Anyone got a source for the good stacking pin headers?

Other Hardware General Electronics
1

As many of you undoubtedly know, stackable pin header is available in two versions.

The crappy ones, where the pins are stamped out of metal sheet - these are abundant, and absolute garbage. Because the pin is flat rather than square, they do not make reliable contact with some female pin header, and they're also more prone to damage, and generally look and feel to be of poor manufacturing quality.

The good ones, where the pins are square, and which have excellent fit.

Unfortunately, the two are very hard to tell apart in ebay photographs. I had found the good ones on ebay, from a chinese seller whose listing had close up pictures explaining why the other ones are bad. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be selling them anymore.

Does anyone have a source that is known to sell the good kind at a reasonable price?

2

I know what you mean about about the crappy vs good ones. Seems like it should be easier to find good stackable headers.

The best source I've found is Samtec.

They have a lot of product options and a great sampling program. You can order direct from their website - I can usually get parts in 2 days, but that probably depends on your area.

3

+1 for Samtec. I've never had any problems with their headers and they're fine to deal with directly.

I typically order in batches of 50 or so and they've never had an issue. Also significantly cheaper than buying the same parts from RS or Farnell.

I find their 2mm pitch headers a good balance between easy to work with and low space requirements.