• Molex doesn't want to sell connectors

    From john larkin@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, June 04, 2026 08:33:03

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Phil Hobbs@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, June 04, 2026 15:44:01
    john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics


    It?s only four bucks in onesies?cheap at twice the price!

    Cheers

    Phil Hobbs

    --
    Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From john larkin@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, June 04, 2026 08:53:06
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 15:44:01 -0000 (UTC), Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

    john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics


    It?s only four bucks in onesies?cheap at twice the price!

    Cheers

    Phil Hobbs

    But I can't get a data sheet. Or figure out what the PCB mate is.

    "Contact Molex" just bounces between two web pages, runaround. If we
    have a regional rep, I can't find them.

    Lots of data sheets these days are instant-generated PDFs, which would
    be great if they worked.


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Phil Hobbs@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, June 04, 2026 18:03:10
    john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 15:44:01 -0000 (UTC), Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

    john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics


    It?s only four bucks in onesies?cheap at twice the price!

    Cheers

    Phil Hobbs

    But I can't get a data sheet. Or figure out what the PCB mate is.

    "Contact Molex" just bounces between two web pages, runaround. If we
    have a regional rep, I can't find them.

    Lots of data sheets these days are instant-generated PDFs, which would
    be great if they worked.


    Molex et al. have this problem: when you bring out a new connector series,
    you have to look like it?s a full range, even if you did it for one big customer who buys one or two versions.

    That leads to a lot of vaporware in connector catalogs.

    One of my favorites is this Molex 1-mm three row fanout FFC with matching
    0.3 mm jumpers. You can only get the 17-position ones iirc. Beautiful
    idea though!

    Cheers

    Phil Hobbs


    --
    Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From John R Walliker@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, June 04, 2026 19:25:46
    On 04/06/2026 19:03, Phil Hobbs wrote:
    john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 15:44:01 -0000 (UTC), Phil Hobbs
    <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

    john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics


    It?s only four bucks in onesies?cheap at twice the price!

    Cheers

    Phil Hobbs

    But I can't get a data sheet. Or figure out what the PCB mate is.

    "Contact Molex" just bounces between two web pages, runaround. If we
    have a regional rep, I can't find them.

    Lots of data sheets these days are instant-generated PDFs, which would
    be great if they worked.


    Molex et al. have this problem: when you bring out a new connector series, you have to look like it?s a full range, even if you did it for one big customer who buys one or two versions.

    That leads to a lot of vaporware in connector catalogs.

    It can be worse. A long time ago NS launched a new microcontroler
    that would have been perfect for the project I was working on.
    Unfortunately, they never actually made it.


    One of my favorites is this Molex 1-mm three row fanout FFC with matching
    0.3 mm jumpers. You can only get the 17-position ones iirc. Beautiful
    idea though!

    Cheers

    Phil Hobbs




    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Carl@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, June 04, 2026 14:27:50
    On 6/4/26 11:33 AM, john larkin wrote:

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics

    John, can't help with the Molex datasheet issue, but a long time ago
    (15-20 years) the cheapest and best supplier I found for Molex stuff
    (and several other lines) was https://www.heilind.com/ Their price for
    actual Molex brand crimpers was half of anyone elses. No idea how they
    are to deal with these days, but worth a look. They would probably be
    helpful digging a datasheet out of Molex too :-).

    --
    Regards,
    Carl

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Lasse Langwadt@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, June 04, 2026 22:42:12
    On 6/4/26 17:33, john larkin wrote:

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    plenty of other brands that make similar 3.81mm pitch connectors



    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From TTman@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, June 04, 2026 23:32:51
    On 04/06/2026 19:25, John R Walliker wrote:
    On 04/06/2026 19:03, Phil Hobbs wrote:
    john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 15:44:01 -0000 (UTC), Phil Hobbs
    <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

    john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics


    It?s only four bucks in onesies?cheap at twice the price!

