Connector Part

This represents the housing of a connector. A connector contains cavities to which contacts or cavity plugs can be assigned. It can accept accessories such as locks, dust covers, boots, backshells, mounts and coverings.

Assigning to a Component

See Assigning Parts

Connector Configurations

A Connector Configuration defines a set of default parts to bundle with a connector part. When a connector part is assigned to a Connector, any parts defined in the selected configuration are automatically applied to it.

Each connector part includes a Default Configuration. Additional configurations can be added to represent different assembly variants, for example, a sealed variant with a boot and backshell and an unsealed variant without.

A covering in a configuration, such as heat shrink over the back of the connector, applies to every connector using that configuration. To cover only some of them, add a configuration (for example “With heat shrink”) and choose it for those connectors.

Each configuration is a list of parts, shown one per row in the part’s details. A new configuration starts empty.

Adding a Configuration

Click Add configuration at the bottom of the part’s details to create a new configuration and give it a name.

Duplicating a Configuration

Click Duplicate configuration to duplicate the selected configuration.

Deleting a Configuration

Click Delete configuration next to the configuration you wish to remove.

Adding Parts to a Configuration

Click the Add accessory button in the configuration’s heading, next to Duplicate configuration, and choose the type of part: Lock, Dust cover, Backshell, Boot, Mount, Heat shrink, Tape, Contact, Cavity plug or Cavity seal. A new row is added to the configuration and its part picker opens, so you can select, search for or create the part. Heat shrink and Tape only list coverings of that type, and the row is only added once you pick one.

A configuration can hold any number of parts of each type, in any order, for example two different mounts, or several contacts for different wire sizes. Locks, dust covers, backshells, boots, mounts and fixed-length coverings are counted once per connector in the BOM; add a part twice to count it twice. A cut-to-length covering only gets a length from a Bundle, so use a fixed-length one here.

To change a part, left-click it and pick another, or select Unassign part to leave the row empty. Click Remove from configuration to remove the row.

Reordering Parts

left-click-drag the handle at the start of a row to move it up or down the list; the other rows move out of the way as you drag. The order only changes how contacts and cavity plugs are chosen (see below) and the order accessories are listed in exports.

Contacts and Cavity Plugs

Contacts and cavity plugs in a configuration are loaded into the connector’s cavities automatically. Each one has a set of rules, summarised next to the part (for example “Connected cavities · Ø1.6 mm · 22–20 AWG”), that decides which cavities it goes into. Click Rules on the row to change them. Changes apply as you make them; click Done to close the rules.

• Apply to: Connected cavities (cavities with a wire or mate), Unconnected cavities, or Never. A new contact applies to connected cavities and a new cavity plug to unconnected ones. Never keeps the part in the configuration without loading it anywhere automatically.
• Cavity size: only shown when the part’s pinout has cavities of more than one size. Tick one or more of the sizes drawn in the pinout (each shows how many cavities have it), or All sizes. The pinout preview highlights the cavities that match. If the pinout changes and no longer has a size the rule uses, that size is listed as Not in the pinout so you can untick it.
• Wire gauge: for connected cavities, the range the combined gauge of every wire in the cavity must fall in. Leave Thinnest and Thickest empty for any gauge. A cavity whose wires have no gauge set never matches a range. A new contact ticks Use the contact part’s gauge range, so the rule follows the contact’s Wire Gauge; untick it to enter your own Thinnest and Thickest.

Each cavity takes the first contact or cavity plug in the list whose rules it matches, so put the most specific rules first and a catch-all last. Other parts in between don’t affect this. For example:

1. Contact A — connected cavities, Ø1.6 mm, 22–20 AWG
2. Contact B — connected cavities, Ø1.6 mm
3. Contact C — connected cavities
4. Cavity plug — unconnected cavities

You can still override the part in any cavity by hand.

Cavity seals in a configuration have rules too, matched by cavity size, wire diameter and contact. Read more…

Cavity Designations

Cavity Designations are the labels used to identify each cavity in a connector. When a connector part is assigned to a Connector, the connector inherits these designations.

Click the button next to the Designations property to open the designations editor.

The following templates are available:

• Numbers: Sequential numbers (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4). Choose Start at 0 to number from zero instead (0, 1, 2, 3).
• Alphabetical: Sequential letters (e.g. A, B, C, D). Case and case behavior can be adjusted. Letters that may be confused with numbers can be optionally skipped.
• Grid: A row and column grid (e.g. A1, A2, B1, B2). The count and label style for rows and columns are configured independently, including the Start at value for numbered rows or columns.
• Custom: Enter a label for each cavity individually.