Connect straight cylindrical pin to PCB

[cowski]

I'm looking to mount a small PCB in a plastic, water-resistant enclosure. On occasion, I need to get power through the enclosure to recharge the battery. The design uses small diameter (2mm [~.080 inch]) cylindrical pins press fit through the housing, perpendicular to the PCB. This will be a high volume assembly so we'd like a quick drop/press in place assembly (as opposed to a slow soldering operation). I'm looking for a suitable connector that could be mounted on the board. This is a low voltage DC application (5VDC, less than 1 amp). I found some "pin receptacles" like these:

https://www.mill-max.com/products/rec/0376

However, at $0.50 each (US), they are too expensive for this project's cost target. We'd need something closer to $0.10 each (or less) to meet targets.

Any ideas for a low-cost, off-the-shelf connector?
The volumes may justify custom tooling for this application, so any ideas for a low cost (per piece) custom part are also welcome.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

The connector you found seems like the way to go if you absolutely won't do solder.

Other options might be changing the pin to a pogo of one form or another, but you're simply trading where the money ends up (now in the pin).

This seems like a good opportunity to use spring contacts on the PCB and a metallized surface (rather than a pin) on/in the molded cover. The surface could still be molded in, like the pins, but it would be easier to connect to. But again, the cost of all of it will likely add back up to your original price anyway.

If soldering is too slow, what about a welding system?

A cheap solution (though you'll have to work on quality assurance and lifetime issues) would be using an eyelet on the PCB, crushed via anvil, and then friction-fit pushed onto the pins.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[Skogsgurra]

Press-fit pins used to be a cost-effective solution when producing backplanes for wire-wrap.

https://www.google.se/search?q=pres...alM%3A%3BV0uC7n7Bn5A19M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F

http://www.interplex.com%252Fcompli...it;122;125&usg=__Djjbv_9LTdi_4H2SjQeS51klH2Q=

Gunnar Englund

http://www.gke.org

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Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.

 

[ornerynorsk]

How about a standard charging jack molded in with a plug/cover to maintain the water resistancy?

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[cowski]

MacGyverS2000,
The deformed eyelet sounds like it might work in this case, thanks for that.

Skogsgurra,
The press fit pins look interesting, will have to contact them for a quote...

ornerynorsk,
Using a charge jack with a cover was the initial design direction. We are exploring an alternative design for both aesthetic and cost reasons.

Thanks for the ideas.

www.nxjournaling.com

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Gunnar's press-fit pins and my idea are the same... his uses the annular ring manufactured into the PCB, mine provides a more durable annular ring via the eyelet. If the board itself will not see much force after it is installed, use Gunnar's idea and switch to a square pin with a decent-sized hole/annular ring.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[Comcokid]

Look at Zierick.com