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I'm trying to find a way to connect PCB boards edge-to-edge so that I can make a "train" of PCB boards in a row.

It seems to me that this should be straight forward to do using a a female to female edge connector, but when I've looked for such a beast I've only found one solution that's both overly large and overly expensive (http://www.digikey.ca/product-detail/en/EAC10FSLN/S9348-ND/2618449?cur=USD).

Any ideas how I can best accomplish this?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Molex have all sorts of this kind of thing in their catalogue, although that requires soldering the connectors on the edge of the PCB rather than literally edge connectors on both PCBs. \$\endgroup\$
    – pjc50
    Commented Mar 4, 2013 at 16:34
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    \$\begingroup\$ I would use the edge of one PCB as the male connector, and put the female connector on the other, much like PCI cards. There's plenty of connectors out there, from classic D-Subs to high density backplane connectors, that would work to join two adjacent PCB's. \$\endgroup\$
    – John U
    Commented Mar 4, 2013 at 16:37
  • \$\begingroup\$ I agree with Leon. Those connectors tend to be quite expensive, especially for higher current capabilities. Standard connectors may work for you and will definitively be cheaper. Look at the sites of Molex and Samtec. These guys have plenty of connectors and a lot of custom solutions. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gustavo Litovsky
    Commented Mar 4, 2013 at 17:31
  • \$\begingroup\$ You didn't mention what type of signals you will need to send through: are these high current, or high frequency? How many signals? There are many different options. Also what is the environment - does the solution need to accommodate flexing? \$\endgroup\$
    – Fix It Until It's Broken
    Commented Feb 20, 2015 at 17:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ Perhaps AVX INTERCONNECT 00-9159 (picture) \$\endgroup\$
    – Jan-Åke Larsson
    Commented Aug 31, 2016 at 14:52

2 Answers 2

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Use suitable male and female indirect connectors, such as those used on these boards:

enter image description here

The boards may be daisy-chained.

They are available from Digi-Key. Mating connectors are on the same page.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ I use these connectors all the time, for instance to connect (PIC and ARM) in-circuit-programing tools to my target PCBs. For increased density, use double row connectors. \$\endgroup\$
    – Wouter van Ooijen
    Commented Mar 4, 2013 at 18:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ Plus you can buy these standard 0.1" headers on aliexpress by the bucketload for ludicrously low cost. \$\endgroup\$
    – bobflux
    Commented May 8, 2017 at 18:33
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The connector industry term for two PCB's connecting end-to-end is co-planar mating. I declare an interest as I work for GCT.

If you're using standard, 'post and box' connectors, which are the most economical choice there is one key issue to watch out for - the mating centreline of the connector should be at the perfect height, IE exactly the same for header and socket. I've had lots of experience designing in these connectors with customers, and often manufacturers datasheets don't list the appropriate information, this is because these connectors often mate with multiple ranges and are not specifically for co-planar mating. Just choosing a right angle header and socket with the same contact pitch is not always enough!

You'll find many connectors targeted at LED lighting on the market, these are normally used to connect thin and long LED strips in end-to-end fashion, however they tend to be single row and a limited number of circuits (less than 6), which doesn't suit all applications, I notice the original question was for 10 circuit!

You can choose numerous options, as thru hole is covered in another answer I've suggested some SMT options below:

2.44mm (.1") pitch SMT - Female - http://gct.co/connector/?series=BG230 Male - http://gct.co/connector/?series=BG080

2.00mm (.079") pitch SMT- Female - http://gct.co/connector/?series=BF088 Male - http://gct.co/connector/?series=BF035 (BF036 for with locating peg).

1.00mm (.039") pitch SMT- tiny option upto 40 contacts Female - http://gct.co/connector/?series=BC075 Male - http://gct.co/connector/?series=BC034

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  • \$\begingroup\$ If you do product promotion, you should at least disclose your affiliation with the product. EVERY answer you have given so far (on this SE site) contains a link to a product on gct.co. See FAQ. \$\endgroup\$
    – Rev
    Commented Feb 19, 2015 at 20:23
  • \$\begingroup\$ Apologies, understood, will always disclose my affiliation in future. All the links I have added are pertinent and relevant to the question, in my humble opinion. Thanks. \$\endgroup\$
    – Laurence Hill
    Commented Feb 20, 2015 at 8:42
  • \$\begingroup\$ Your answers are fine. I just wanted to point out that a disclosure notice would be a good idea (and is more or less expected), especially if you post own product references on a somewhat frequent basis. \$\endgroup\$
    – Rev
    Commented Feb 20, 2015 at 14:35
  • \$\begingroup\$ Sure, thanks, I edited the post to include this too. Have a nice weekend! \$\endgroup\$
    – Laurence Hill
    Commented Feb 20, 2015 at 17:05
  • \$\begingroup\$ I am looking to do something similar to connect two boards. Unfortunately, the BC034 and BC075 from GCT are unavailable at the usual sources... Digi-Key, Mouser, Newark etc. anything that would sell you just a few to experiment with. SMT single row right-angle or co-planar connectors are scarce. It's a nightmare to find anything that works! If you are concerned with height, it gets even worse. Having an overlap and stacking the connector side of your boards would be easier, as there are quite a few low profile mezzanine connectors. Co-planar is just not very trendy apparently. @Laurence Hill: \$\endgroup\$
    – user70432
    Commented Mar 20, 2015 at 13:19

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