    Cheers

    Phil Hobbs

    But I can't get a data sheet. Or figure out what the PCB mate is.

    "Contact Molex" just bounces between two web pages, runaround. If we
    have a regional rep, I can't find them.

    Lots of data sheets these days are instant-generated PDFs, which would
    be great if they worked.


    Molex et al. have this problem: when you bring out a new connector
    series,
    you have to look like it?s a full range, even if you did it for one big
    customer who buys one or two versions.

    That leads to a lot of vaporware in connector catalogs.

    It can be worse.ÿ A long time ago NS launched a new microcontroler
    that would have been perfect for the project I was working on.
    Unfortunately, they never actually made it.

    That rings a bell ... what was it? we used their cmos NSC800 that had
    some Z80/8085 structure iirc....

    --
    This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From john larkin@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, June 04, 2026 17:21:41
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 19:25:46 +0100, John R Walliker
    <jrwalliker@gmail.com> wrote:

    On 04/06/2026 19:03, Phil Hobbs wrote:
    john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 15:44:01 -0000 (UTC), Phil Hobbs
    <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

    john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics


    It?s only four bucks in onesies?cheap at twice the price!

    Cheers

    Phil Hobbs

    But I can't get a data sheet. Or figure out what the PCB mate is.

    "Contact Molex" just bounces between two web pages, runaround. If we
    have a regional rep, I can't find them.

    Lots of data sheets these days are instant-generated PDFs, which would
    be great if they worked.


    Molex et al. have this problem: when you bring out a new connector series, >> you have to look like it?s a full range, even if you did it for one big
    customer who buys one or two versions.

    That leads to a lot of vaporware in connector catalogs.

    It can be worse. A long time ago NS launched a new microcontroler
    that would have been perfect for the project I was working on.
    Unfortunately, they never actually made it.


    That's called "testing the market" aka vaporware.


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From john larkin@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, June 04, 2026 19:25:11
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 22:42:12 +0200, Lasse Langwadt <llc@fonz.dk> wrote:

    On 6/4/26 17:33, john larkin wrote:

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    plenty of other brands that make similar 3.81mm pitch connectors


    We're designing a small 100 amp 100 volt pulsed laser driver, and
    don't have much panel space for the output connector. We figure the
    customer could screw his wires into that connector and then plug it
    into a mate in the box.

    But we can't get a data sheet and don't know what PCB connector it
    would mate with.

    Might cut over to Phoenix.


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From JM@3:633/10 to All on Friday, June 05, 2026 03:51:31
    On Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:25:11 -0700, john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com>
    wrote:

    But we can't get a data sheet and don't know what PCB connector it
    would mate with.

    Molex are way overpriced.

    https://www.rapidonline.com/plugs-headers?lastAttribute=Pitch&Attributes={%22No%20of%20Ways%20Per%20Row%22:[%223%22],%22Pitch%22:[%223.81mm%22]}

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Lasse Langwadt@3:633/10 to All on Friday, June 05, 2026 16:20:54
    On 6/5/26 04:25, john larkin wrote:
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 22:42:12 +0200, Lasse Langwadt <llc@fonz.dk> wrote:

    On 6/4/26 17:33, john larkin wrote:

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    plenty of other brands that make similar 3.81mm pitch connectors


    We're designing a small 100 amp 100 volt pulsed laser driver, and
    don't have much panel space for the output connector. We figure the
    customer could screw his wires into that connector and then plug it
    into a mate in the box.

    But we can't get a data sheet and don't know what PCB connector it
    would mate with.

