Source for decent quality, low price 2.54mm pin headers - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Mangozac
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2020, 04:38:21 am
content: We need to find an ongoing source for bulk volumes of 40-pin gold plated "breakaway" pin headers, both straight and low profile 90 degree as per the attached photo. There seems to be anenormousvariety in pricing, from $0.20 up to over $2.00 from the likes of TE. Digikey/Mouser/Arrow don't seem to carry any low cost "generic brand" options.Obviously the plating thickness will be one of the largest cost contributors but for our applications we don't need anything too special.Does anybody have any recommendations for a source for these? A reliable Chinese supplier is fine too - from that perspective does anybody have experience with any of the header brands offered by LCSC?

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 27, 2020, 04:48:27 am
content: I suggest MINTRON from LCSC. They are decent and one of the cheapest. There is also BOOMELE which you should avoid. Some of their connectors are OKish but others are trash. Plastic melts too easy or pins are not aligned straight.

author: Mangozac
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2020, 05:24:59 am
content: Quote from: wraper on October 27, 2020, 04:48:27 amAwesome, that's exactly the kind of advice I was after. And quite pertinent, since I was looking at the BOOMELE ones!

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 29, 2020, 06:26:05 pm
content: Why not simply buy a bunch of samples from a handful of different brands, and compare the quality yourself?

author: Mangozac
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 29, 2020, 09:54:55 pm
content: Quote from: Doctorandus_P on October 29, 2020, 06:26:05 pmBecause it takes a lot of time, effort and cost. It is of course a last resort option but I figured it's a common enough part that people here would have some good pointers.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2020, 05:44:33 pm
content: I have never seen or had low-quality 2.54mm pin headers and I have boughta lotfrom Aliexpress and Ebay sellers during over a decade.Not even problems with plastic melting in reflow or with normal iron soldering. OTOH, many well-known "good" connector brands such as JST (off Digikey) seem to have very little temperature range in reflow (the process must be spot-on or they melt) so I do have a point of reference.For most parts, especially semiconductors, I don't recommend such shopping practices, but for 2.54mm pin headers, this seems to work out well; they are so easy to get right, it seems.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2020, 05:53:25 pm
content: https://www.toby.co.uk/board-to-board-pcb-connectors/254mm-headers/

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 06, 2020, 05:54:44 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on November 06, 2020, 05:44:33 pmTH connectors in general have much lower melting temperature than SMT connectors with rare exceptions. But many crappy pin headers have it so low that they start melting even before solder have time to flow into the hole. So if you inspect such pin header under microscope, you will see melted plastic around the pin.

author: Mangozac
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2020, 12:36:59 am
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on November 06, 2020, 05:44:33 pmUnfortunately that's been the opposite of my experience. We've tried many non-specific source headers over the years and have had many issues with melting or simply poor wetting/solderability of the pins

author: NorthGuy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2020, 06:00:02 am
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on November 06, 2020, 05:44:33 pmI did buy lots from eBay too. If I buy regular headers, they're perfect. If I buy gold plated, they're either have no gold at all, or they're covered with yellowish stuff which is very intense and doesn't look like gold at all - these usually have very bad solderability. I wasn't able to buy a gold plated header, not even once. I've read reviews on AliExpress, and there seem to be the same problem.It's like buying wall warts - the probability that you get something remotely matching the specs is zero.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2020, 08:05:31 am
content: Maybe I've been lucky, but no problem with gold plated either.

author: olkipukki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2020, 11:37:08 am
content: Quote from: Mangozac on October 27, 2020, 04:38:21 amWhat is your budget for this header?

author: S. Petrukhin
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2020, 09:49:42 pm
content: Quote from: wraper on October 27, 2020, 04:48:27 amI also used Mintron, quite good quality. But their stock in the warehouse was unstable. I once received a message when exporting a BOM that there are fewer such connectors than I need. I replaced them with Boomele and there were no problems. May have got lucky.LCSC provides good suppliers, I don't know if they do any checks or not. Contacts purchased on Aliexpress caused a soldering problem - they accepted solder very reluctantly.

author: Mangozac
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2020, 10:55:11 pm
content: Quote from: olkipukki on November 07, 2020, 11:37:08 amIt's for production, so the budget is as low as possible while maintaining decent quality. I'd expect under USD0.10 for a 40-pin straight strip bought in volume.

author: olkipukki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 09, 2020, 01:37:44 pm
content: Quote from: Mangozac on November 07, 2020, 10:55:11 pmWhat is your volume?

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 09, 2020, 01:44:46 pm
content: Quote from: olkipukki on November 09, 2020, 01:37:44 pmCompletely possible at qty of 10https://lcsc.com/product-detail/Pin-Header-Female-Header_MINTRON-MTP125-1140S1_C358691.htmlor even half of that, but I did not try thosehttps://lcsc.com/product-detail/Pin-Header-Female-Header_JILN-12251140CNG0S115001_C429959.html(according to part number it's PA6T plastic which should melt at 371oC but used with additives to lower it, according to wiki)

author: Mangozac
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 09, 2020, 10:18:46 pm
content: Quote from: olkipukki on November 09, 2020, 01:37:44 pm1k pieces.Quote from: wraper on November 09, 2020, 01:44:46 pmYes, I've seen much lower than that around the place but of questionable origin and completely unknown quality. LCSC shipping costs aren't great though, so the cost per unit would have to be down around USD0.05 to be worthwhile.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 09, 2020, 11:30:02 pm
content: Quote from: Mangozac on November 09, 2020, 10:18:46 pmWorthwhile compared to what? It's not that shipping is free if you order from somewhere else in China. Connectors are heavy. Cheapest I know in Europe is Connfly headers from TME. But they are crap, no pin alignment issue as with Boomele but their melting temperature is one of the worst I've ever seen. And ULO and Xinya from Maritex but I don't know anything about them.

author: Mangozac
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 10, 2020, 12:45:36 am
content: Quote from: wraper on November 09, 2020, 11:30:02 pmCompared to "house-brand" distributors here in Australia. I can get them for AUD0.16 each with free shipping (as part of a larger order obviously), which is less than USD0.12. The more this thread progresses the more it seems I'm best to just stick with such local sources!