TECHNICAL AND ENGINEERING SUPPORT
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What
material options exist for my connector? SRI Hermetics always manufactures
its connectors from metal with glass or ceramic seals. The connector
shell can be fabricated from any metal alloy the customer desires.
What are some of the common metal shell materials? The most common
materials choices are aluminum alloy 4047, 4032 & 60601, titanium
alloy 6Al4V & commercially pure titanium grades 2, 3 & 4,
stainless steel alloy 304L, 316L & 410 and iron/nickel alloys
such as Kovar, Alloy 46 & Alloy 52.
What type of pin materials are available? SRI Hermetics uses many
different iron materials to fabricate its hermetic connectors,
but we also use Beryllium Copper which provides much greater current
carrying capability as well as spring properties for socket contacts.
What finishes are available for the connector shell? It depends
on the shell material, but any standard coating or plating. Most
of the aluminum connectors are chromate conversion coated to facilitate
laser weld installation, while the stainless steel and titanium
connectors are usually left with a bare finish. Any connector destined
to be solder installed will usually have a nickel/tin or nickel
gold finish.
What finishes are available for the pins? The connector pins are
almost always finished with nickel and gold per the customer specification,
but we have many other choices available.
What are some of the typical connectors that are manufactured
at SRI Hermetics? We are a custom connector house, so we can manufacture
anything, but some of the typical connectors are: Sub-D per MIL-C-24308,
Micro-D per MIL-C-83513, Rack and Panel per MIL-C-28748, Circular
per MIL-C-38999, Nano rectangular per TBD specification and all
forms of single pin match impedance connectors such as SMA, SSMA,
BMA, SMP, SSMP, etc…
Does SRI Hermetics supply to the QPL? No. SRI Hermetics manufactures
custom connectors that are not found on the QPL, (Qualified Parts
List). However, most of SRI Hermetics connectors meet or exceed
all of the requirements of the QPL product, including mating characteristics
and electrical requirements.
Does SRI Hermetics manufacture non-hermetic connectors? Not normally.
We design around the industry standards for form and fit which
makes our connectors intermatable with all other compliant connectors.
However, there is a rare occasion when our customers require a
totally custom connector set, so we manufacture both halves.
Does SRI Hermetics do more than connectors? Yes. Manufacturing
custom connectors is just the first step towards providing our
customers with a complete packaging solution. SRI Hermetics is
extremely experienced with providing our customers with design
help and manufacturing the complete integrated package. We are
vertically integrated with equipment and processes which enable
us to install the connectors into the next higher level assembly,
test the unit and certify compliance to the customer specification.
Does this vertical integration include laser welding? Yes. SRI
Hermetics has a 600Watt Lumonics laser system with a four axis
computer controlled table.
What type of next higher level assembly products does
SRI Hermetics manufacture? Microwave packages, airborne radar housings, cryogenic
dewar assemblies, fiber optic packages, missile components, satellite
components, etc…
What design software does SRI Hermetics use and can they
import customer files? We use SolidWorks to do our designing and we can
import almost any 3D files with standard formats. SolidWorks has
the built-in ability to open many other CAD files, but most of
the time .stp files are used for common communication.
What is the typical lead time for a custom connector? This will
depend on the complexity of the connector as well as the commonality
of the connector, but typically the lead time will be 4 to 12 weeks
at each extreme with 8 to 10 weeks being the average.
How early should the customer get SRI Hermetics involved
in their project? SRI can provide design input, so the sooner the better.
Does SRI Hermetics stock connectors? Most of our connectors have
some feature that is custom and that makes stocking impractical.
However, we do stock piece parts so that we can often provide our
customers with the exact part they want in a short time period.
What dielectric materials does SRI Hermetics commonly use? The dielectric for the 50 ohm
feed-throughs is normally glass, typically either 7070 Corning or
7052 Corning (Ceramax is not RF compatible). The dielectric for
the DC
feed-throughs is either glass or our Ceramax; and the dielectric
we use for our multi-pin connectors is almost always Ceramax. |