[Menatep]

Hi Everyone...

What are the best bulkhead connectors for limit switches that have 2 wires carrying +5V current and 1 wire for ground? Just trying to keep things clean and since I have 5 limit switches I wanted something that didn't take up too much space.

So far the possibilities are:
- Individual 3.5 mm stereo jacks... 3 wires. One for each 3 wire switch. I never liked soldering these types of connectors. Too small.
- Individual USB ports... 4 wires. One connector for each 3 wire switch.
- One RJ45 connector... 8 wires. One connector for ALL limit switches. In this scenario, Ground and +5V will be shared by 5 switches and remaining 6 wire will carry +5V signals to 5 sensors. One wire will not be used. Or if it's not a good idea, then perhaps each limit switch could have its own RJ45 connector.
- One Speak On 8 wire connector. Same wiring scenario as RJ45 connector.

And if it matters, my steppers are connected with Neutrik Speakon 4 wire connectors.

Just trying to find the cleanest and fastest way to hook everything up. all your help is appreciated.

[Snecmainfo]

For all kinds of connectors, including military connectors, industrial connectors, connector, I think the connector manufacturer can provide a good solution, but as a general purchasing is issue to consider will be a lot of, because this involves long-term cooperation and stable quality snecma--military,medical,industrial connector manufacturer

[Menatep]

I ended up taking a Cat5E cable and connecting all 6 sensors to it. 6 wires on the Cat 5E cable run to signal wires on each limit switch. 2 remaining wires are for shared +5V signal and ground. Was a pain to wire since I had to stagger all the splices to make it as compact and neat as possible. I hooked everything up and all the sensors seem to work fine but i'll know more today how it goes in real production environment.

Advantages of this method is that I only have 1 RJ45 connector for all 5 limit switches and an exta 6th input for a future touch probe.

Going with XLR connectors would have wasted valuable rackmount panel space in 3U enclosure. Going with stereo connects wouldn't make the sensors hot-pluggable.