Selection and Plating Treatment of Power Connectors
The selection of power connectors depends on the usage environment and can generally be divided into three situations:
1. For general applications, the most common coating is tin. Due to its low cost, tin is widely used. However, tin is relatively soft, so higher insertion and extraction forces (at least 100 grams) are required to ensure good contact. These connectors typically have a lower number of insertion and extraction cycles and provide only simple corrosion protection. The operating temperature is relatively low, with tin-plated brass or bronze connectors operating up to 110°C, while tin-plated steel connectors can operate up to 190°C.
2. Connectors with high insertion and extraction cycles usually require gold plating. For higher temperature requirements, other types of coatings such as nickel-plated copper can reach 340 degrees, and nickel-plated brass or bronze can reach 250°C.
3. For small signal applications that require high reliability and low contact force, gold plating is typically chosen. Gold has good corrosion resistance. In the gold plating process, a layer of nickel is usually plated as an underlayer, and most steel contacts undergo nickel plating (copper plating must be done first).
In addition, palladium has lower conductivity than gold, so it is sometimes used as a substitute for gold plating within certain limitations. Currently, due to the continuous rise in gold prices, products plated with palladium-nickel alloy are becoming more popular. Silver-plated contacts have excellent conductivity, but silver is prone to oxidation, so silver plating is only chosen in special cases.
To prevent corrosion, improve electrical performance, and reduce temperature rise, most connectors nowadays require electroplating. In some special high-current applications, there may be cases where electroplating is not performed, but this is now very rare.
Watt Smith
Collaborator & Editor
Hello! My name is Watt Smith working on Chipdatas. I write and share relevant articles on electronic components category.
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