IDC Connector: Insulation Displacement Contact
The insulation displacement contact, IDC connector provides a vey effective and reliable means of making up connectors with flat multicore ribbon cable.
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The IDC connector finds many of its uses in computer related technology. Although a variety of different forms of IDC connector are used, the most widely used one is with flat ribbon cable where multiple parallel connections are needed.
The letters IDC stand for insulation displacement contact, or it can be seen as insulation displacement connection.
The name of the connector describes the way in which it operates: it is an electrical connector designed to be connected to the conductor or conductors of an insulated cable by having specially designed connection points that cut through he simulation and make connection with the wire in the cable. This overcomes the the very time consuming process of stripping the conductors of insulation before connecting to the pins on the connector.
What is an IDC connector?
Insulation displacement connectors use the concept of cold welds as the basis for the technology. It was heavily influenced by research on wire-wrap and crimp connector technology where cold welds formed the concept on which these techniques depended.
Cold welding is a technique where two metals fuse when they are brought together under pressure. This occurs without the need for heat that is required for the more traditional forms of welding.
For electrical contacts the advantage is that once made, the cold weld will provide high levels of connectivity and reliability.
In terms of multi-way IDC connectors, the ribbon cable is forced down onto the contact. The contact consists flat metallic contact with an upper region where there is a slight angle to locate the wire correctly. There is then a lower U shaped region which is used to cut through the insulation and then compress the conductor so that a cold weld is formed.
These connections are not only very quick to make, but also very reliable. To improve the reliability and prevent damage from flexing and strain, these connectors normally come with strain relief mechanisms that clamp the wire and hold it firmly in place.
IDC connector technology
IDC connector technology works well because metal to metal contact is generated during he assembly process. If the joint remains mechanically stable, then as time progresses additional diffusion welding can occur which can improve the joint.
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However it is also possible that stress relaxation and creep of the terminal and wire can degrade the reliability. Normally the IDC terminal not only bites through the insulation, but it also applies significant pressure onto the wire so that the cold weld is formed.
The mechanical stability of the joint depends upon a number of factors including the spring properties of the terminal or connection and the loading and strain put on the wire. Both these factors can be improved by the design of the connector.
External strain relief of the cable considerably improves the long term reliability of the joint as it protects against movement at the wire terminal interface. Also the design of the IDC terminal has a major effect.
Also the wire has an effect: since the strand bundle is under compressive load, there is a tendency towards lower contact forces as the bundle relaxes in the slot due to mechanical disturbance, stress relaxation and creep. This can be affected by the number and lay or twist of the strands in the wire, the conductor top plating and the type of insulation.
If solid wire is used, this can produce a better connection, but often the wire itself is not as robust. Typically most ribbon cable is multi stranded to provide the best performance.
Types of IDC connector
Insulation displacement connection technology is used within a number of different types of connector as the technology is applicable for many areas.
- Ribbon cable connectors: One of the most widely used formats with which IDC technology is used is for ribbon cable connector solutions. The ribbon cable connectors can be used for variety of different interfaces. D-type, GPIB, and very many others, but IDC connectors are probably most widely used with the header pin connectors for PCBs. These connectors typically have two rows of pins and can be used for large numbers of connections. This enables large numbers of lines on a board to be connected very easily. These connectors are used in great numbers on computer and other computer related boards.
It is important to ensure that the cables are assembled with the right orientation. Pin 1 is typically indicated on the body of the connector by a red or raised "V" mark. Some ribbon cable is multicoloured and uses the typical colour coding for the wire numbers - brown indicates one, and this is followed by red, orange, yellow, green, etc. The other main type of cable just has a line down the side of conductor number one. On the connector pin 2 is opposite pin 1, pin 3 is next to pin 1 along the length of the connector, and so on. On the cable, the wire connected to pin 2 is next to the wire connected to pin 1, and so on.
- Telecommunications connectors: Some forms of and network plug use insulation displacement technology. This enables reliable connections to be made during he installation of appliances. The RJ or registered jack series that conforms to BS typically uses separate wires in a insulation sheath. The outer insulation is stripped and the wires are inserted or forced into the contacts using a a special termination tool. There are also some instances of Category 5 twisted pair cable being able to use this method of assembly, but for instances where set lengths can be used, Cat 5 cables can be bought relatively cheaply.
IDC connectors provide a very easy method for creating cables. Particularly those types used with computer ribbon cable provide a very fast, reliable and easy way of assembling and connecting a connector to its cable. By just aligning the wires and clamping the connector, a huge number of connections can be made very quickly.
In addition to this, IDC connector technology is generally very reliable.
Written by Ian Poole .
Experienced electronics engineer and author.
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victorhooi
Making your own IDC cables - yay or nay?
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on: May 14, , 06:33:21 am »
Hi,
What is the general consensus on making your own IDC cables at home?
Would they be nearly as reliable as factory cables? Or are there any caveats/potential issues to be aware of?
The use case would be for things like:
- Connecting up HUB75-style LED Matrix panels (Adafruit docs, Sparkfun docs) - I believe these are 2x8 pin IDC. It would be good to get cables at the correct length - and those ribbon cables are a real pain to bundle up, or cable-manage, if there's excess cable
- Ribbon cables needed for the Proffieboard test rig/breakout board - I think this is 40-pin IDC
- Raspberry Pi GPIO cables (40-pin IDC).
For tooling, I was thinking of using something like the Pananvise 502 Panapress, along with their Panavise 506 IDC Retrofit Kit for 502. Is that a good choice? Or are there better options?
And for the cables/IDC connectors - are there recommend brands/sources for these? Does it make a big difference?
I saw that 3M has both twisted-pair flat cable, as well as many different types of flat cable - but I'm not sure which to pick.
