What is a PCB Connector？

One of the largest categories of connector types, printed circuit board (PCB) connectors are designed to be mounted or processed to a printed circuit board. There are two primary categories of PCB connectors; board-to-board and wire-to-board. Both types improve manufacturability by allowing equipment to be manufactured in small sub-systems that later are plugged together. The use of these sub-systems also allows for design flexibility (meeting of customer specific requirements) and easier repair and upgrade of a system in the future.

What is a PCB Connector？

A ‘PCB’ or Printed Circuit Board connectors are a type of electrical connector, made up of a housing and contacts which join sections of circuits together on PCBs, namely boards where conductive tracks for electronic components are printed. Some devices hold more than one PCB and will utilize a variety of equipment to build a connection between the boards.

PCB connectors are mounted on the PCB and are typically used to transfer signals or power from one PCB to another or to transfer to or from the PCB from another source within the unit. Connectors provide an easy method of Design for Manufacture, as the PCBs are not hard-wired to each other and can be assembled later in a production process.

There are different types of PCB connectors that have different roles to play on the board. The final application will determine the Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) properties of the connectors used in the PCB design. For example, a connector used within a mobile phone will need to be smaller and lighter than a connector used within a car to withstand high current.

PCB Connector Orientations and Selection Recommendation

The term PCB Connector refers to a basic multi-pin connection system, typically in a rectangular layout. A mating pair of PCB Connectors will either be for board-to-board connections or cable-to-board (also known as wire-to-board).

Board-to-board connector layouts can provide a range of PCB connection orientations, all based on 90-degree increments:

• Parallel or mezzanine – both connectors are vertical orientation;

• 90 Degree, Right Angle, Motherboard to Daughterboard – one connector is vertical, one is horizontal;

• 180 Degree, Coplanar, Edge-to-Edge – both connectors are horizontal orientation.

Other names for PCB Connectors

PCB Connectors can also be known as PCB Interconnects. Specific terms are also used for the two mating sides of the connection.

Male PCB Connectors are often referred to as Pin Headers, as they are simply rows of pins.

Female PCB Connectors can be called Sockets, Receptacles, or sometimes even Header Receptacles.

Types of PCB Connectors

There is a wide variety of PCB connectors available on the market, all designed to meet the needs of specific applications. For example, some connectors specialise in resisting vibration and shock from environmental factors, and provide stability under stressful conditions. Other connector types are much more delicate for highly sensitive applications, or of a more standard, economical design for industrial production and manufacturing.

For the more stressful environmental conditions, High-Reliability connectors are key to ensuring that electrical connectivity is not disrupted. For more static equipment, Pin Header and Socket designs of PCB Connector are perfectly sufficient for the task.

The most common PCB connector types include one-piece card edge; PCI Express, Micro TCA, and VRM connectors and two-piece board-to-board; FFC/FPC, stacking connectors, wire-to-board, DIN41612, PCMCIA, M55302, memory/adapter card sockets, backplane and mezzanine connectors, as well as square/round post headers and receptacles.

How to clean PCB connectors?

Cleaning is an essential part of maintenance for the good functioning of PCB connectors and electronic devices in general. Especially if not used every single day, connectors are likely to accumulate dirt and eventually corrode making their use no longer possible. Carrying out a cleaning routine enables you to avoid power loss and maintaining good contacts. Please note that the right tools are required in order not to damage parts that come in contact with the circuits.

• While Isopropyl Alcohol seems to work best to remove corrosion, its use on connectors require extra care as it is a flammable chemical compound.
• A quicker solution is represented by using a PCB edge eraser, also known as cleaning scrub block, which is basically a simple eraser with a fine abrasive texture. Being it more efficient and abrasive than a standard pencil eraser, its application has to be quite gentle not to damage any parts of the connector when used to remove dirt and rust.
• Using a brush (such as a PCB Cleaning Brush) can come handy when the terminals are particularly small and more precision is needed.

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