24AWG Ribbon Cable Connectors

Question

I have some Amphenol 24AwG Spectra-Strip 10 conductor ribbon cable that I want to use in an aquarium LED project.

Unfortunately, its dimensions don't match those of a traditional 2x5 crimp connector. The spacing between the individual conductors is such that only half of the ribbon fits within the connector.

Does anyone know of a source for ribbon cable crimp connectors that work with larger size ribbons? If not, what other approaches could I try?

Additional Info

From what I can gather, for 2xN ribbon cable crimp connectors, the spacing between wires has to be 0.05 inches, even though the connectors themselves present the pins on a 0.1 inch interval. My 10 conductor ribbon cable has the individual conductors at 0.1 inch intervals, so a typical 2x5 connector only connects 5 of its pins when it's crimped on (the other five slots "connect" to the ribbon material between each conductor).

It occurred to me I could work around the problem of using this particular ribbon cable by using a standard 2x10 connector. Only half of the pins will be connected to a wire, but that would least let me use standard parts.

I've ordered some 2x10s and will report back on what I learn.

Answer 1

The standard method of using this type of cable with dual-row 2xN connectors is to use crimp pins on the individual conductors, then insert the pins into an appropriate housing.

These housings go by several different names. On eBay, people refer to them as "Dupont" connectors. The housings and pins (in cut-tape form) are really quite inexpensive.

However, I need to be able to order from reputable suppliers. One such is Harwin. These are readily available from Digikey: Harwin 2x5 housing. The matching contacts are also available from Digikey: Female Contacts 22-30 AWG.

The Asian suppliers sell these things for almost nothing. I purchase the eBay versions for my own projects but use parts from Digikey for my customer's projects.

Answer 2

I've used a lot of 22 AWG ribbon cable but have never seen a IDC for that gauge. If anyone has seen them, let us know.

Answer 3

Using a standard 2x10 ribbon connector intended for use with 28 AWG ribbon cable is a bad idea for several reasons.

1) You will need to remove one row of pins from the connector. If you don't do that, all of the conductors in the cable will most likely be shorted together.

2) The gap in the pins is too small for the conductor diameter. You will wind up cutting many of the strands in each conductor. Because each conductor has only 7 strands, you have reduced both the current-carrying capability of the wire PLUS reduced the physical strength significantly.

In addition to both of the above problems, the wire outside diameter is too large to allow the top of the ribbon connector to lock into place.