Contact Part
A conductive element installed in a connector housing that forms the electrical interface between mating connectors. This is often crimped or soldered to a wire and has a specific shape to fit into a corresponding connector housing.
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Part Number | Unique identifier for the contact part |
| Internal Part No. | Your own identifier for the part, e.g. a stores or ERP number. Read more… |
| Manufacturer | Company that produces the part |
| Description | Description of the contact part |
| URL | Link to datasheet or manufacturer website |
| Price | Unit price of part |
| Type | Connection method between the wire and contact — crimp, solder, or other |
| Gender | Gender of the contact — pin or socket |
| Color | Plating of the contact — gold (the default) or silver. Silver contacts are drawn in gray on the canvas |
| Wire Gauge | The range of wire sizes the contact takes, entered as Thinnest – Thickest. In AWG the thinnest wire has the largest number (e.g. 24–18 AWG). A range entered the wrong way round is swapped |
For gauge, you can enter the following units (set the default unit under Main Menu → Settings → Harness settings):
mm²- Millimeters Squared (Metric)AWG- American Wire Gaugecmil- Circular Milkmil- Kilo Circular Mil
Assigning Contacts
Contacts can be assigned through a Connector Configuration and are automatically applied to any Connector Component when that Connector Part is assigned. A configuration can hold several contacts, each with rules for which cavities it loads into (by connection, cavity size and wire gauge). Read more…
Using the Contact’s Gauge Range
A contact’s rule can take its wire gauge range straight from the contact part. A contact added to a configuration does this by default: open its Rules and Use the contact part’s gauge range is ticked, with the part’s range shown beneath it and filled into Thinnest and Thickest (greyed out). The rule then follows the part, so changing the contact’s Wire Gauge, or assigning a different contact to the row, updates which cavities it loads into. Untick it to enter a custom range for this configuration instead.
The checkbox is only offered while the contact part has a gauge range. If Apply to is switched to another option and back while the rules are open, the gauge range and cavity sizes you had set are restored.
Manually Assigning Contacts
To manually assign or override contacts, left-click the terminal part button in the connector cavity within the Schematic View and select the desired terminal. You can also right-click the cavity and select its contact (or Assign Contact), below the signal options, which offers the same choices, including Don’t use default part.
The visibility of parts can be toggled on the Layout and Schematic screens by left-clicking Show parts in the bottom right hand corner of the view.
Remove/ Assign No Contact
To remove a Contact part from a particular cavity that has been assigned a contact automatically from a connector part being applied, left-click the Contact Part you wish to remove and select Don’t use default part
Cavity Seal
A Cavity Seal Part is no longer set on the contact part. Seals are added to the Connector Configuration alongside the contacts, with a rule that can limit a seal to cavities holding particular contacts. Read more…