Page 17 - ConnectorSupplier.com - How-to-Specify Handbook

Five Things to Consider When Specifying Custom Molded Connectors and Cordsets
Mark Sweeney, President/COO, Remke Industries
Molded connectors and cordsets are commonly used with sensors and control devices that require easy disconnect. Many standard molded connector and cordset solutions are available on today’s market, but standard products don’t always exactly align with application demands. In these instances, some element of customization is required.
Customizing molded connectors and cordsets can result in easier installation, less required maintenance, higher reliability, and precise, application-speci c performance. And, although many people assume that customization is always expensive, that simply isn’t the case.
The customization of molded connectors and cordsets ranges from simple to complex. Sometimes simple, inexpensive changes, like modifying a stock product with minor alterations, are all it takes to ideally suit an application. More involved, but still not cost-prohibitive, changes can include changing a standard product’s materials, threading, plating, private labeling, packaging, and kitting. Manufacturers can also engineer fully custom products to ideally suit unique application speci cations. This option is the most complex, but even full customization can sometimes prove cost effective when applied costs, rather than just component costs, are taken into consideration.
Each application has its own unique set of operating characteristics that no single product can accommodate, which is why so many component customization options exist. Navigating an extensive range of customization options for molded connectors and cordsets may seem challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. Just be sure to consider the following.
1. Material Choices for Coupling Nuts and Receptacle Bodies
Molded connectors and cordsets are used in a variety of environments, many of which are harsh and extreme. So, material selections should be based on the speci c environmental needs of a particular application.
Five materials commonly used for coupling nuts and receptacle bodies are:
• Anodized Aluminum, which is good for most industrial applications
• Stainless Steel, which is ideal for severely corrosive environments
• Non-Metallic, which is best suited for mildly corrosive applications
• Nickel-Plated Brass, which is corrosion-resistant and conforms to EMC requirements
• PEEKTM Polymers, which are ideal for applications with high temperatures or high water pressure
2. Material Choices for Overmolding and Cable
Plastic injection molding allows overmolded cordsets to be produced in any shape or contour, as well as in a wide range of materials, colors, nishes, and designs, and can signi cantly improve both environmental performance characteristics and reliability.
17