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How can I create the female side of wires like these to fit 2.54mm spaced headers? What would the part inside the enclosure be and what is the name of the enclosure? I'm struggling to find them on UK suppliers' websites.

Headers

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6 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

How about these female-female wires, 6" long:

enter image description here

enter image description here

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I changed the question significantly because it was too broad, but your answer was good so thank you. – oscode Aug 13 '12 at 10:50
+1. After I've cut, filed, soldered and heat-shrinked a single 4-wire cable in DIY-style, I purchased two sets of these (from a different supplier). – DimKo Aug 13 '12 at 12:40
up vote 4 down vote

A DIY solution you can do with stuff usually flying around an electronics lab:

You could try using female single-row pinheaders, pitched at 2.54 mm, separeate them with a knife (sacrificing one contact where you cut) and solder wires to them.

Pinheader, female

Image Source

Insulation, if desired, may be done with heat shrink tubes.

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Note that the header shown has turned pins, which are much thinner than the 0.64 mm squared many/most PCB headers use. A 0.64 mm pin will not fit in it. – stevenvh Aug 13 '12 at 11:27
@stevenvh and others, thanks for catching this. I found a better example picture. – zebonaut Aug 13 '12 at 11:47
This sounds like a good idea, these look reasonable from Farnell: farnell.com/datasheets/12112.pdf – oscode Aug 13 '12 at 12:00
@oscode - The ones in the pdf of your link are like the ones I had in my first picture (now edited). As stevenvh pointed out, these precision contacts are very good if you use them for pins that fit the specs. If, however, your pins are bigger than specified for the contacts, they won't fit. For your purpose, it is probably better to stick with the cheaper spring contacts. – zebonaut Aug 13 '12 at 12:17
up vote 2 down vote

You can create your own using a crimp socket.

enter image description here

Available from Farnell at £5.74 for a pack of 100.

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up vote 1 down vote

Trim down female molex connectors, do it with a craft knife watch your fingers, and you'll need the crimps to hold the wire in and that would do the job.

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up vote 1 down vote

These connectors are called 'DuPont' connectors and you can get them cheap on ebay shipped from China. Search for 'dupont connectors' or 'dupont wires'.

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I find this a little hard to believe, since DuPont is a large company that makes many things. I wasn't aware they made connectors, but if they do, I'd be surprised to find they make only one model. – Olin Lathrop Jan 25 at 18:53
@OlinLathrop: Despite this, a cursory check on ebay does find them. – Gustavo Litovsky Jan 25 at 18:58
up vote 0 down vote

You can try these from dealextreme. They come in male/female bundles. The female part has a small bump on one side so you cannot connect them side-by-side to e.g. 10×2 header, but you can easily connect a single one to 1×2 goldpin header or connect them to every second pair in bigger headers.

enter image description here

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