Product Overview

CR00203PAEWHG (2 x 3P) and CR00204PAEWHG (2 x 4P) are straight through-hole wafer headers on a 3.00 mm pitch, with a black LCP body and a 3.00 mm solder tail. They are the two sizes that cover most compact power and signal harness work.

This page skips the catalogue language and answers what engineers and buyers actually ask before ordering: which size, whether the tail suits your board, what the part will really carry, and what condition it arrives in.

Pick the Size First

One thing worth checking before you order. The eight-circuit body runs on 32 mm carrier tape rather than 24 mm. If your feeders are 24 mm only, plan for a 32 mm feeder or split the harness across two six-circuit connectors. Five minutes of checking now beats a stopped placement line later.

Both sizes share the same body material, terminal, plating and tail length. You are choosing circuit count, not a different product.

Will It Fit Your Board

Board thickness vs the 3.00 mm tail

On a 1.6 mm board the tail leaves about 1.4 mm of pin proud of the solder side. That is the sweet spot: wave solder fills the barrel and throws a visible fillet without anyone coming back with an iron.

On a 2.4 mm board, which is normal on power stages and aluminium-backed LED panels, you get about 0.6 mm. The joint still forms, but the fillet goes thin and inspection starts rejecting parts.

If your board is over 2.0 mm, tell us when you enquire. CONSHARE makes tails from 1.60 mm to 3.30 mm on the same body and the same reel, and swapping is far cheaper than fighting a solder process.

The board lock does more than you would think

Each end of the housing carries a 3.30 mm harpoon-style board lock. It keeps the header flat while the board is handled, stops it rocking as the wave passes, and takes the pull of repeated mating instead of your solder joints. Terminals are held in the housing to 1.0 kgf minimum, so nothing backs out when a harness is pulled off at an angle.

The shrouded body is polarised, so the receptacle only goes in one way. On a harness built by a subcontractor, that alone removes a whole class of assembly error.

Runs Cooler Than a Standard Brass Header

Most headers this size run brass terminals. These run high-conductivity copper, and the difference shows up as heat. At six to eight circuits with AWG #16 wire, this header is rated 10.5 A per circuit where the brass equivalent sits at 6.5 A. Same geometry, about 4 A more headroom, because copper pulls heat away from the contact area faster.

The plating is matte tin over a nickel underplate. Matte tin wets reliably after months in a warehouse and carries far less whisker risk than bright tin, which matters if your product is still expected to be working in ten years. Gold plating is available where signal levels or mating cycle counts justify it, though for most harness work matte tin is the better value and we will say so.

The housing is LCP rather than the nylon usually found at this pin count. It takes lead-free reflow heat without softening, so the header survives a board that also carries SMT parts, and it shrugs off humidity instead of drifting or popping after a long container voyage.

What It Will Actually Carry

Current rating on a wire-to-board header is not a single number. Three things set it, and two of them are yours.

1. Circuit count. Heat builds across the housing, so eight loaded circuits carry less per circuit than two.

2. Wire gauge. The header is rarely the bottleneck. The wire feeding the mating crimp usually is.

3. Ambient temperature. The table below assumes room temperature.

Both parts on this page sit in the 6 to 8 circuits column. Inside a sealed enclosure, pull those numbers back.

The rest of the electrical picture: 250 V AC or DC working voltage, 1,500 V AC withstand for one minute, 1,000 megohms minimum insulation resistance. Contact resistance is 10 milliohms as supplied and 20 milliohms after environmental conditioning, and the second figure is the one worth designing to. Working range is -40 °C to +105 °C, so sealed power supplies and outdoor enclosures are covered. RoHS 2.0 and halogen free as standard.

Where These Two Sizes Get Specified

Six circuits (CR00203PAEWHG)

Six is the RGB count: three channels, three returns. It is also the natural fit for a small three-phase BLDC drive, where three phases plus 5 V, ground and a tach pulse come to exactly six. On industrial sensor nodes, six usually means two power pairs and two signal pairs.

Eight circuits (CR00204PAEWHG)

Eight is the RGBW count: four channels, four returns on one connector. That is why this size turns up on architectural lighting and signage panels. It also covers compact IO blocks on PLC expansion modules, four signals plus two power and two shields, and the peripheral bundle inside payment and vending terminals.

Against a 2.54 mm single row you get twice the circuits in much the same board area, plus a polarised shroud that makes reverse mating impossible.

Every Reel Is Built and Checked the Same Way

On the production floor

Plating thickness is measured against the specified minimums on every batch, not sampled occasionally. Terminal retention is pull-tested. Body, board lock and tail dimensions are checked against the gauges used to set the tooling up. Contact resistance is sampled from finished reels rather than loose parts, so handling problems surface instead of hiding.

Packed to arrive usable

250 pieces per reel, with cover tape peel strength held between 20 and 120 grams so feeders open cleanly without shedding or gripping parts. Cartons hold 2,000 of the six-circuit part and 1,500 of the eight-circuit part. Every reel carries part number, quantity and lot code, and the lot code traces it back to its plating batch.

Ordering, Samples and Custom Options

Black, matte tin and 3.00 mm tail ship from stock. Samples and prototype quantities carry no tooling commitment.

CONSHARE also builds to order:

• Tail length from 1.60 mm to 3.30 mm

• Plating in bright tin, matte tin or gold

• Housing in black or natural

• Board lock in several lengths, or omitted entirely

• Soldering lug instead of board lock

• Tray packing instead of tape and reel

• Any configuration from 2 x 1P to 2 x 12P

Lead time depends on whether your change touches the mould or only the terminal tooling. Send the specification and we will tell you which.

FAQ

Which size should I pick, six or eight circuits?

Match it to the harness, then check your feeders. Six suits RGB modules and small three-phase drives. Eight suits RGBW lighting, PLC IO blocks and terminal peripherals, and needs 32 mm carrier tape.

Will the 3.00 mm tail work on my board?

On 1.6 mm, yes, and it solders cleanly. Above about 2.0 mm the protrusion gets short and fillets go thin. Give us your board thickness and we will supply a longer tail on the same body.

Does it survive reflow?

Yes. The LCP housing takes lead-free reflow heat without softening. These are through-hole parts and wave soldering is the normal process; the tolerance matters when the header shares a board with SMT parts.

How much current can I really run?

At six to eight circuits with AWG #16 you have 10.5 A per circuit at room temperature, less in a sealed enclosure or at high ambient. Use the table above rather than a single headline figure.

Can I try before committing to reel quantities?

Yes. Ask for cut tape or a partial reel, and tell us your board thickness so the sample ships with a tail length that works first time.

Product Documentation