Joining Pin Connectors together Female Sockets?

[Castle-Man]

So I want to mount my controllers and switches on a seperate board from my layout.  The board that the layout is on will be stood against the wall when not in use so leaving things like swoitches sticking out etc. is asking for damage.

So what I had in mind was to wire everything up on the board and bring it to a plate at the end.  The wiring would be terminated ideally with female sockets that would receive the standard pin connectors.

The controllers and point switched would be mounted on a small controller board with the standard wires with pin connectors comeing from them.  

Then to use things I just get the layout out, put the controller board next to it and plug the connectors into the pin sockets on the side of the layout.

So the question is, "Can you get female sockets of that type and if so where from?"

Thanks hope that makes sense.

 

 

 

[Fishmanoz]

Chris (Chrissaf) is our go to man on electronic componentry.  He'll be along soon to answer your question. Might even be working on one of his typical comprehensive replies right now.

[37lover]

Have you consider D Sub Connectors? I know they come in at least 25 pin, maybe more. You would have to somehow connect all your switches, etc to the sub connector but I did something similar for a mimic panel. Do a search on Google for "D Sub Connectors" to see what I'm talking about.

[Chrissaf]

The wiring would be terminated ideally with female sockets that would receive the standard pin connectors.

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Could you be a little more specific about what you are referring to as being 'Standard Pin Connectors'. There are a vast multitude of connector types. Each have their uses and are appropriate to different types of circuit electrical characteristics. There are male connectors, female connectors, pin connectors, socket connectors. Then how many ways (number of pins and terminals). Then there are soldered types, crimp types, screw types. The list of connector type and variations is endless.

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If you were to post a photo or image of your 'Standard Pin Connector' that you have in mind, then I could probably tell you what type it is and what your connectivity options are for it. I could also probably advise to their suitability for the different types of circuit electrical functions.

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Below is an extract pasted from a previous answer in a previous topic thread. This was part of an answer to a similar question I previously gave. Of course, it may be that the information contained in the extract pasted below goes some way to answering your own question to your satisfaction. If it does, then please provide some feedback here in this thread to that effect.

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In principle it would be best to separate the wire type into three in order to minimise the risk of crosstalk interference. The three types being:

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• the DCC BUS carrying DCC data signals and power to track and Accessories.
• the high current wiring (with high voltage pulses) used for the solenoid point motors, assuming the use of a CDU is included (CDU either external or integrated into the Accessory Decoder)
• the low voltage, low current wiring for signals, LED lighting and mimic panel LED feedbacks.

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Having carefully designed the routes the wiring will take, I would recommend as much physical separation between the three different wiring categories I have listed above. The effect of induction that the solenoid pulses could have on other wires in close proximity cannot be underestimated. Maintaining physical separation at the design stage is more efficient than trying to debug an operational issue caused by crosstalk after it is all installed and past the point of no return.

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Now to the connector type. The wiring carrying power. For example the DCC BUS and the solenoid wiring need a substantial connector with ease of termination and number of terminals flexibility. I would suggest this type of "CamdenBoss" connector. Google "CamdenBoss Terminal Strip" and you will find them.

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It is capable of high current carrying capacity and is flexible in that the strip can be cut to length to suit the number of wires to be terminated. And the terminations are simple screw fixing.

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For the third low voltage / low current LED type wiring, then most layout builders use the 'D type' connector. The most common 'D type' connectors comes in either 9 way, 15 way or 25 way. It requires wires to be soldered to the connector pins and as a lot of wires are involved a clear wiring plan on paper and a huge amount of concentration when wiring them up. One misplaced wire may have a knock on effect as you terminate more wires ending up with a complete take it all apart and start again requirement. The other advantage of the 'D Type' connector is that they can be screwed to each other, locking them together and prevents accidental disconnections. The 'D' shaped shell ensures that they can only fit together one way round.

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Some example 'D Type' connectors are shown below:

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This one is a 25 way D type Female. Note the holes at the end of the connector shell for screws.

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This 25 way D type connector is the male version. Notice that the optional connector part below the shell looks to have a slightly different locking arrangement. Instead of captive nuts I believe it shows a connector that uses the alternative slide lock arrangement (the image is not really clear enough to be 100% sure). Assuming it is a slide lock version in the image, it is not obvious in the image how the slide lock works, because the other matching half of the slide lock is not shown. The slide lock connector versions allow quick connector release without the need of a screwdriver. Slide locks are less common and more difficult to find.

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This is a 9 way D type connector version, again note the option to have the connector with the captive nuts. This image shows the screws in the main connector so you can see how they would lock together when mated. Assuming of course that one of them was male and not both female as shown.

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The D type connectors are modular. They can be purchased as a complete connector, but they can also be purchased in a modular fashion. What I mean by this, is that you can buy the shells (covers) separately from the actual connector, then you can buy the connectors to go in the shells as either male of female with screws or captive nuts.

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The images above show connectors with diecast metal shells. Cheaper plastic shell options are available if you search around. The metal ones are meant for being used with special screened computer data cables. Historically, these D type connectors have been around for years and used to be used extensively in computer data centres for interconnecting computer equipment where screening against interference was needed.

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It is also possible to source D Type connectors that have screw terminations - see image below for an example.

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For this particular screw terminal D Type version Google D Sub Breakout Board (click this link for the search results).

 

[Chrissaf]

PS - Just had a thought. By 'Standard Pin Connectors'. Do you mean the crimped terminal pins that Hornby terminate on the end of wires. If you do, then there are no compatible sockets for these Hornby X8011 terminal crimp pins. Your best bet would be to cut them off and replace them with one of the male / female connector combinations described in my previous reply.

[Castle-Man]

PS - Just had a thought. By 'Standard Pin Connectors'. Do you mean the crimped terminal pins that Hornby terminate on the end of wires. If you do, then there are no compatible sockets for these Hornby X8011 terminal crimp pins. Your best bet would be to cut them off and replace them with one of the male / female connector combinations described in my previous reply.

Thanks yes I did as the R965 controller and everything else has them attached.  Amazing thet the only option is to cut them all off and in part spoil the controller.  Less of an issue with switch cables as they will probably be made up anyway.

 

[Chrissaf]

I'm afraid the connectors on the R965, apart from being designed about 30 or more years ago, are proprietary to Hornby.

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I would suggest the CamdenBoss connectors when being used for power.

[Castle-Man]

I'm afraid the connectors on the R965, apart from being designed about 30 or more years ago, are proprietary to Hornby.

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I would suggest the CamdenBoss connectors when being used for power.

Thanks anyway.  P.S. I suspect that in part the design goes back a long time before that even.  I had I think the same switches for points on my Hornby Dublo 3 track probably 50 years ago and all they seem to have done is join 2 together which I suppose is unique in that case.  Must have a look some time and see if they are the sme size as the Hornby Crimp ones.  Will look at Camden Boss connectors.