Many multi-board PCBs will not use board-to-board connectors or simple wired cables to make connections between PCBs. With just a pair of PCBs that need to connect to each other, a single cable or board-to-board connector will be enough. However, many products will use multiple PCBs that all connect with each other, and the number of cables involved can quickly become unmanageable inside an enclosure. The solution to keep all those wires and cables organized can be very simple: build a wiring harness.
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Wiring harnesses come in all shapes and sizes, and they can become quite complex both mechanically and electrically. While there is a bit of design and assembly effort to create a wire harness that will work in an enclosure, wiring harnesses are worth the effort. This is especially true when a product goes into assembly and you need to idiot-proof your cabling. So if you're wondering what kind of wiring harness you might use in your product, take a look at these options.
The simplest type of wiring harness uses point-to-point cable bundles and packages them together into a single harness assembly. Cable bundles can be packed together using adhesives, tapes, sheathing, or mesh jackets. The cables used in these bundles could be off-the-shelf cables, custom cables, or a combination of these. Interconnect topology that usually arises from this is point-to-point because of the direct connections via these cables.
Cabling coming off of a connector can be bifurcated, where a single connector has wiring splitting off to two different destinations. This would be used to have a single receptacle on one PCB connecting to at least two other PCBs. This is a more sophisticated type of wiring harness that involves mixing and matching connectors and receptacles across different boards.
Simple bifurcated cable
Flex ribbons can also be used as wiring harnesses, which would allow a mix of edge connectors, surface mount connectors, and even through-hole connectors to interface with a group of PCBs. Flex connectors have an advantage and that they are very flat and so they may be useful in very low profile products. In some products, a wire bundle in a standard wiring harness simply won&#;t fit in the design, so a flex cable becomes a very attractive option.
Custom flex cables used as harnesses can have multiple branches going to receptacles on different PCBs.
When used as a wiring harness, the flex cable follows the same design rules as a flex PCB. The main difference here is the selection of connectors on the flex cable. Connectors on flex cables that plug into PCB receptacles should generally not be surface mounted if the flex ribbon will plug and unplug repeatedly. The reason is that the flexible polyamide could easily separate from the SMD pads. Instead, opt for SMD connectors that have a through-hole mounting assist or a through-hole welding tab as this will prevent solder fracture near the connector plug, and it will allow the cable to be connected and disconnected repeatedly.
If you want to build a wiring harness, such as using bifurcated cables, you will need to select receptacles and mating connectors in order to make the required connections. Connector vendors do not normally specify their plug connectors as being used for wiring harnesses. Typically, these are crimp connectors that allow an assembler to attach a wire and then build out a cable assembly or wiring harness. For example, take a look at the Molex connector below.
This connector (Molex part number ) uses crimps for wire attachment which could be integrated into a custom wiring harness.
A wiring harness can be easily built from this connector by using crimp contacts, which slide into the connector. The crimp contact will crimp onto a wire, and this allows the wire to slide in and secure itself inside the connector body. Once the connector is mated to its receptacle on a PCB, the required electrical connection is completed.
For a wiring harness assembler, the PCB and product documentation will need to include these parts for the wiring and harness components in the BOM. You will need to include:
- The part number for the mating connector in the wiring harness
- A part number for the required crimp contacts
- A part number for the wiring, including wire gauge
This can be included in the product&#;s full BOM. I also like to include this information directly in the schematic for the connecting PCB, so that there is no question as to what is the mating connector, crimp, or wiring. Some crimps require special crimp tools with their own part number, and this part number should also be included in the documentation.
These materials will need to be supplied to a wiring harness assembler so that a full wiring harness can be procured. The wiring harness should probably also have its own bill of materials, and it will need a detailed drawing showing pin connections on each connector plug, as well as part numbers for compatible crimps. Documentation of wiring harnesses can be difficult and may require some manual drawing due to the lack of standardization. Contact your cable assembly or wiring harness manufacturer to make sure you provide them the documentation they need to correctly assemble your wiring harness.
