JST connectors SH and SHD connectors' pin compatiblity

[palpurul]

Hello,

I am working on a project where have a 50-pin 1mm pitch 2 row connector and bunch of 4-pin 1mm pitch connectors.

We break of to 4-pin connectors from 50pin connector.

We use the following connectors:

4-pin connector SH connector
50-pin connector SHD connector

I am thinking about using these cables to connect these connectors
cables

The cables are compatilble with the 4-pin SH connectors, but it doesn't specifically say it's compatible with the SHD.

I checked the contacts for both pins and they look quite similar.

Information about the contacts can be found here:
SH datasheet
SHD datasheet

Has any ever tried inserting SH's pins into the SHD connector?

[tooki]

The fact that the two contacts use the identical tooling tells me that all the key dimensions must be identical. But it turns out that if you look at the JST online shop, on the SHD housings, it says “use SH contacts”.

The contacts listed in the SHD datasheet are gold-plated (hence the G in their part number), while the ones on the SH data sheet are tin-plated (hence the T in their part number).

You do not want to mix gold and tin platings: the plating of the header and contact should be the same.

So if you get tin-plated SHD headers, then the wires you want to use are fine.

[palpurul]

I just checked the shopping website.

It does actually say that.

The basic dimensions are the same as you said.

I am afraid there is not tin plated one for the 50-pin connector

Why do you think it's not a good idea to mix gold and tin?

Thanks for the response, I really appreciate it.

[thm_w]

Mixing gold and tin is not recommended for high reliability, you can just google to find the reasons why:
https://www.te.com/content/dam/te-com/documents/industrial-intelligent-buildings/global/Connectors%20101_What%20Lighting%20Designers%20Need%20to%20Know_0217.pdf
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/574411/problems-with-gold-plated-connector-mated-with-tin-plated-connector
https://www.microcontrollertips.com/gold-tin-contacts-just-dont-mate-together/

That said, we have thousands of units with mixed contacts and I have not seen an issue that would indicate the mix was at fault. But they don't get moved around, shaken, or regularly unplugged.