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Various cheap USB-C connectors from LCSC for KiCad
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Various cheap USB-C connectors from LCSC for KiCad. Brief rundown of the USB standards here and details on how to use these boards here.
I want to move over to use USB C connectors in my designs and I want more options than just using the few predefined in Kicad.
Price is also relevant. Amphenol and Molex are fantastic connectors, but of the three footprints that come with Kicad 5, Amphenol 12401548E4#2A and Molex 105444 are no longer being made. The third Type C connector is 12401610E4#2A. It's 2 USD for one and 1.35 USD for 100 pcs.
If you just want a USB C connector for applying power, you can get this from a good Korean factory for 0.21 USD at LCSC. This is if you only buy a single connector. Buy a hundred and save 7 of those cents - down to 0.14 USD. Want USB 2.0? The price starts at 0.38 USD for just one, but gets down to 0.24 USD if you buy a hundred. A fully featured USB 3.1 connector is 0.81 USD, so still below half the price.
I've now used the USB connectors from Korean Hroparts Elec in more than 5k boards and they hold up well - even for things like devboards that are plugged in/out daily.
TYPE-C-31-M-12 used to be my goto part for USB2.0, but I've found that the official footprint for these can cause problems with many board houses. The pins on the part only stick out 0.9mm, so if the board shop don't fully fill the 1.6mm hole - you'll have cases where the part rips off. I've now started using TYPE-C-31-M-14 as the new goto. This one is seated inside the board and I've never had a soldering problem with it. I'm not 100% sure why it's so much more successful, but I guess it's something about wicking during selective/wave soldering. When using TYPE-C-31-M-14, you should be aware of it's rather low ampacity rating (1A) compared to many other Type C connectors (typically 5A).
Four new footprints added:
Minor tweak to power pads on two footprints. All footprints have been tested and used extensively in several boards now.
Got the second batch of boards. All 3 footprints are now golden!
Got the first batch of boards today. The Power board was good, the USB 2.0 board required that you cut off two tiny alignment pins (plastic) that I forgot to include in the footprint, but works otherwise great. The USB 3.1 board has an error that cannot be fixed (pins in wrong place), so I've made a new version of that and sent it to PCBWay. All footprints in the repo should now be good, but it'll take about a week until I can confirm that.
I've made breakout boards to test my footprints. The files are available in the Kicad repo and these are now tested and confirmed. I placed orders for the first boards on April 25th 2020.
Library with footprints for low priced Type C & USB3 connectors and alternates.
Simple Breakout board allowing you to play with setting CC1 & CC2 using easy to solder 0805 resistors. Read up on the USB-IF spec and what resistors to use here. These connectors offer no data, but can let you pull or deliver up to 3A/5V power from capable devices.
Compatible part numbers:
Simple Breakout board exposing all you need for USB 2.0 using a Type C connector. Also has room for resistors for CC1 & CC2 as the power breakout above.
Compatible part numbers:
Breakout board for a fully featured USB 3.2 connector that can be used with a low priced IC for cable detection, orientation, data switching and power settings.
When using this board, don't forget that to get higher speeds to work, you'll need sub-millimeter precision on your cable lengths. All RX/TX pairs should be the exact same length, just as they are one the PCB. Don't expect SuperSpeed to work if you're using a breadboard for prototyping.
Compatible part numbers: