Why Do We Call These “DuPont” Connectors?

http://www.mattmillman.com/why-do-we-call-these-dupont-connectors/

by zdw • 5 years ago

91 81 5 years ago

The site seems to be fried, but a Wayback Machine archive is available: https://web.archive.org/web/20210322182029/http://www.mattmi...

nomdep• 5 years ago

The answer to this question unfortunately lives *a long time in the past*, perhaps 30 years ago

TIL that the dawn of time was 30 years ago

pram• 5 years ago

Close, but the dawn of time is actually 50 years ago! (Jan 1 1970)

laurent92• 5 years ago

It always amazes me that NASA engineers had to program the landing on the moon with negative timestamps. And not a single bug for the -0 / +0 year.

geocrasher2• 5 years ago

TL;DR: Berg made connectors like these. Berg was bought by DuPont who put their branding on things. Around this time in the early 90's, clones started showing up and enthusiasts assigned the "DuPont" to apparently differentiate between these new clones and the previous, officially made, "Berg" connectors.

fireattack• 5 years ago

Appreciated. It is probably just me, but I find the article itself (which I read in full) relatively hard to follow. So is the other related article [1].

I think it's because the author was trying to fit all the nuances in, which is a problem I suffer from myself when I write.

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20210209100324/http://www.mattmi...

geocrasher2• 5 years ago

No worries. I too found the article a little bit on the hard to read side. I can't say why specifically, but there seemed to be a lot of details that didn't really add to the story. Perhaps that's the "nuance" you were referring to.

kens• 5 years ago

My recollection is that these were called Molex connectors in the 1980s. Are DuPont connectors different in some way, or were the names used somewhat interchangeably?

martijnvds• 5 years ago

I've only heard "Molex" used for the connectors for power on (pre SATA) hard disks.

jeffbee• 5 years ago

There is a certain subculture where "a molex connector" is the pre-SATA computer disk power connector, but Molex makes a million connectors and the Molex catalog is an inch thick so it never made much sense to me. Another reason it doesn't make sense is that Amphenol and others make compatible 2-piece connectors.

If you want to sound like an informed person, don't use "molex connector" that way.

analog31• 5 years ago

Long ago, if you mentioned "Molex" to someone like a TV repairman, they'd be thinking of larger pins and housings, around 0.2 inch spacing. Naturally, Molex now covers a phenomenally wide range of offerings, but searching Google Image for "molex connector" brings back some fairly consistent connector types for the first page of hits.

It could be a case where a brand name carries a historical association that isn't accurate any more.

annoyingnoob• 5 years ago

There are a lot of connectors that get generically called 'Molex connectors'. Molex makes a ton of products.

mkipper• 5 years ago

Yeah, from my professional experience, "Molex connector" is normally used as a quick way to refer to a specific connector in your project that's made by Molex (assuming you're also using other connectors not made by them).

I wouldn't normally associate it with a particular connector, although I understand it's a pretty commonly used that way in the PC community.

rm445• 5 years ago

Different connectors. Molex connectors and the Molex company are still around. Not ruling out that you've heard them called the wrong thing, there's a bewildering array of connectors.

aidenn04• 5 years ago

Molex SL connectors are mostly compatible with these, but different. The page mentions them.

layoutIfNeeded• 5 years ago

Ugh, I absolutely hate these. They're always super hard to separate due to the slippery plastic they're made of.

terramex• 5 years ago

They are both super hard to separate and yet they separate on their own when not observed.

aidenn04• 5 years ago

The square-knot of the connector world!

bschwindHN2• 5 years ago

They're also quite unreliable compared to solid core wire. I've had a few confusing debugging sessions where one of these wires ended up being the reason the circuit didn't work - either no connection or a sporadic one.

aidenn04• 5 years ago

Aren't all connectors unreliable compared to solid core wire? I mean one has moving parts and the other does not.

tdeck2• 5 years ago

Did you mean crimped to solid core wire?

londons_explore2• 5 years ago

I suspect you've been poking solid core wire into these, damaging them. Then they become unreliable...

sigstoat3• 5 years ago

these are a PITA to crimp. :(

amelius5• 5 years ago

Could be the tool. How many pliers have you tried so far?

sigstoat3• 5 years ago

zero.

myself2484• 5 years ago

Just get the 63811-1000 and be done with it. This will suffice for 99% of open-barrel long-crimp terminals you'll ever encounter. (For short-crimp stuff like JST PH, look at the Iwiss 2820M.)

auxym3• 5 years ago

63811-1000

Expensive for two pieces of die cut steel, but I can confirm they've worked well for me on a variety of terminals, including automotive stuff.