When building a custom wiring harness or cable assembly, designers historically resorted to running cabling through a prototype enclosure using spooled wire, or even using string. A harness would then have to be hand-assembled in order to check to see that it would fit in the enclosure. If a flex cable was being used as a harness, then a flex prototype would need to be built, something which can be quite expensive with thin polyimide flex ribbons.
Obviously, this is expensive and time consuming, especially when you are simply trying to estimate the wiring length inside the enclosure. Today's design teams should instead leverage MCAD applications and 3D models of the enclosure in order to estimate and size cabling. These tools can easily draw in cabling of various shapes and sizes, as well as insert bends to visualize cable paths within a wiring harness.
Wiring harness designed in SolidWorks
The side benefit of this is it also allows experimentation with connector placement in a 3D mechanical model of the PCB within the enclosure. 3D models of connectors, such as STEP models, are widely available from most connector manufacturers and can be quickly used in ECAD and MCAD applications.
The weld tabs on this locking clip connector (Samtec part number PES-04-01-S-VT-LC) provide extra reinforcement for any flex cable-mounted interface connectors.
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Consolidated Electronic Wire & Cable can assemble a variety of such harnesses, and our experts can help you determine what will fit your needs. However, if your needs are especially complex or specific, we also offer custom harnesses.
Custom Wire Harnesses
Wires and cables are indispensable tools for a wide range of today&#;s home and industrial systems, and harnesses allow technicians to create orderly, carefully fitted wiring solutions for any type of environment. Depending on the specific needs of an application, these harnesses can be built to accommodate systems up to 600 volts (UL) or volts (military), with high performance at temperatures ranging from -65 °C (-85 °F) to 250 °C (482 °F).
When evaluating a new cable or wire harness solution, remember to carefully consider the specific environment it will be used in and the temperature and conditions it will be exposed to. Evaluate all of the different cable types you may be able to use; custom wire and cable harnesses can be crafted with nearly limitless style and material options, including:
- Wire ties
- Lacing
- Insulation materials of all kinds
- Custom colors
- Heat-shrink coatings
- Custom labeling or barcoding
- Four-color ink stamping
- Individual tagging
- Independent circuit IDs
- Polypropylene, nylon, and paper fillers
- Custom shielding
We take a strategic engineering approach to select the most ideal shielding and connectors for your application. At the same time, we take into account all applicable regulatory standards to ensure that your final harness is safe, reliable, compliant, and effective.
Other factors that bear on harness design include:
Whether the harness will be exposed to continuous flexion
If the harness will be used indoors or outdoors, and under what specific conditions
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How many circuits and conductors are required for the assembly, as well as their characteristics
Level of voltage to be carried
Potential exposures, including chemicals, corrosive fluids, weather conditions, and moisture from other sources
Maximum, minimum, and average operating temperatures, as well as potential fluctuations
Local safety and environmental regulations that might impact component selection, installation, and inspection
Routing, breakouts, general shape of form
Wire Harness Applications
Since wire harnesses can be used to solve such a diverse range of interconnection challenges, they are used extensively throughout myriad industries. Virtually any industry that relies on cable arrangements can benefit from the use of wire harnesses. The following sectors, among others, often rely on wire harnesses to maximize efficiency and protect employees against the dangers of haphazard wiring:
- Aerospace.
Wire assemblies are used in an expansive range of aerospace products, such as drones, satellites, and aircraft to facilitate the transmission of power, communication, and more.
- Automotive.
Wire harnesses are critical for saving valuable space within automobiles within the dashboard, under the hood, lighting/signals, and more. They are also important for organizing complex wiring in such a way that technicians can easily identify their purpose.
- Medical
. Hospitals and clinics rely on wire harnesses to organize and protect wires in and between equipment, including crash carts, diagnostic and imaging equipment, dental equipment and more.
- Telecommunications
. Wire harnesses optimize use of space in a variety of telecommunications equipment, such as modems, routers, repeaters, and a variety of other communication and broadband equipment.
