I'm looking for some connectors. I want wire to board stuff like this http://www.molex.com/molex/products/family?key=picoblade&pageTitle=Introduction&parentKey=wire_to_board_connectors&channel=products&chanName=family
I'm going to have 2 separate project boxes I want to connect. At least 10 wires.
Any online stores I can find stuff like this at?
Look at IDC connectors. They use ribbon cable and are good at connecting multiple connections.
any electronic supplier (digikey mouser etc) will have them
I think i'm going to use cat5. I already have cable, wall ends, ends and crimper. It looks like for ribbons i'd have to buy another tool set.
Any negatives on using cat5? I will be passing power through it.
EDIT: And I cut it down to 8 wires I need.
You need to check the current rating of the connector. How long is your
cable and what types of voltage drop can you tolerate?
Be careful of the very dense connectors like the PICO-BLADE that you linked
to. Unless you are going to spend the money for the proper crimp tool
or purchase pre-made cables you are better off with something else like
a header + IDC combination. The terminals are very small and difficult
to crimp without the proper tool.
(* jcl *)
www: http://www.wiblocks.com
twitter: http://twitter.com/wiblocks
blog: http://luciani.org
I'll check the connectors. The cable will be less than 6 inches long, maybe even shorter. It's just going through a door.
Thanks!
You need to check the current rating of the connector.
You are not going to burn Cat 5 cable with arduino level currents.
You are not going to burn Cat 5 cable with arduino level currents.
True. But the original question was for connecting two project boxes and there
was a mention of running power through the cable.
(* jcl *)
I think i'm going to use cat5. I already have cable, wall ends, ends and crimper. It looks like for ribbons i'd have to buy another tool set.
For IDC connectors all you really need is a way to apply pressure all the way across the connector evenly (you can get by with a pair of pliers, but it isn't recommended); typically a small, cheap bench vice will work OK. You might also try a pair of welder's pliers (they have wide and flat hinged jaws for clamping metal together for welding). But a bench vice is the best deal, and from a chinese import tool shop should cost more than $10.00 US for a small one.
Any negatives on using cat5? I will be passing power through it.
EDIT: And I cut it down to 8 wires I need.
It is OK to use for the application you are likely looking at, especially since people use it for tethers on underwater ROVs, passing power down it and video/data up it.
I would say it has one downside, unless you are lucky and have stranded core wire (rare to see, actually, but it does exist). That downside would be that as it is repeatedly flexed, the wires inside the cable can easily break. Depending on how you have it going through that door, and how much it will be bent/flexed, will determine how long it will last. A ribbon cable w/ IDC connectors would be a better solution in the long run.
Awesome, thanks for all the feedback.
The wire will never bend, going straight through a hole in the door to a box on the other side. I think i'll look into IDC ribbons for my next project, I really like the thought of using ribbons.
Here's the project i'm working on, it's an RFID door unlocker. My first Arduino project.
http://jrowarduino.blogspot.com
One very nice thing about the ribbons is the cable is usually free if you salvage
old IDE cables. Just remove the ends and crimp a new one on. You can also
tear the ribbon to reduce the number of conductors.
I lucked out on the NB2 boards which happen to have the same number
of pins (40) as an IDE cable.
(* jcl *)
www: http://www.wiblocks.com
twitter: http://twitter.com/wiblocks
blog: http://luciani.org
Are Molex connectors a good way to connect 3 wires to a bread board? I think the Ping! ultrasound sensor has a molex connector, but I wasn't sure how to connect it to a bread board. Anyone know?
Can a connector like this be used with a bread board:
Does the short end go in the bread board and the long end go to a molex receptacle like:
How is bare wire connected to the molex receptacle? Is a tool required?
Does the short end go in the bread board and the long end go to a molex receptacle like:
Yes but sometimes the short end can be a little too short for a good connection. But then you can solder two headers back to back and have long pins on both sides.
How is bare wire connected to the molex receptacle? Is a tool required?
You have to get the crimp-on parts as well, little metal things that crimp onto your wire and push into the receptical. Normally the "official" crimping tools cost a fortune (and I mean a fortune, $400-700) but you can use narrow-nosed pliers.
As for ribbon cable IDC connectors, I second cr0sh's vice idea, I've used a normal bench vice for years, very simple.
Yes but sometimes the short end can be a little too short for a good connection. But then you can solder two headers back to back and have long pins on both sides.
That was the trouble I had with the Ping!, the short end was too short. No one sells longer connectors?
You have to get the crimp-on parts as well, little metal things that crimp onto your wire and push into the receptical. Normally the "official" crimping tools cost a fortune (and I mean a fortune, $400-700) but you can use narrow-nosed pliers.
Is it fairly easy to do with needle nose pliers (just insert the wire, squeeze and insert it in the receptacle)?
Slightly better than pliers, but cheaper than the Molex/AMP type tools, is something like this:
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/CT-1/CRIMP-TOOL/1.html
Other vendors supply this tool as well.
-j
Hey @tehjrow, that's a cool project. It looks like you've got it pretty much working but I have a couple of suggestions for the next stages.
It would be a good idea to add a "door closed" sensor so that the controller knows when the door is physically open. You have a 10 second delay on re-locking, but if the door stays open longer than that it'll drive the deadbolt back out and the door won't be able to close. You could add a reed switch in the edge of the door and a magnet embedded in the frame so that the Arduino detects when the door has closed so that it won't try to re-lock prematurely. You'll need a tiny state-machine in your code so that it doesn't read the tag, unlock the door, then immediately discover that the door is closed and think it needs to lock it again right away: set a flag that trips if the door opens after the lock has been fired, and only re-lock the door if it closes again after being opened or the time expires without it opening.
Jon
Practical Arduino: www.practicalarduino.com
Thanks for the suggestions, however divorce has halted my project.
Molex's "How to recognize a good crimp": http://www.molex.com/tnotes/crimp.html
This is the kind of detail my obsessive mind needs!
I worry about the opposite, that my project will halt my marriage.
But too bad about the divorce. 
You also can take a look at JST connectors - they are very cheap, easy to crimp with small pliers and come in veriety of differwnt sizes
I prefer 2mm and 2.5mm
same connectors used on small stepper motors and batteries
Digikey has them just for a few cents a piece.