Hello,
I've been having great success with hong kong class d amplifiers (2020, 2050 and the like). Some of them come without an audio input, but rather this strange white plastic snap with prongs. In this case, for both the power connection, as well as the audio input.
What are they called, and where can I find the male component? I especially would like a 3.5 headphone jack to mount in the three prong one.
Thanks so much!
Tor
I've been having great success with hong kong class d amplifiers (2020, 2050 and the like). Some of them come without an audio input, but rather this strange white plastic snap with prongs. In this case, for both the power connection, as well as the audio input.
What are they called, and where can I find the male component? I especially would like a 3.5 headphone jack to mount in the three prong one.
Thanks so much!
Tor
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They are made by a company called JST. Pretty common connectors, once you start browsing catalogues/shops you should find them easily. You need the housing and crimp sockets, also the special crimp tool as they can be pretty fiddly to do. You may get away with a cheaper generic crimp tool rather than the expensive proper one.
In this case I believe they are... Its ground, left and right. The other little plug is power. Other than that, there is only speaker outs.
The connector may carry audio on this board, but it's manufactured and sold as a general electrical connector, not one made specifically for audio. You won't find this or its mating connector if you search for an audio connector.
I've seen these on computer motherboards and expansion boards and such, for things like cooling fan power connections. If you have an old computer gathering dust in the basement you might open it up and see if it's got a connector you can use.
I'd guess Molex, among other brands, makes these, but Molex makes thousands of types of connectors. See if you can find it in the connectors on digikey.com or mouser.com.
I've seen these on computer motherboards and expansion boards and such, for things like cooling fan power connections. If you have an old computer gathering dust in the basement you might open it up and see if it's got a connector you can use.
I'd guess Molex, among other brands, makes these, but Molex makes thousands of types of connectors. See if you can find it in the connectors on digikey.com or mouser.com.
You need to measure the pin spacing once you have determined that search for either 2mm or 2.54mm depending on what you measure and then 3 way JST connector.
^^ this, those JST are only JUST high quality enough for low current auxiliary power, I would never use one for carrying audio, its contacts are the crappiest of crappy tin plated brass/copper alloys... if you are lucky.
I would even use something else for a battery connector, truly bad connectors. its a JST XH, XT or other X series, looks 2.54mm variant.
also the onboard connector you have there IS the male connector (notice the pins) you are looking for the female if you persist with using them
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tor - Check out this site here. These are ready made with the female connector on one end and bare leads on the other. Obviously these are easier to use then crimping your own. 🙂 These are often used for audio signals too. I've had to stock up on these for a project that uses 2, 3 and 4 pin variants.
Using these type (or other type) connectors allow you to swap out different things on your amp board without the hassle of de-soldering and re-soldering a connection. Can be beneficial.
no worries, sorry for the caps, should have maybe used italics or bold for emphasis instead =) good luck!
as mentioned above they can be handy if you need to be able to unplug or rearrange things, but thats the only reason to use them IMO. as they are 2.54mm pitch by the looks, there are other options that are not so bad from molex that are gold plated and definitely copper alloy, better locking mechanism and generally of higher quality
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As it goes, about 6 months ago, I looked into a dedicated JST crimping tool.....but they were something like $800! (not sure how they can justify that!)
So I whirred into action with Mr Google & in the end I bought myself a suitable universal crimping tool which whilst not quite as convenient as having the manufacturer's, it was was *way* cheaper & gives good results (& does other manufacturer crimp types too...Molex etc)...
Engineer PA-09 universal mini crimping tool for Molex, JST, HRS, AMP, JAE, servos etc.
....not exactly cheap, but I guess the precision of the dies is where the expense is.
So I whirred into action with Mr Google & in the end I bought myself a suitable universal crimping tool which whilst not quite as convenient as having the manufacturer's, it was was *way* cheaper & gives good results (& does other manufacturer crimp types too...Molex etc)...
Engineer PA-09 universal mini crimping tool for Molex, JST, HRS, AMP, JAE, servos etc.
....not exactly cheap, but I guess the precision of the dies is where the expense is.
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CPC sell a better tool that is ratcheting, and it is about half the price.
edit: can't find it on CPC any more but here it is on Farnell for about the same as that cheap tool.
http://uk.farnell.com/multicomp/ht-225d/ratchet-crimping-tool/dp/1624832?Ntt=ht-225d
edit: can't find it on CPC any more but here it is on Farnell for about the same as that cheap tool.
http://uk.farnell.com/multicomp/ht-225d/ratchet-crimping-tool/dp/1624832?Ntt=ht-225d
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Could you link the forum to one? (it'd be useful for others who haven't bought a crimp tool yet). Did you buy one, what was the make & model?
The crimp tool I bought (i.e. that I mentioned above) is certainly not "crap" & does give me the results I was after (did you see the associated video? A quick google found this on you tube for the actual crimp tool I bought - Universal (molex etc) mini crimp CRIMPING TOOL pliers servos RC JST JAE HRS AMP etc. - YouTube you can see the end result about 35s in).
The point about a ratcheting** crimp tool for a specific crimp ...is that the dies are typically more 'dedicated' (so therefore not as adaptable - just think about how many different crimp pin sizes there are....different length insulator lugs, conductor lugs, crimp width length etc - how can they all fit in the die?)...that's fine if you are only intending crimping one crimp variant...and I'd agree that that would then be the way to go (if you can find a cheap one). I'd also agree that if you are intending doing productioin runs, then a decicated ratcheting type is far better.
But if you're just a hobbyist that needs a tool to earn its keep & provide maxiimum flexibility across many different crimp (& vendor) types, then following a lot of research & reading I believe the one I bought is good bang per buck.
Horses for course as they say....but it's be quite misleading to just barge in & say it's crap (& without fielding alternative capable of crimping JST connectors, which you can say can be had for twenty quid)
** Re ratcheting ...at this size of JST crimp (tiny!) ratcheting isn't necessary...for larger crimps such as automotive type crimps then yes - but when the crimp is about 2mm wide it only needs a light grip to crimp....)
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I completely agree.....it'll look awful, but if it's for a one off, then that doesn''t matter. I decided to bite the bullet as crimping stuff neatly always eluded me & it's nice to have a tool in your box that caters.
I generally like to have the right tool too. With proper use it can make the job much easier. Having said that though... I've gotten pretty good lately at soldering and crimping my molex connectors simply using needle-nose pliers. Soldering and using pliers as my crimpers make for a solid connection. No problems so far. Sure it takes a little bit more time, but I have lots of that lately. 🙂
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