Thanks,
Victor
shabaz
Re: Making your own IDC cables - yay or nay?
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Reply #1 on: May 14, , 07:01:15 am »
That doesn't sound like a critical use-case, nor production related, so I can't see any strong reason not to make your own IDC cables even using low-cost equipment if you wish. I make my own for prototypes and one-off personal projects, if I don't have a ready-made cable lying around. I don't use any special equipment; simply a standard workshop vise with soft jaws installed, doesn't have to be a special vise, and never had an issue. However, I also value time, so I try to use other connection methods if possible, just to reduce even prototype cabling time, e.g. flat flex is often a good, low-cost option if not buying a ready-made IDC cable. Doesn't suit all use-cases, of course. If I'm making up a cable then I use a known brand of IDC connector and cable from a distributor. The last thing I want is unreliable, perhaps oxidized connectors from Amazon/AliExpress that would waste time in troubleshooting.
Incidentally, you probably can't make up your own cables for some of the popular scenarios (like Raspberry Pi related or typical 20-way cables, etc) for a lower-cost than just purchasing ready-made. The effort alone will chew up any savings even if you did manage to get the connectors and cable cheaper (which is going to be hard at typical distributor prices).
« Last Edit: May 14, , 07:13:18 am by shabaz »
Gyro
Re: Making your own IDC cables - yay or nay?
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Reply #2 on: May 14, , 01:09:38 pm »
I've certainly made up plenty of IDC cables of between 10 and 40 ways using just an ordinary bench vise with a couple of bits of right angle Aluminium extrusion to protect the plastic [Edit: I quickly found them better than soft jaws as they keep the parts of the connector better aligned]. The danger with a big vise is avoiding too much pressure, just wind in until the locking tab at each end clicks home. The wide jaws are helpful for longer connectors.
« Last Edit: May 14, , 01:13:16 pm by Gyro »
Best Regards, Chris
pcprogrammer
Re: Making your own IDC cables - yay or nay?
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Reply #3 on: May 14, , 02:07:22 pm »
I concur with the other two. I have made plenty cables myself during the many years of being in electronics. A vice is an easy way to do it, but I have also done it with big tongue-and-groove pliers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongue-and-groove_pliers With those you have to be careful though to not damage things, but when in need it works.
coromonadalix
Re: Making your own IDC cables - yay or nay?
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Reply #4 on: May 14, , 02:11:10 pm »
same here done plenty on led display / led tiles etc ... never got problems, i use a vise
or you have specialized pliers to do so,
or i use a wide wood block to snap the cable in ...
yay
ZGoode
Re: Making your own IDC cables - yay or nay?
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Reply #5 on: May 14, , 03:22:13 pm »
IDC cables are pretty hard to mess up, even when using the cheap crappy Aliexpress connectors. I pretty much always make my own unless it's for a production scale quantity, then I outsource. The only time I don't really bother with making my own cables is if there are ready made cheap options (like why would I make my own USB cables).
As others have said, it's easy enough with a vise or set of those cheap parallel jaw pliers
ajb
Re: Making your own IDC cables - yay or nay?
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Reply #6 on: May 14, , 05:33:34 pm »
We have the panavise press and accessories for IDC connectors and they're ok, but only worth the money if you're doing production and are willing to add some sort of jig to align the cable -- out of the box, getting the cable end positioned correctly and keeping it straight to the connector is still an entirely manual affair.
For occasional use, IMO you want a good set of parallel jaw pliers. The original Knipex Pliers Wrench style are excellent, but I guess the patent expired recently as there are a ton of clones now. I particularly like this Lenox pair for their extra-long jaws. You still have to manually align the cable, but it's pretty easy to lightly hold the connector in the pliers while doing that, and they work equally well for 50-mil pitch and 100-mil pitch connectors.
As far as connectors, it doesn't really matter for non-production use. Digikey has 10/20 conductor 25mil pitch cable (for 50mil connectors, like for ARM debug/trace) in 10ft lengths, so that's where I get that. IME, those 50mil connectors tend to wear out with repeated unplugging, so it's nice to be able to replace or reterminate them as needed. 50mil cable (for 100mil connectors) is available all over, and it's fairly easy to split and peel a larger cable apart if you don't want to have to buy a bunch of different conductor counts.
« Last Edit: May 14, , 05:39:04 pm by ajb »
shabaz
Re: Making your own IDC cables - yay or nay?
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Reply #7 on: May 14, , 11:47:51 pm »
couple of bits of right angle Aluminium extrusion to protect the plastic
Good point, I'd forgotten extrusion works really great. By chance I found a photo on my PC, using a cheap alu tool vise, which was quite effective, but needs a lot of force since the handle didn't have as much leverage.
And just listening for the clicks as each side finally presses in as you mention.
(the orange tape in the photo was just my way to keep things square, it's not necessary since it can be eyeballed, or draw a temporary line with a pen).
thm_w
Re: Making your own IDC cables - yay or nay?
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Reply #8 on: May 15, , 12:40:32 am »
I wouldn't bother with the panavise unless you had a specific other use for it.
IDC crimper is $18 on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Keadic-Pieces-Female-Connector-Connectors/dp/B07WHFWMYQ
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John B
Re: Making your own IDC cables - yay or nay?
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Reply #9 on: May 15, , 04:46:49 am »
I purchase the connectors from LCSC and then spools of the required flat cable from Element14 (Multicomp Pro brand)
That is the most economical way I've found, and worth it for much the same reasons you've listed. When mounting a RPi to a board, I think it best practice to use the shortest leads possible, and doing it with a custom IDC you can get down to 30-35mm.
elektryk
Re: Making your own IDC cables - yay or nay?
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Reply #10 on: May 15, , 07:24:12 am »
That's not a problem to make those cables at home, worse are those bloody micromatch connectors...
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