How To Choose M12 Field Wireable Connector

M12 field wireable connector is also called M12 field attachable connector , M12 cable assembly connector , it’s M12 connectors that can be convenient to connect cables on site without tools or using special tools, there are usually 4 wiring methods, solder type , crimp type , screw type , quickon(phoenix) , It is very suitable for field maintenance or small batch applications.

Above picture shows different types disassemblied M12 field wireable connectors, the shell can be metal plastic material , straight type or right angle type. There are different pin options for the M12 field wireable connector , such as M12 12 pin field wireable connector , M12 8 pin field wireable connector .

Solder M12 field wireable connector

Solder type M12 field wireable connector connect to the cable by soldering, the tin is melted by heating, and then the conductor of the cable and the contact of the M12 connector should be brought together, and the melted tin connects them during the curing process, because tin has a low melting point, has very good electrical conductivity, and does not Air reacts chemically, so tin is widely used in the soldering process of electronic products, and soldering is a good and reliable method of connecting wires.
The contact of M12 field wireable connector is gold plated and has very good oxidation resistance. During the welding process, the oxidized copper may cause false welding or weak welding.
Dipping the conductors of the cable in tin prior to soldering will make the soldering process stronger and faster.

Advantages of the solder M12 field attachable connector

1. Convenient and fast, no complicated equipment is required
2. Reliable and stable connection

Disadvantages of the welding process solder M12 field attachable connector

1. The melting point of tin is low, and high temperature may lead to desoldering
2. Low temperature will cause the state of tin to change and reduce reliability
3. Experienced technicians are required, otherwise it may lead to tinning, false welding, unsightly and other situations.
4. Vibration resistance is not as good as other wiring methods

Solder M12 field wirable connector Precautions

1. Pay attention to the temperature and soldering time of the soldering tools. If the temperature is too high or the soldering time is too long, the connector may be damaged.
2. Choose environmentally friendly lead-free solder paste, otherwise it will not be able to enter the market in some countries
3. If manual soldering, you need to use a suitable soldering iron tip and tin wire to ensure the soldering effect
4. If welding in batches, it is best to use automated welding equipment to improve the reliability of welding
5. Clean the surface of the product before welding to improve welding efficiency
6. Pay attention to ventilation during the welding process to prevent the smoke generated during the welding process from causing harm to the human body of the staff

Shine Industry solder M12 field attachable connector

The Shine Industry CAZN brand solder type M12 field attachable connector is made of metel shell, have very good shielding performance, it can be male or female, have shape as straight type and right angle type. For diffrent coding types it has following pins for option :

A coded M12 field wireable connector : 2 pin , 3 pin , 4 pin , 5 pin , 6 pin , 8 pin , 12 pin , 17 pin , the M12 8 pin field wireable connector and M12 12 pin field wireable connector , M12 17 pin field wireable connector mainly used for data transmission.

B coded M12 field wireable connector : 5 pin , M12 B coded fied wireable connector is mainly for Profibus applications, and the other end of the cable would be DB9

M12 D coded field wireable connector : 4 pin , D coded M12 4 pin field wireable connector is mainly used for 100M industrial ethernet

The above plastic shell M12 field wireable connector have A coded 2 pin , 3 pin , 4 pin , 5 pin , 6 pin , 8 pin , B coded 5 pin , D coded 4 pin for option. Lots of customers used it for M12 D coded field wireable connector for 100M industrial ethernet application.

Screw M12 field wireable connector

Screw M12 field attachable connector locking the conductor of the of the cables to the contact of the M12 connector by screws, it’s the most popular M12 field wireable connector . After stripping the wire, insert it into the contact hole, and then tighten the screw so that the contact and the conductor are in close contact, so as to achieve a stable and reliable connection. Tools such as screwdrivers are required on site, which are very easy to obtain. Due the M12 field attachable connector size limit, the biggest pin quantity it support is 8 pin.

