Long shot!

Anyone have any idea at all how I might figure out what the other part to this connector is (highlighted in red circle)...

It's from a Japanese Pachinko machine circa 2004 and would have been widely used at that time I think.

Any clues ???

Edit - Pitch appears to be around 2.5mm

Cheers

Cris

Does it have any markings you might be able to see? Even the other brown/pink/green/white etc connectors on the other board might have some identifier and they look quite similar if not in the same family - it might get you a manufacturer for example. 2.5mm (2.54mm = 0.1" pitch) is not helpful since it's very very common. Probably a Japanese manufacturer too if the whole thing is made in Japan - Japanese stuff is frequently kept "in house". Looked at the big ones like Tyco, Molex, Phoenix etc

Surely there's some forum covering restoring, collecting these sorts of things? I didn't even know what one is but there'll be something or someone somewhere.

Yep, I've been to that forum, no one so far has the answer for me.

Searched Farnell and RS, nothing (wasn't really expecting it) and also trawled lots of Japanese websites selling special harnesses for my exact need, but so far no 10 way connectors like this.

There are connections like this between all the boards on this thing. I might have to try and find a junker and rip one off that. Or find something I can get a supply of and desolder this sucker and do my own thing !!! I'd prefer to keep the machine as is though.

Cheers

Cris

Logo or name or any markings? Might be faintly moulded into the plastic.

Not a thing that I can see. Had a look with the Macro lens too.

There are larger connectors that look like scaled up versions of this, nothing on them either.

Looks like it might have to be a desolder and put something common in it's place !!!

Cheers

Cris

Perhaps you can find individual inline sockets that would fit over each standing pin and thereby have a separate connector straight onto each pin. Not a consolidated connector, just ten single pin connections.

Then you just have to keep the wire to pin sequence correct and find a way to hold the wire bundle so it does not work loose or flex much.

You're looking to replace the wire end that plugs into this, yes?

Not replace, I am adding function to the machine that requires a connection from it to 6 of the terminals on this connector.

Getting this board out looks like it will be a total pain in the ass, so I want to avoid the soldering option if I can.

Cheers

Cris

If those are more or less standard square pins, then just single pin connectors (as suggested by K447) is an easy way to go. These are readily available with wire leads (eBay, dx.com, etc..), being sold as jumper Dupont wires for Arduinos.

Eg. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bheema-Female-Dupont-Jumper-Wires/dp/B00PISWYOO

Just plunk them onto the pins you need, and optionally blob them together into a homemade unified connector using hot-melt glue.

Cheers

What Mark and K447 said. That's totally what I'd do. I've done that sort of thing many a time.

Thanks chaps, looks like it will be jumpers and hot glue.

I was hoping for a more factory look as one day I hope to see this thing and it's open at the back so any bodges are highly visible to any buyer.

Cheers

Cris

Once you have the jumpers all in place and nicely lined up, you can create a custom connector body using carefully sized flat plastic and careful gluing. Perhaps a sandwich construction would be stronger, but even a single thin flat piece tying the individual connectors together should be reasonably strong.

If you know someone who works with plastic/models they might have the skills to fabricate something tidy looking.

You'd think that identifying this sort of thing would be something the internet (perhaps Wikipedia) would be better at. JST, for instance, seem to sell about 40 different ranges of PCB headers, without any attempt to photograph them all together or make it easy to identify one. Someone should make a Rookledge's for connectors -- in your case those little walls inside the connector look like they should be quite diagnostic.

Peter

To be honest when I first started Googling I expected to find just a thing. But I suppose if you are an electronics engineer you use what you have available and you don't come across strange stuff very often ???

Cheers

Cris

Well I've been through the entire JST catalogue, it's not made by them !!! Not currently at least.

Cheers

Cris

Have you tried Digi-Key? Starting in their Rectanglular Board-To-Board connectors section and working out from there.

Or Mouser, or Alliedelec, or Newark.

The problem is there are literally thousands of variations and no standards beyond the box headers that ribbon cables use.

I use stuff like this and couldn't find a match.

Neither could I, I spent half an hour or so trawling through various resources I have. It doesn't appear to be, or at least I can't find a match in the relevant online catalogues, made by JAE, Molex, Tyco, or AMP (who are basically the same).

That said, I'm sure I've seen those connectors before somewhere. It's very likely that they're from one of the Japanese manufacturers based on the fact it's in a piece of Japanese equipment. I have a vague feeling they might be used in some automotive applications as well. They're not automotive-specific, but it's a possible route to take.

What's the connector pitch? Is it metric or imperial?

pca

I can't find my digital callipers anywhere, so I can't get the pitch. It's either 2.5mm or 2.54mm for sure though.

This is a poor picture of what the end I am looking for would look like. I'll try for a better one tomorrow.



Cheers

Cris

Since I'm a fan of the soldering iron and screwdriver, I'd probably be thinking about changing the connector on the board. Then again, I'm known to do some unreasonable things to make an existing connector work.

One thing comes to mind. Find a 10 pin plug with correct pitch (my guess is 0.10"). Then, file away at the plug body, removing retainer and orientation tabs. You might be able to get the plug to slide into the connector allowing you to get on with the project. If you can find the correct connector at a later date, the same jack body is still on the circuit board.

It's a thought.

Edit:
If you have a ruler that does 10ths of inches, 10 pins would measure exactly 0.9", if it is 2.54mm spacing. 2.55 would be visibly longer.

Well the jumper idea is out of the window too.

Just picked some up and they are a little too large to fit between the fins inside the connector. I suppose I could try and sand them down to fit. But that feels like a bodge of a bodge!

Cheers

Cris

Use a file rather than sandpaper, and just knock the corners off, making the plastic bits more round than square.

Or.. extract the contacts from the square plastic enclosures, and melt some shrink wrap onto them in place of the plastic. Should fit no problem that way.

Sounds like a plan !!!