Kirr2• 5 years ago

These tiny connectors absolutely must be used with a proper crimper.

http://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/dupont-and-d...

techdragon• 5 years ago

Investing the money in a proper crimp tool helps a LOT with these fiddly little buggers. I've got a nice set of interchangeable crimp dies that go with one of two different sized crimpers, ( Its from the same ODM/manufacturer as this tool set https://www.altronics.com.au/p/t2177-crimptool-ratchet-multi..., I just collected my own set from several different stores because I wanted a different set of crimp dies) and while I can crimp right down to these sorts of small connectors... the moment I have any problems or it doesn't crimp right first time I'll put down my big crimp tool, and swap over to the little crimp tool I have thats specific for these darn things, pretty sure its this one, https://www.altronics.com.au/p/t1537-crimptool-telephone-ter..., I've had it so long I've forgotten which model it is.

While having good tools helps, they are still a PITA, just no longer a RPITA.

interestica2• 5 years ago

Interestingly enough, 'du pont' would basically translate to "from the bridge". And these do connect (bridge) two sources. Sometimes history works backwards?

tachyonbeam• 5 years ago

Dupont is also simply a French last name.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupont_(surname)#:~:text=Dupon....

amelius5• 5 years ago

DuPont is a chemical company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuPont

oakwhiz• 5 years ago

I've never heard anybody call them "DuPont" connectors outside of Chinese e-commerce and electronics websites. (e.g. "dupont line") Usually I've heard them referred to as 0.1" headers or header pins instead.

jrockway• 5 years ago

I've always heard them called DuPont connectors. Might be a hobbyist vs. professional thing; I use them in hobby projects, so am probably exposed to the questionable vendors more than a professional would be. I was looking for crimping tools relatively recently and was surprised to find that reputable vendors don't call them DuPont connectors, even in passing. As far as I can tell, they have no name that everyone would recognize and that lets manufacturers steer clear of naming other companies, despite being so ubiquitous.

(I suppose this is a common problem with connectors. Someone could tell me "it's a Molex connector", and I'd know what they mean -- the one that supplies power to pre-SATA hard drives -- but of course Molex makes thousands of different connectors, so it's really a terrible name for that one specifically.)

xnyan• 5 years ago

As someone who came into electronics in a pretty indirect manner (started designing software for electronics testing, hard to be good at it without at least a decent understanding of how it works), connecter names/terminology/nomenclature proved to be one of the most annoying parts. I ended up doing a lot of reverse engineering to understand how things worked, and I hope that when a prospective EE is going through their ABET accredited program that they have some class that breaks it all down for them, but I had no such luck so just sort of brute forced my way into learning all connector types I encountered.

For anyone who wants to know - turns out, there a surprisingly limited number of types of connectors that are commonly used in most electronics today. You can go to any decent electronics supply outfit (mouser, digikey and many others) and in the space of a few hours familiarize yourself with most of what you need to know just by clicking through the connectors category and sorting by number of parts in stock.

consp• 5 years ago

Molex is also a misnomer in the same way. The original is the amp/te mate-n-lock and the comparable connector introduced later is the molex 8981. There is also an incompatible molex connector with a straight side which might explain the naming.

myself2484• 5 years ago

Ditto. They're Berg connectors or, just as often, we're using the latched Molex SL, which is compatible most ways.

"Dupont" is exclusively a Chinese-ism in my experience, along with saying "buckled" instead of "latched" and "welded" instead of "soldered".

macintux• 5 years ago

They're Berg connectors

The article claims they're not compatible with Berg connectors. Is it wrong?

smilekzs2• 5 years ago

Great observation and makes total sense, although IMHO it does not conflict with the point made in the article. It could well be the first adopters of these in China had indeed known them by the DuPont name due to the reasons explained in the article, then inadvertently participated in its spread.