Advantages of screw M12 field wireable connector

1. Easy and fast installation
2. Only need common tools such as screwdrivers
3. No need for professional technicians and special skills
4. Low product cost and high cost performance
5. It is very easy to disassemble after wrong installation, which is very suitable for on-site maintenance
6. The connection is stable and reliable

Disadvantage of screw M12 field attachable connector

1. The connection becomes less reliable over time
2. Long-term vibration will also reduce the reliability of the connection
3. The stripping of cables and conductors in the early stage will take a lot of time
4. Multi-core products such as 12-core and 17-core are not suitable for screw M12 field attachable connector

Precautions for screw M12 field wireable connector

1. The cable stripped length should not be too long or too short. If it is too short, it will not be easy to install. If it is too long, the dome nut will not be able to effectively lock the cable, which will affect the waterproof effect.
2. When tightening the screw, the force should not be too strong, otherwise the conductor will be broken, and the force should not be too weak, otherwise the conductor cannot be locked tightly.
3. Pay attention to the diameter of the cable that the connector can support. If the diameter is too large, it will not be able to be installed, and the cable with too small diameter will not be waterproof after installation.
4. Pay attention to the conductor size that the connector can support
5. When installing the conductor, you can choose a screwdriver that has been calibrated for strength, which can better ensure the reliability of the installation.
6. Make sure that the threads of all the connector parts are also tightly locked to ensure waterproof function

Comparision of plastic shell and metal shell of screw M12 field wireable connector

The M12 field attachable connector could be produced with plastic shell or metal shell. Plastic shell is mainly use PA66 material, and metal shell mainly use Zinc alloy nickel-plated, for different application and environment users may make different choice. So what’s the difference between the two shell matrial and how to make the choice?

1. If you have a limited budget, you can choose the plastic shell M12 field attachable connector, compared with metel ones, plastic connector is always much cheaper
2. If there is a lot of electromagnetic interference in the field, then choose the M12 field attachable connector with metal shell, the metal shell connector has better shielding effect
3. In some harsh use environments, such as high temperature, low temperature, oil pollution, corrosion, vibration, etc., metal shell connectors often have better performance. Under high temperature conditions, plastics will also experience failures such as brittle cracking and deformation leading to failure of protection.
4. Waterproof connectors with metal shells can often be made more compact, which is convenient for R&D personnel to develop and design

Shine Industry screw type plastic M12 field wireable connector

The plastic shell M12 field attachable connector have straight type or right angle type, could be male and female as in above picture, offer PG7 and PG9 lock nut to different size cables, PG7 support 4-6mm cable OD, and PG9 support 6-8mm cable OD. The hot selling ones are M12 4 pin field wireable connector , M12 8 pin field wireable connector.

This field wireable M12 connector have A coded 2 pin, 3 pin, 4 pin, 5 pin, 6 pin, 8 pin for option.

Shine Industry metal M12 field wireable connector

This metal housing M12 field attachable connector is right angle type, have A coded 2 pin, 3 pin , 4 pin , 5 pin , 6 pin , 8 pin , B coded 5 pin and D code 4 pin for option.

This metal shell straight M12 field wireable connector have same pin and code option as the right angle connector.

Crimp M12 field wireable connector

Crimp M12 field attachable connector have contacts made of crimp male or female pin, after the stripping the cable and wire, insert the conductor of the cable into the hole of the crimp pin, then use crimp tools to connect the cable and the crimp pins. After crimped the pins, insert the pins to the inserts, then assembly the connector.

Crimping is a safe and reliable connection method that is becoming more and more popular, especially because of the high reliability of crimping in harsh environments, in addition, crimping can be manually operated with simple tools, in high-volume situations, and can also be used for rapid processing operations with automated equipment, which is the easiest connection method for batch processing among several connection methods.

Crimp M12 field wireable connector has very good anti-vibration performance, and has very good stability and reliability under high and low temperature conditions.

Advantage of crimp M12 field wireable connector

1. Suitable for harsh application environment, anti-vibration, high temperature and low temperature
2. Fast processing speed, can be processed manually or automatically, suitable for batch processing operations
3. Compact structure, able to set more needles in smaller size
4. Pins and insulator are seperated, in case of wrong processing, you can change the pin and crimp again

Disadvantage of crimp M12 field wireable connector

1. Requires tooling that is specific to the contacts
2. The crimp tools is expensive, not reasonable for small quantities

Shine Industry CAZN brand crimp M12 field wireable connector

This crimp field wireable M12 connector have straight and right angle shape, could be male or female, it’s X coded , M12 X coded field attachable connector mainly used for 10G bps industrial ethernet.

Other type M12 field wireable connectors

Except the above solder , screw and crimp termination M12 connector, there’re also clamp, push-in , quickon , but these connector are very expensive and not practical for some applications.

How to choose field wireable M12 connector

• If you have a limited budget and want to install easily and the application environment is not too harsh, we recommend the screw-type M12 field wireable connector with plastic housing.
• If you want to have 12 pin and 17 pin field wireable connector, we advise the solder type M12 field wireable connector
• If the application environment is very harsh, with strong vibration and high and low temperature, we recommend crimp M12 field wireable connector

This article may have limitations considered by the author and hope to help you with your choice.