What type of Molex connector do I need for the 6pins, dual row connector on the controller board?
I need to connect pins 3 & 6 " I think " to my VFD to control my spindle. I don’t want to just solder two wires to the board, I want to make it look clean.
Thank you Julien, how about the mail part that would connect to that connector? the one that will be wired to the VFD?
The one used for the Nomad (for which this is intended) is this series.
But this only has a 5V PWM output, your VFD will likely need more than a simple connector to work with this.
Check the “mating parts” section in that Molex page?
https://www.molex.com/molex/search/deepSearch?pQuery=productseries:44432@circuitsloaded:6@circuitsmaximum:6@materialplatingmating:Gold@numberofrows:2@pitchmatinginterface:3.00mm
Thank you for your reply. It’s the same one as the one Julien mentioned. I don’t know what is the voltage range of the PWM connector on the Shapeoko board, but based on what I’ve seen on all circuits that offers PWM control is that it is always 12 volts max voltage. The only difference between some circuits is the minimum voltage, some starts at zero volt, and some at 3 volts, but the max has always been 12 volts. Also, the PWM/TTL on the same board that is intended to control a laser is for sure 12 volts max.
Ha, interesting. I did open my drawer of salvaged Molex connectors from my custom PC build era , but only had the larger Molex (that are typically used on ATX power supplies to distribute 12V/5V), I did not realize GPUs used mini-Molex (and it’s been 5 or 6 years since I bought my current GPU, so it may not have been the case then)
I do, it’s 5V.
The Carbide Motion board is essentially a souped up Arduino with some extra parts. The PWM pin on the Shapeoko output is 100% a 5V output. It cannot go higher.
If you want to signal a 10/12V VFD, you’re going to need more electronics. You cannot just connect it to this output and expect it to work.
No, it looks similar but it’s a different connector. Look closely at the pattern of “notches” on the plugs. The micro-fit Molex connectors have a maximum of one “notch” on each pointy bit, the ATX connectors have two.
I believe the size is also slightly different.
Probably not, most VFDs have a setting to set whether the input signal is 5V or 10V range. The large majority of us just connected the PWM out of the controller directly to the VFD input.
Here are the Molex parts that I ordered from Mouser Electronics.
I was wrong about the GPU connector. It won’t fit, the pin spacing is bigger than what’s on the board. Also, Julien was right, I can adjust the input voltage value on my VFD to be 5 volts.
Part Number 441330600 Micro-Fit BMI Receptacle Housing, Dual Row, Panel Mount, 6 Circuits, Polyester, UL 94V-0
Unlike the other part, this part doesn’t actually have the wires inside it, it’s just a chunk of plastic. You also need either a crimping tool and crimp terminals (very expensive, wouldn’t do it) or pre-crimped cable assemblies like these (cheap, easy). The acceptable ones are listed under the “Use with part(s)” section on this page.
Also, does your VFD have screw terminals or something else that can easily accept stranded copper wire? If not you might want to get some ferrules and a crimping tool for them to terminate the VFD end of the wire assemblies.
(yeah they do, 99.9% of those cheap VFDs look like this)
It can be crimped. I have 6 pages of emails with Molex customer support. They explained in details how to crimp the wires without buying expensive crimping tool.
And I think it doesn’t matter if it’s expensive VFD or cheap VFD, I think all of them have screws terminals.
This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
