Hermetically Sealed Connectors Product Roundup 2022

By AJ Born | November 08, 2022

This week’s Product Roundup highlights hermetically sealed connectors from leading suppliers.

Hermetically Sealed Connectors

Amphenol Communications Solutions’ glass/epoxy sealed hermetic connectors offer a highly reliable electrical connection at both ends serving as a feed through. These connectors and cable assemblies are available in various pin configurations and are suitable for high temperature, high pressure applications in the gas and water industries, energy metering, and medical applications like X-ray machines. The glass sealed contacts have a current rating up to 3A and an operating temperature range up to 200 °C.

Teledyne offers the 600 Series, an extensive selection of single pin high voltage connectors. The 600 Series is rated for use up to 10 kVDC and at altitudes of 70,000 feet (21.34 km) and above while exposed to temperatures as low as -55 °C and up to 125 °C. Capable of operating in the hard vacuum of deep space, these hermetically sealed connectors are offered in shielded and non-shielded versions and use Teledyne’s patented Advanced Interface Sealing System.

CDM supplies Delta hermetically sealed bulkhead-mounted BNC to BNC and N to N adapters that meet MIL-PRF-55339 specifications. In-line RF coaxial adapters feature female/female interfaces for ease of use and optimum sealing properties. Sealed adapters feature silver-plated bodies and hardware along with gold contacts for premium PIM performance and 50 Ohm impedance. Extended temperature range of -65 °C to +165 °C and voltage stability up to 70,000’ for aero usage.

Axon Cable’s HermAx micro-D hermetic connectors have excellent intrinsic electrical and mechanical properties and provide excellent metallic interfaces. As a result, HermAx stainless steel glass-ceramic connectors deliver exceptionally low leak rates for harsh environment applications. The high conductivity contacts are made from high performance copper alloy, capable of 3A per contact, per MIL-DTL-83513. Helium leak testing is the most common method for evaluating hermetic sealing, and Axon’ follows MIL-STD-883K, method 1014-16, test condition A4 for single connectors. Axon’s HermAx connectors are 100% leak tested and are supplied with guaranteed leak rate performance. Levels as low as 10-11 mbar, l/s are possible. HermAx connectors go far beyond military standards in temperature performance, withstanding more than 400 thermal shock cycles and operating in temperatures as low as -200 °C and as high as 220 °C without leakage. This type of connector can safely be used in challenging environments, including space, avionics, oil & gas exploration, scientific research, and medical electronics.

TE Connectivity’s DEUTSCH hermetic connectors are engineered and manufactured to operate reliably in environments from the deep sea to the moon, and in cryogenic and high temperature applications, as well as fuel submersion, high-vibration, extreme shock, high pressure, and high vacuum environments. TE’s portfolio includes custom-design selection of hermetic connectors (plugs and receptacles), headers, and other devices crucial to solving electrical interconnect challenges. TE designs and manufactures all its hermetic connector components, starting with high-grade materials, including stainless steel bar stock or exotic metals like titanium for shells, high-grade silica and binders for the glass, a range of special alloys for contacts, and elastomers carefully matched to the application. An important consideration in material selection is the ability to withstand the high temperatures of the sealing process. All connectors are fully tested to ensure the integrity of the hermetic seal.

SV Microwave offers a wide range of IP67 and IP68 waterproof interconnect products designed to withstand rigorous environments and harsh elements. SV’s line of waterproof adapters include hermetically sealed connectors to 1 x 10-8 cc/sec, making them ideal for high pressure, vacuum applications and the prevention of liquid or gas leakage. IP ratings are used to specify the environmental protection of enclosures and casings around electronic products. SV Microwave’s Bulkhead Hermetic RF Adapters are used in RF Test & Measurement boards, vacuum and vacuum test applications, severe and harsh environments, and military and aerospace applications.

Powell Electronics offers Glenair hermetic seal connectors, such as the MIL-DTL-38999 Series I, II, III, and IV. They are principally designed for use in military aerospace but are equally suitable in commercial applications such as oil & gas equipment, logging equipment, or medical devices. Hermetic seal connectors thrive in harsh application environments. Sensitive photographic, sensor, and surveillance equipment mounted in the tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), for example, must be able to operate in severe weather conditions, at high altitudes, under extremes of atmospheric pressure, and in rapidly changing temperature gradients. Hermetic seal connector devices penetrating vacuum-sealed black box equipment are selected for their ability to protect the controlled equipment environment by maintaining an air-tight seal between severe flight conditions and an aircraft’s sensitive payload. While glass-to-metal sealing has traditionally been the gold standard of hermetic sealing, new lightweight encapsulant sealing technology from Glenair, called CODE RED, delivers mission-critical hermetic sealing with better contact electrical performance and a significant reduction in weight.

