I want to make my own Gadgeteer main boards. I cannot make up my mind on using the SM or TH version of the 10 pin header.
I am concerned that if i use the SM version that people will rip off the connectors. Has this been any kind of an issue using the SM versions?
Also, has anyone bumped into a female SM version that would plug into the male version. I.E. if one were to make a board that would mount on top of the main board so the connectors would plug into one another without cables.
Thanks.
I’ll preface this by saying that I’m not an expert in this by any means, but having soldered quite a few of these sockets onto my modules at this point, I would be VERY surprised if someone was able to accidentally rip off a SM version of the socket. Given that we’re talking about 10 pins soldered to 10 pads, it would require quite a bit of leverage to pull the socket off, and from some of my attempts at de-soldering parts, the pads might even pull off the PCB before the solder joints let go.
So unless you were soldering a TH version with through-plated holes, I don’t know that you buy much by going TH. Arguably, TH sockets in through-plated holes would likely be more secure. But I’m not sure it’s a big enough difference to be the deciding factor in which to use.
I’d try a couple and see which is easier/cheaper to assemble, and decide on that basis.
The only reason i bring it up is that i remember seeing a post here that someone had ripped the connector off the board.
I agree that it would take quite a bit to rip off the SM connector, but then again i am ginger with my stuff.
i have tried both, the TH version would make it nearly impossible to pull off.
Just wanted to see how well the SM version is fairing up out there.
The only thing that would give me pause is the “daughterboard” idea. If you did find a female SM connector, I can possibly see the leverage of trying to separate the 2 PCBs potentially being enough to cause problems, but like you, when I pull the cables I’m pretty careful to grasp them close to the socket, so short of the daughterboard notion, I wouldn’t think SM would be a problem, reliability-wise.
It’s going to be almost impossible to align all the sockets perfectly enough to make this work well. That being said, you probably would have best success using TH male & female sockets with as tight a tolerance as possible on the holes.
Also note that the connectors from samtec is available with retaining clips that fit in holes, even for the smd version.
On the female side I do have normal 1.27mm female smd headers. They are not polarised, but fit perfectly otherwise. For alignment they have two plastic pins that fit into holes on the pcb…
The one that seed used on their Relay were very cheap… and the pads didn’t rest directly on the PCB but rather on the little pis which caused it to balance back and forth every time i connected the cable, and eventually the solder gave away…
i would pick good quality ones…
I think Architect outlined the different typed on the WIKI…
Cheers,.