The reliability is based on a number of parameters, humidity, vibration, shock, handling, corrosivity and a lot more, so, your question depends on.... Generally spoken, butt joint PWB connectors are not allowed for MIL use. If you look at Amphenol's (US biggest on MIL conns) homepages, you'll find zero butt joint connectors for PWBs. There must be a reason why. For commercial use, I can imagine butt joint connectors are very welcome, because they match rapid robotic mounting. So, for home electronics and commercial things in general, they are probably reliable enough. Your question can only be answered in general terms, because we don't know anything about the sliding mechanisms when mating, nor how the body is meant to be secured vs. the board etc. I've been working a lot with connectors in "my former life" and I have seen how complicated the verification of a connector series can be. Inge -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tempea, Ioan Sent: den 5 september 2006 22:31 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] Connector reliability Hi Technos, I would like what you think about the reliability of the joints formed by this connector http://samtec.com/ftppub/pdf/SFMH_SM.PDF It looks pretty much like a butt joint to me, no real compliance. And since we're here, what about SMT headers, with their massive pins, are they reliable? Thanks, Ioan --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------