    Might cut over to Phoenix.


    there's also TE/AMP plenty to chose from and ime they are all compatible

    https://www.digikey.co.uk/en/products/filter/terminal-blocks/headers-plugs-and-sockets/370?s=N4IgTCBcDaIDoBcAEAVAogJQLJIEIBkB5AYQGkkAFfAVQHEkBmCwgZUYDoAOARiyxAC6AXyA


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From john larkin@3:633/10 to All on Friday, June 05, 2026 07:28:26
    On Fri, 5 Jun 2026 16:20:54 +0200, Lasse Langwadt <llc@fonz.dk> wrote:

    On 6/5/26 04:25, john larkin wrote:
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 22:42:12 +0200, Lasse Langwadt <llc@fonz.dk> wrote:

    On 6/4/26 17:33, john larkin wrote:

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    plenty of other brands that make similar 3.81mm pitch connectors


    We're designing a small 100 amp 100 volt pulsed laser driver, and
    don't have much panel space for the output connector. We figure the
    customer could screw his wires into that connector and then plug it
    into a mate in the box.

    But we can't get a data sheet and don't know what PCB connector it
    would mate with.

    Might cut over to Phoenix.


    there's also TE/AMP plenty to chose from and ime they are all compatible

    https://www.digikey.co.uk/en/products/filter/terminal-blocks/headers-plugs-and-sockets/370?s=N4IgTCBcDaIDoBcAEAVAogJQLJIEIBkB5AYQGkkAFfAVQHEkBmCwgZUYDoAOARiyxAC6AXyA

    They do look very similar. This might be the PCB mate:

    https://www.digikey.co.uk/en/products/detail/phoenix-contact/1803280/260575

    I guess we'll buy a bunch of connectors and see what works.


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Joerg@3:633/10 to All on Friday, June 05, 2026 17:19:20
    On 6/4/26 8:53 AM, john larkin wrote:
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 15:44:01 -0000 (UTC), Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

    john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics


    It?s only four bucks in onesies?cheap at twice the price!

    Cheers

    Phil Hobbs

    But I can't get a data sheet. Or figure out what the PCB mate is.

    "Contact Molex" just bounces between two web pages, runaround. If we
    have a regional rep, I can't find them.

    Lots of data sheets these days are instant-generated PDFs, which would
    be great if they worked.


    Digikey has become sloppy with datasheet links. Often like here they
    plain don't work or end in an error message. I used to alert them but it
    has become so rampant that I've moved on to other distributors.

    They used to be hands down the best when looking for parts. Not anymore :-(

    <rant_mode_on>

    I think it boils down to poor upper management. What does it really
    take? Just a simple script or a bot that constantly churns through all
    their datasheet links and alerts staff when a link isn't working. But I
    guess they can't even figure that out.

    <rant_mode_off>

    --
    Regards, Joerg

    http://www.analogconsultants.com/

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From john larkin@3:633/10 to All on Friday, June 05, 2026 20:12:00
    On Fri, 5 Jun 2026 17:19:20 -0700, Joerg <news@analogconsultants.com>
    wrote:

    On 6/4/26 8:53 AM, john larkin wrote:
    On Thu, 4 Jun 2026 15:44:01 -0000 (UTC), Phil Hobbs
    <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

    john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> wrote:

    https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0397020003/5254735


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics


    It?s only four bucks in onesies?cheap at twice the price!

    Cheers

    Phil Hobbs

    But I can't get a data sheet. Or figure out what the PCB mate is.

    "Contact Molex" just bounces between two web pages, runaround. If we
    have a regional rep, I can't find them.

    Lots of data sheets these days are instant-generated PDFs, which would
    be great if they worked.


    Digikey has become sloppy with datasheet links. Often like here they
    plain don't work or end in an error message. I used to alert them but it
    has become so rampant that I've moved on to other distributors.

    They used to be hands down the best when looking for parts. Not anymore :-(

    <rant_mode_on>

    I think it boils down to poor upper management. What does it really
    take? Just a simple script or a bot that constantly churns through all
    their datasheet links and alerts staff when a link isn't working. But I >guess they can't even figure that out.

    <rant_mode_off>

    Yeah, Digikey is a mess now.

    It's useful as a first-pass parts search engine.


    John Larkin
    Highland Tech Glen Canyon Design Center
    Lunatic Fringe Electronics

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)