How many mating operations can this connector take?

Lube, or no lube?

I imagine that this reliability criterion is more like "fails the
resistance spec" because drift would require them to fine
measure, and track data, on a whole lot of pins that have
minuscule initial resistance values.

Or if you were a smart guy you might rig up a daisy-chain
along the mating pair and measure -that-, maybe look for
a delta failure, but now you have no idea whether it was
one pin went grossly bad, or all of 'em a little bit, without
some failure analysis.

I'd call this a good question for the mfr's applications
engineering group. They might even put their hands on
reliability test data that shows R vs matings and goes
further out, maybe shows individual samples so you
can get a feel for whether this is defect or whole
population movement.

If the mfr says it's good for 50 mates/demates and you exceed that then you are misusing the device. Find another connector or live with the consequences. You are decreasing the reliability of your system.

Are we allowed to talk about mating, inserting and lube on this electronics forum??

cupoftea said:

/dp/3756298?ost=3756298[/URL]

How many times can this daughter PCB be inserted/removed? (Presumably "operations in the datasheet means insert/remove, and is 50?)

Presumbaly after 50 ops, it still works, but has above "a certain level" of resistance?, which is presumably >10% higher than "as new" resistance?

Click to expand...

The question is badly asked; this is not a typical switch and is not expected to be routinely removed and/or inserted. They are designed to be reliable when properly mated. That is important because they provide multiple reliable connections in one go.

Unlike switches, they are not supposed to be removed or inserted under power /load. You should also ensure that filter capacitors are discharged before connecting.

The number quoted is statistical in nature and most likely not guaranteed. There is some scraping action on the contact area (that presumably provides a new exposed surface for a better contact) and that is perhaps the limiting the maximum number of engagements.

If you are using some of these pins for power, the number may be reduced considerably.

Once I found that the ultracentrifuge controller keeps count of the number of hours and the number of revs it is performed. If your power supply is going to be used in any critical application, please maintain a log.