Connector Testing

If your product uses a connector or terminal, it can be susceptible to a unique set of failures that warrant specific testing conditions to determine the robustness of your design.

The first step in validating your product is ensuring that your connector or terminal is in compliance to its design specification in both structure and assembly. Finding defects, from poor solder joints to bad crimping, is “key” to ensuring that your product terminations are robust. To determine if your connector is manufactured and assembled properly, we provide the following testing services:

• Axial Concentricity
• Maintenance Aging
• Contact Engaging/Separation Force
• Contact Insertion and Removal Force
• Cable Pullout
• Contact Tensile Strength
• Insert Retention
• Mating/Un-mating Force
• Durability
• Contact Retention
• Resistance to Probe Damage
• Crimp Tensile Strength
• Coupling Torque
• External Bending Moment
• Coupling Pin Strength
• Gauge Location
• Gauge Retention
• Accessory Thread Strength
• Pin Contact Stability
• Solderability

Even after a connector is properly inspected for its mechanical properties, electrical performance must be measured to ensure that impurities, contaminates or process hasn’t affected the life of the product. That is why we provide the following tests for connectors or terminals:

• Contact Resistance
• Low-Level Contact Resistance
• Insulation Resistance
• Dielectric Withstanding Voltage
• Shell-to-Shell Conductivity
• Discontinuity Monitoring

Our qualified, technical staff can prepare samples that include the assembly of the test articles, validating the pin-outs of the connector and breadboard, and the manufacturing of test leads to measure voltage drops across the connectors. For large tests, we can mount the test leads to data-acquisition terminals and set up software programs to measure all testing parameters.

The application of your connector can cause different effects to your product and to those items that communicate with your product. Environment Associates provides a number of tests to evaluate the service life of your product to your connector and terminal. These tests are as follows:

· Drop Test
· Vibration Durability while Monitoring Discontinuity
· Water Immersion
· Power Wash Testing
· Air Leakage
· Magnetic Permeability
· HALT – HASS – Accelerated Testing
· Solar Radiation
· Salt Fog
· Blowing Dust
· Temperature/Humidity – Vibration – Life Cycle Testing
· Dry Circuit Testing – Current Cyclic Testing
· Micro-Fretting
· Corrosion Testing