Dear designers of electronics, consumer and otherwise: - always make sure that connectors are cramped as closely together as possible. Decrease mechanical space to the absolute minimum, recess the connectors on bulkheads, and use connectors that are as difficult to insert and remove as you can find. - never key, use self-orienting plugs and receptacles, or otherwise make it possible to prevent insertion of incorrect plugs into receptacles. Whenever possible, use identical connectors for digital, analog, AC, and DC power, and under no circumstances label or identify the cable/plug or receptacle. - Use either the stiffest, largest diameter cable, or the thinnest, most delicate cable possible. Under no circumstances use a cable with correctly sized conductors, an appropriate jacket or sheath, and never, under any circumstance should you strain-relieve the cable/connector. - Do not attempt to color code anything. If color codes must be used, utilize them inconsistently, preferable making them different on each end of the connection. Ideally, use completely different connectors on each end of the cable that are incompatible, hard to find, and even harder to replace. - Never backstop a connector on a bulkhead - it should be free to rotate on the bulkhead, or ideally push out of the bulkhead into the interior of the device enclosure. Make sure these are metallic bulkhead connectors, that use as many separate parts as possible, including tiny screws with non-standard heads. I could think of numerous other ‘suggestions’, but there is one such designer with a special place reserved in the 9th circle of Hell. I’m gunning for him today...
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 17:02:36 +0000
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