All About Electrical Connectors

Common features, uses, types, and termination options for electrical connectors

As the name would suggest, electrical connectors are devices that connect electrical circuits together. There are hundreds of different types of electrical connectors with variations in size, shape, safety features, usage, and termination. One feature that electrical connectors have in common is that they are "male" or "female." That is, they feature either plugs or pins if they are male electrical connectors, while female electrical connectors can be called slot, socket, receptacle, jack, or outlet.

Common features of electrical connectors

Along with "gender," electrical connectors can be categorized by shape, such as cylindrical, square, or keystone. The contact sizes of electrical connectors also can vary from 1/2 mm at the smallest to over 5 mm on the largest.

There are also water-proof electrical connectors for aquatic use, or hermetically sealed electrical connectors to prevent damage from moisture or oils.

Other safety features for electrical connectors include:

ESD, or protection against electrostatic discharge

EMI, or protection against electromagnetic interference

RFI,  or protection against radio frequency interference

Electrical connectors can also be categorized by size. Common sizes for electrical connectors include:

standard (size 16 contacts)

miniature (size 20 contacts)

subminiature or high-density (size 22 contacts)

micro-miniature (size 24 contacts)

Uses of electrical connectors

Electrical connectors are used a great deal in the field of computers. Edge card connectors are used with printed circuit boards. Internal computer connectors join such items as microprocessors and RAM slots. Computer electrical connectors are also used with ribbon and coaxial cables, batteries, power supplies, and smart cards.

As for other fields, automotive electrical connectors are used in cars. Electrical connectors known as modular and registered jack connectors are employed in the networking and telecommunications industries. Electrical connectors are used in audio and video applications and in radio frequency and microwave applications.

Different types of electrical connectors

Plug and socket connectors

Plug and socket electrical connectors are some of the most common. They typically utilize a "male" plug and "female" socket. Electrical connectors with both male and female parts are known as hermaphroditic connectors.

Terminal blocks

Terminal blocks are very useful and flexible electrical connectors. They are used to connect individual electric wires and make connections between separate and enclosed items. These electrical connectors can accommodate different numbers and sizes of wires.

Crimp-on terminals

Crimp-on terminals are electrical connectors that are attached to wires allowing for connection to screw, fast-on, or quick-disconnect terminals (unfortunately, there are no clap-on, clap-off terminals).

The Terminator

No, we're not talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger, but rather the termination options for electrical connectors. For example, with crimping terminals as mentioned above, a contact wire barrel is compressed around a conductor.

Other kinds of electrical connector termination include wire wrapping, insulation displacement, solder cup terminations, THT (or through hole technology), cage camps, lugs, screws, and quick-connect tabs.

More information on electrical connectors