Mill-Max Receptacles have long been an excellent solution for making PCB components pluggable, removable, and replaceable. Mill-Max has recently developed a new series of open bottom, low profile, solder mount receptacles specifically designed to make your mechanical key switches hot-swappable. The new 3305-X is designed to be soldered into a 0.060 in. (1.50 mm) minimum mounting hole, with an ultra-thin retention shoulder so plugged-in components sit nearly flush to the board surface. The open bottom design is meant to accommodate varying lead lengths making this a very versatile receptacle.
The 3305-X series offers three length options of .0105, 0.130 and 0.155 in. (2.67, 3.30, and 3.94 mm), all with an above-board height of 0.010 in. (0.25 mm), providing the low profile desired for optimal switch height and functioning. And while these receptacles are compact in size, high quality materials make these easy-to-use parts both reliable and long-lasting. Like all Mill-Max receptacles the 3305-X series utilizes a beryllium copper contact clip to make dependable, low resistance connections with mated leads and maintain those high-quality connections after thousands of cycles (plug/unplug). The 3305-X accepts round leads of 0.025-0.037 in. (0.635-0.940 mm) in diameter as well as square and rectangular leads (0.019 – 0.026 in. square) – typical of the leads found on most keyboard switches.
The introduction of the 3305-X series and this style of receptacle means that repairing, upgrading or customizing keyboards — once tedious and time-consuming endeavors — have become viable options by eliminating the painstaking task of de-soldering then re-soldering an entire keyboard — a process which could take 90 minutes or more each time, depending on the user’s skill level. Conversely, after the one-time process of installing Mill-Max 3305-X receptacles, all the key switches can be replaced in just a few minutes, many times over, allowing users of all skill levels to join the hot-swap keyboard movement.
Mill-Max
www.mill-max.com
Filed Under: Connector Tips