On a side point, I call these "Taobao-ism" or "Aliexpress-ism". It may sound backwards, but the "cargo cult" days of practical EE ("shanzhai") have clearly shown a strong influence on the vast majority of EE colloquial corpus widely in use even to this day.

For non-Mandarin speakers out there:

"buckle", "latch" <---> "扣" (= attach / snap in place)

"weld", "solder" <---> "焊" (= join by molten metal)

Daneel_• 5 years ago

I agree, although I've never heard them referred to as DuPont connectors ever, regardless of context - this is a completely new name to me. I've always seen these referred to as 0.1" pin headers or just pcb pin headers. When I buy them from electronics stores here in Australia I see them listed as 0.1" pin connectors.

tdeck2• 5 years ago

The PCB end is usually referred to as a male/female pin header. However, the wire connector that consists of a plastic housing and a bunch of little female crimp tabs seems to often be called a DuPont connector.

Animats• 5 years ago

Yes. I've never heard them called "DuPont connectors". Search Alibaba and the term will lead you to 2.54mm crimp terminals, though.

"Header connectors" are usually board-mount pins.[1] Within that range there are lots of options. Molex is noted for kinds that have board-mounted pins with a base and locking ramp, and mates with a shrouded wire connector that takes push-in crimp pins. Those won't plug in backwards, always a good feature, and are hard to vibrate loose or bend by pulling on the wire. They still cost only about a quarter, even from DigiKey.

[1] https://www.digikey.com/en/products/filter/rectangular-conne...

shawnz• 5 years ago

Same here, I've never heard the phrase "DuPont connector" until this article (I would also call them 0.1" pin headers). But I thought it still had a nice exploration of the history of that terminology and the connector in general.

anonymousiam• 5 years ago

I still call them Berg connectors, but I am an old fart.

amelius5• 5 years ago

Somewhat related question: what is your favorite way to mount PCBs vertically and connect them? IDC ribbon cable seems popular, but there should be a simpler way? Simple pin headers are somewhat ok, but proper alignment is sometimes difficult (getting pin 1 into socket 1, and not pin 2 into socket 1).

Edit: I mean vertical mounting (stacking), so the boards are not under an angle.

varjag• 5 years ago

There's a multitude of indexed connectors on the market. Repurposing DDR memory connectors is rather popular.

tyingq• 5 years ago

For low-density, old school edge connectors with a key cut are nice. That way, the connector is part of the board itself. Sometimes called "Sullins" connectors.

amelius5• 5 years ago

Yes, but in my case it makes more sense to stack in the direction of the motherboard, rather than perpendicular to it.

auxym3• 5 years ago

I have some experience with interfacing with AMC PCB-mount boards in this fashion: https://www.a-m-c.com/products/?_form_factor=pcb-mount

I don't hate the style of pin headers they're using. Probably considered laughably low density by modern standards, but for industrial stuff they're robust. Never had issue with alignment, but they are not keyed, so it could happen I guess.

For modern, high-speed, high-density you could look into Samtec board-to-board offerings: https://www.samtec.com/connectors/high-speed-board-to-board though the big names (Molex, TE, etc) probably have equivalent stuff.

smilekzs2• 5 years ago

Yeah these are called FMC (FPGA Mezzanine Connector), which seems to be a standard that got popular first among FPGA eval board makers.

myself2484• 5 years ago

Parallel board stacking? Samtec makes a billion things to scratch that itch. The right one will depend on your manufacturing preferences.

Kirr2• 5 years ago

Berg Electronics was founded in 1950. It blows my mind that we still use this connector after 70 years.

https://www.connectortips.com/breakthrough-contact-design-sp...

techrat• 5 years ago

Definitely a case of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The pin works well for motherboard headers in several ways. It's compact, robust and straightforward. Even if someone doesn't get the orientation right of, say, a 2x5 USB Header Block, they still understand that like size means like size and you push the black part down on the shiny golden pins.

jareklupinski• 5 years ago

I have always called these "rectangular headers"

but I still refer to their surface-mount counterparts as JST connectors :X

Why Do We Call These “DuPont” Connectors?

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