Fischer Connectors’ historic series Fischer Core Brass includes a large variety of hermetically sealed connectors. The Switzerland-headquartered company’s founder developed the world’s first hermetic connector for a vacuum chamber in 1964. Hermeticity is a high level of sealing that prevents gas leaks over longer periods of time. Hermetic connectivity solutions must be built with specific considerations, such as the total pressure differential existing on the device as a whole; the vacuum level needed for the application; the type of O-ring material needed to prevent any diffusion effect; the connector design and materials (insulating plastics, sealing resins, and elastomeric seals) minimizing virtual leak and outgassing effects; the installation of the panel-mounted connector with correct seal designs, including surface flatness, circular machining grooves for O-ring seal, cleaned panel cut-out’s edges and burrs. Fischer Connectors’ gas-proof connectors are tested with a leak testing instrument to ensure a leak smaller than 10^-8 mbar l/s per IEC 60068-2-17. The Fischer Core bulkhead feedthrough connectors are also hermetic. Their body styles are specially designed to allow the passing of electrical signals and power through a panel via two cabled plugs. The Fischer Core Series is trusted by technology-driven industries worldwide, from medical, defense, and industrial automation to Test & Measurement equipment.

Optimus EN4165 connector from Nicomatic is modular, sealed, and meets the EMI requirements of this standard. Nicomatic now includes in its catalogue rectangular connectors certified to EN4165. Lighter and more compact than D38999, the EN4165 is the solution of choice for connecting equipment in the most severe environments. EN4165 is stackable, suitable for panels or backplanes, ultra-modular, intermateable, has an almost unlimited range of contacts, and is interchangeable with existing solutions for increased simplicity in all your designs. Developed for the civil aeronautics sector, the relevance of EN4165 goes beyond this single market. It allows Nicomatic to offer standardized connectors adapted by their performance to the military, railway, and other applications.

Amphenol’s Airtight Light Weight Hermetic connectors provide high levels of sealing and operating temperatures without sacrificing on weight. Utilizing high performance materials, these connectors will meet a leak rate of 1×10-7cc helium per second and maintain an operating temperature of -65 °C to 200 °C. This revolutionary design introduces the ability to use aluminum shells, resulting in a weight savings of 35% across any shell size. It is currently offered in any standard MIL-DTL-38999 configuration with the option to implement in other connector series where appropriate. It utilizes highly conductive gold plated copper contacts.

Avnet supplies Amphenol Miniature Cylindrical connectors, which offer twice the number of contacts in just half the size of a standard connector. These miniature connectors are available in several series, each with varying design characteristics and customer options to meet cost considerations and provide maximum design flexibility. This series features gold-plated contacts in either solder or crimp. Available as the MS part number or commercial equivalents.

PEI Genesis supplies Amphenol LJT Miniature Connectors (MIL-DTL-38999 Series I). The series features quick-mating with a three-point bayonet coupling system and provides an audible and tactile “click” along with visual verification of mated connectors via a sighting hole and high-visibility, bright blue bayonet pins. LJT plugs feature high-quality grounding springs that provide 360° EMI/RFI shielding protection. These springs ground the barrel of the LJT plugs to the inside wall of the LJT receptacles with a wiping action that offers effective protection from reception or transmission of electronic noise. LJT connectors come in a wide variety of contact sizes and layouts, up to 128 contacts. Printed circuit board, fiber optic, thermocouple, and coax style contacts are available for special applications. For standard applications, LJT’s come with crimp-style military contacts designed to resist bending and provide reliable performance under the most rigorous conditions. LJT’s are available with cadmium over nickel plating that has met and passed the 500-hour military salt spray corrosion tests.

Cinch DURA-CON micro-D hermetic connectors are designed for applications where an electrical connection is required across two separately contained atmospheric environments. Cinch DURA-CON uses a proprietary metalized epoxy compound to hermetically seal the connector to a leak rate of less than 1 x 10-8 cc/sec He across a 1 atm pressure differential. The aluminum connector shell is rear-mounted to a panel wall and mounted in place with our hermetic hardware. A fluorosilicone O-ring compresses to the panel wall to maintain a seal. Micro-Ds are rugged, high-performance, densely compacted 0.050” (1.27 mm) pitch interconnects. DURA-CON is the ideal connector for applications where weight and space must be kept to a minimum. Reliability is assured with DURA-CON’s twist pin contacts that provide 7 points of contact when mated. Micro-D DURA-CON is one of the most widely used high-density rectangular connectors.

Learn more about sealed interconnects for challenging environments on Earth and beyond.

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AJ Born

Associate Editor at ConnectorSupplier.com

AJ (Amy J.) Born first landed in the engineering space writing and editing for IEEE GlobalSpec (Engineering360.com). In addition to engineering, her published articles cover topics as diverse as HVAC, small business, mental health, and spirituality/personal growth. At Connector Supplier AJ combines her writing and marketing expertise as associate editor. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University at Buffalo and an MBA from the University of Colorado Boulder. AJ can be reached at [email protected].