in tin-plated contacts. Gold requires a much lower amount of normal force compared to tin. The distinction between gold and tin comes down to normal force. (The connector in the video above is the SSW series) Normal Force The bottom line is, tin is better for applications with fewer cycles because of the extra forces exerted on the contact, and simply because it’s a softer metal. So a tin plated contact system requires greater normal forces and a longer contact wipe area to break through this oxide film. Tin plating starts to oxidize the moment it’s exposed to air. Tin is a lower cost alternative than gold, and has excellent solderability. Gold is a noble metal, which means it doesn’t react much to its environment. We also recommend gold for hostile environments, because it will remain free of oxides which could cause an increase in contact resistance. Our gold is alloyed with cobalt, which increases the hardness. Gold is used in high cycle applications because it’s rugged and has excellent wear properties (here’s example of a high-cycle connector). Gold is generally specified for high reliability, low voltage, or low current applications. In other words, make sure it works and meets your quality design specifications, but don’t over-design on the plating. There are numerous considerations to take into account (as evidenced by the variety of plating options on most basic connectors), but the best plating finish is whatever meets your system requirements, at the lowest cost. What Do We Recommend?ĭesigners frequently ask what plating finish we recommend. The majority of examples I’m using here relate to Samtec interconnects, but I bet the principles apply to other connector companies as well. That’s because the relative size of the plastic body on a miniature, mold-to-position microminiature connector is almost always larger than the body on a basic cut-to-position strip-line connector. And, of course, the pins are going to cost more if you’re using gold plating.Īs I mentioned in that previous blog, I can’t speak for all connector companies when it comes to costs. But on a basic 2.54 mm centerline terminal strip (“header’), it can account for up to 60% – 70% of the total cost of the connector. Let’s begin with cost. A recent blog explains that the major costs in a connector are the plastic body, the pins, plating on the pins, the labor to assemble it, and the packaging. And with most connectors, the bigger ticket items are the pins and the plating.įor example, on a micro pitch, high density interconnect product, the pin and plating may account for about 25% – 30% of the total cost of the connector. Plating affects the connector’s performance, life cycle, quality, and cost. So let us accompany You on Your way through our store.Choosing the right plating is critical to the success of a connector system. Sounds good, right? Thats good for You and good for us. If many visitors leave our site during the purchase process while choosing the payment method, we know that something is wrong and can improve it. So let us accompany You on Your way through our store. Nor do we pass this data on to Google, we don not have them not at all! Nevertheless, this data of SOMEONE will provide us with valuable information about our site, we want You to like everything here, that You feel good and - of course - buy our products. We do not know who You are, whether You are male or female, how old You are, how Your weight is - no idea. But look at it: we do not even know who YOU are, we just see that SOMEONE looks at our pages, how he/she does that, how long this SOMEONE lingers on the respective pages, etc. That sounds dramatically to You, we know. Why do we have to do that? Quite simply, you have forbidden us to watch Your steps on our site with Google Analytics. Too bad, now we have to go back to the glass ball or read in the coffee grounds to understand our visitors.
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