Hi !
this is more a rambling but also ending with a kind request of advice.
Subject: DC power plugs.
Googling and clicking on images i found this picture ...
and i cannot help but wonder if this is really sane.
So many different sizes for the same exact purpose.
In my mind the right approach would be to stick with the best one and stop.
Because i am sure there is one that is better than the others.
Life would be better.
This said i need a low DC (max 24VDC) power connection solution, male and female and i wonder what would be the best combination.
I would like to replace the power plug in some units i have.
Thanks a lot and sorry for the outburst.
Kind regards, gino
this is more a rambling but also ending with a kind request of advice.
Subject: DC power plugs.
Googling and clicking on images i found this picture ...
and i cannot help but wonder if this is really sane.
So many different sizes for the same exact purpose.
In my mind the right approach would be to stick with the best one and stop.
Because i am sure there is one that is better than the others.
Life would be better.
This said i need a low DC (max 24VDC) power connection solution, male and female and i wonder what would be the best combination.
I would like to replace the power plug in some units i have.
Thanks a lot and sorry for the outburst.
Kind regards, gino
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I think engineers have done the world a great disservice with all the different standards in existence. Just look at screw threads.
To some extent the evolution you so nicely illustrate is temporal...device interfaces like these tend to shrink from the initial offering in order to facilitate smaller devices with more dense packaging. This is the case with the now ubiquitous USB connector, which really didn't seem too large and clunky when it was used to hook a bulky printer to a desktop computer case. Fast forward 15(?) years and ever slimmer smartphones have produced relentless evolutionary pressure until the micro-USB is maybe 10% of the volume of the original format. Fortunately this trend is limited by the ability of human hands (particularly the clumsy ones attached to the wrists of we seniors) to manipulate them successfully.
Hi and thanks a lot for the very interesting reply.
But more seriously i am very willing to find a very good combination for DC plugs, male and female, panel mounting is not needed i could leave some umbilical wire.
The maximum values are 24 VDC and 3A ...
I am even thinking to XLR connectors.
Thanks again, gino
I must defend my profession here...when you pick an example as old and hoary as threaded fasteners, it is history and not the perverse impulses of engineers who are to blame. When the world was made up of widely separated islands of manufacturing and international trade in things other than raw materials was largely limited to imperial groups, there was no driving force to produce convergence. One curious result is that the USA alone remains with one foot firmly in the English Imperial camp from which it originated (largely in non-traded entities like small scale construction) while the other is fully committed to the SI system (in goods traded globally). Only when there is a compelling economic pressure do people leave the familiar behind and adopt the common.
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Hi and yes you are right.
But i have seen very small plugs also for laptops with some 19VDC/3.5 A.
I had in mind more to this kind of application, not cell phone for instance where i understand the size limitations.
I think that especially contact area and quality are very important.
I am looking for a very good solution ...
Kind regards, gino
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Standardisation is a goal for the good of the people. Proprietising is for the good of companies. People consume, Companies produce. See the problem?
As for connectors, for amperes > 10, low voltage and any application where there's no point using an extra-small connector, I go to the XT60. Nice, robust, cheap. It has its flaws and isn't engineered for variants that go everywhere like a Phoenix Contact product is, though it works nicely and is widely available. The larger brethren, the XT90 and the 3 pole variant, the MT60 are improved in a number of ways though - in particular I would get the ones with the backshells.
I generally ignore barrel plugs, unless I can't control one side of the interface for some reason.
Hahaha
As for connectors, for amperes > 10, low voltage and any application where there's no point using an extra-small connector, I go to the XT60. Nice, robust, cheap. It has its flaws and isn't engineered for variants that go everywhere like a Phoenix Contact product is, though it works nicely and is widely available. The larger brethren, the XT90 and the 3 pole variant, the MT60 are improved in a number of ways though - in particular I would get the ones with the backshells.
I generally ignore barrel plugs, unless I can't control one side of the interface for some reason.
Hahaha
D is the correct answer 🙂
I can sort of understand all the different sizes if each was dedicated to a specific voltage, but in reality even the polarity differs between devices.
Then there are laptop power adapters, its almost like a game to see who can design the most unique proprietary connector. Those and Mobile phone manufacturers are the main culprits IMO.
I can sort of understand all the different sizes if each was dedicated to a specific voltage, but in reality even the polarity differs between devices.
Then there are laptop power adapters, its almost like a game to see who can design the most unique proprietary connector. Those and Mobile phone manufacturers are the main culprits IMO.
Define the saying of exact purpose...
Power plugs and cables are a bridge that it should be able to carry spesific amount of energy from a point named as A in to another point named as B.
Electical spesifications setting the rules regarding proper choice of parts, and therefore more choices is needed.
May be different sizes have advantages like; they can not be interchanged, current or voltage specifications and requirement of a designing a product.
Regards.
Regards.
I think people, including engineers, like standards but sometimes departments within a corporation don't, like visual design or marketing.
Back in the '80s I had a Sony Discman whose wall wart psu had one of those connectors.
Nominally a standard size but Sony's was ever so slightly different so that aftermarket wall warts would fit but not snugly so that it would cut out if you so much as looked at it.
Aftermarket wall warts cost a few £ while Sony charged £35.
Back in the '80s I had a Sony Discman whose wall wart psu had one of those connectors.
Nominally a standard size but Sony's was ever so slightly different so that aftermarket wall warts would fit but not snugly so that it would cut out if you so much as looked at it.
Aftermarket wall warts cost a few £ while Sony charged £35.
Hi and yes you are right.
I would very much prefer that, standards number reduced, the competition were on quality. But i understand that we have to face the reality.
Thanks a lot indeed. I think the XT60 will be perfect for my purpose.
I just want big contact surfaces and nice grip.
I see that comes also in nylon so more handy because i am a dog with the soldering iron 😱
Thanks again, gino
Yes, IMO all cars should be identical, in order to achieve interchangeability of parts. Stereos too, come to think of it.
It would help if people were identical. Then we could all wear the same clothes, listen to the same music, eat the same food, buy the same goods etc.
The four pin mini used for cell phone earset/microphones is a widly common single standard I wish had alternatives. At least in Apple's implementation the base normally used for ground is wired as the microphone hot with the ground on the first ring, presumably for electrical isolation from the speaker tip and ring. Problem is the base is easy to short to the flashy zippy metal cases Apple loves, grounding the microphone. I guess that's why you pay extra for 'standard' Apple cables.
With standards, 3D printer companies couldn't charge $30/lb for wire.
Without standards, I have a box full of adapters I can choose from during creative episodes.
(recently converted a LED tree from battery operation to mains juice by a grab in the box, 24/7 decorative lighting)
Without standards, I have a box full of adapters I can choose from during creative episodes.
(recently converted a LED tree from battery operation to mains juice by a grab in the box, 24/7 decorative lighting)
"There's like 8 different DC connectors, we should come up with a standard connector that works for everything!"
... and now there's 9 different DC connectors.
... and now there's 9 different DC connectors.
Hi if i understand well you mean that a plug good for let's say 24VDC/3A is not good as well for 6VDC/0.1A ?
If the answer is yes you can have just one kind of plug male/female for all the uses from a small wall power adapter to a laptop power supply.
Ok ... let's say two, one bigger and one smaller for lower V and A.
But not how many ? i think that we could find at least 20 different sizes
This is insane, this is irrational.
This is marketing much more than engineering and by a long shot.
We are slaved to marketing and this is not good.
Kind regards, gino
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