During the use of the connector, it is very common for the contact to fail. This is usually caused by a variety of bad factors. The failure of the connector contact will cause the connector to not work normally or be damaged. This is a problem that needs to be paid attention to.
Contacts may not hold and position properly within a connector housing for any number of reasons, and the problem may be with the housing, contacts, retention components, or some combination. Problems can occur due to excessive force on the connector contacts, improper assembly, external damage, environmental conditions, abuse, and many other factors. However, the most basic failure mode is due to misalignment or (axial) displacement of one or more contacts relative to their counterparts. This partial or complete contact separation can result in an electrical intermittent or complete open circuit condition.
- Improper plugging and unplugging of connector contacts:
One or both contacts may simply pull out of the connector due to mishandling, lack of strain relief, abuse, improper separation, etc.
- Push back the contact part of the connector:
Either contact may have moved back in the connector without fully moving, which may be the result of a stuck condition due to misalignment of the connector or contacts, improper initial assembly, loss of retention function, etc.
- Misalignment of connector contact tilt:
A connector or its contacts may have so much freedom of movement that significant misalignment of the contacts may occur during mating. In severe cases, the contacts may actually miss making contact with each other, but there may still be physical contact, which appears “normal” during the continuity test.
- Damaged connector contact features:
Connector contacts can be permanently bent, plastic housing features can be scraped, and the material (metal or plastic) can be overstressed or even plastically creep due to time, temperature, or other conditions.