- Information technology
. Nearly all computers, laptops, servers, and other IT technology contain wire harnesses to optimize space and organize wires for easy identification and installation by technicians.
- Construction
. Wire harnesses are widely used within structures to provide wiring insulation and organization.
- Manufacturing
. CNC machines and other powered manufacturing equipment rely on wire harnesses to route and organize external and internal wiring.
- Robotics and automation
. Wire harnesses are used on most automated equipment and robotics to safely route, group, and protect critical wiring
Benefits of Wire Harnesses
Wire harnesses would not be so widely used if they didn&#;t present substantial benefits for wiring applications. Among other advantages, wiring harnesses benefit companies in the following ways:
Decreases cost compared to multiple individual assemblies
Improves organization, especially when a system relies on hundreds of feet of complicated wiring
Decreases installation time for projects involving extensive networks of wiring or cabling
Protects conductors from the elements outdoors or from chemical and moisture exposure indoors
Provides a safer work environment by cleaning up loose or scattered wires, maximizing space, and preventing trips and damage to wires and cable
Enhances safety by minimizing the risk of shorts or electrical fires
Decreases installation and maintenance time by potentially minimizing the number of connections and organizing components in a logical configuration
The many benefits of wire harnesses stem from very simple design principles. Sheathes protect wires against abrasion or exposure to hazards, minimizing the risk of workplace incidents. Connectors, clips, lacing, and other organizational strategies drastically reduce the amount of space that wiring must occupy and ensure that technicians can easily locate the components that they need. For equipment or vehicles that regularly contend with a web of lengthy wires, a wire harness is sure to benefit everyone.
High-Performance Materials
In addition to ensuring optimal organization, a high-quality wire and cable harness will provide reliable insulation and protection for the conductors within. There are many options for durable harness materials, and it&#;s important to select what is most beneficial for your needs.
Some of the most common insulator materials include:
- PVC, or polyvinyl chloride
- SR-PVC, or semi-rigid polyvinyl chloride
- Cellular polyethylene
- EPDM, or ethylene propylene diene monomer
- TPE/TPR, thermoplastic elastomers
- PE, or polyethylene
- Both low- and high-density polyethylene (LPDE and HDPE)
- Cellular, or foam, polyethylene
- PU, or polyurethane, as well as polyurethane and nylon blends
- Low-smoke plenum copolymers
- Polypropylene (PP) and cellular (foam) polypropylene
- FEP, or fluorinated ethylene propylene
- TFE, or tetrafluoroethylene
- PTFE, or polytetrafluoroethylene
- ETFE Tefzel
- PVDF Kynar
- ECTFE Halar
- IRR/PVC, or irradiated polyvinyl chloride
- XLPE, or cross-linked polyethylene
- Vinyl
In choosing between these and other options, it&#;s important to take into account environmental variables such as operating temperature and moisture. The presence of moisture, for instance, can necessitate a water-resistant material like polyethylene to avoid damage to the conductors.
Cable & Wire Harness Solutions
At Consolidated, we&#;ve been helping clients develop these solutions for more than 100 years. Our custom harnesses and assemblies can be found in a wide range of applications, and all projects are supported by our state-of-the-art production facilities.
Bearing in mind relevant industry standards and specifications such as IPC/WHMA-A-620, there are countless ways to develop a harness or assembly to meet the needs of a particular project. And with various options available for shielding, fillers, materials, identification, and style, the most efficient organizational solution for your project is simply a matter of strategic engineering.
Our current catalog includes a wide variety of robust, high-performance cable and wiring harnesses guaranteed to organize multi-wire systems across industries. Our custom harness services are tailored to each and every client, with our technicians drawing on decades of multidisciplinary experience to determine the ideal strategy for each operation. Whether your cabling is for a home appliance or a state-of-the-art aircraft, our assemblies can enhance organization and safety at a competitive price-point.
To learn more about our custom wire and cable harness solutions and discuss how we can help with your next project, check out our comprehensive eBook, &#;Creating a Custom Cable,&#; or get in touch with our team today.
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