Environment-Resistant Connector Field Reliability Report

For several years, a very intensive program has existed within the connector industry to attempt to define and measure connector reliability. One of the stumbling blocks in the way of this necessary work has been the lack of actual field application data and the correlation of connector failures to such data. Over the eleven months stretching from January, 1962 through November, 1962, the Boeing Airplane Company received reports from major domestic and international carriers having to do with connector problems occurring in the 707 and the 720 Jet Aircraft. Amphenol's engineers, working with the Boeing Reliability people, have correlated report summaries to the extent that they have separated connector categories according to the specific environmental experiences which the connectors have undergone. This has resulted in the establishment of eight different environmental cycle applications, and the data is arranged so as to produce failure rates associated with each. Also, it is possible to compare various types of connectors as to their ability to withstand extreme environmental shocks reliably. The study involves some 173,707 and 720 Aircraft, which are approximately half the entire jet fleet. It involves 437,000 flight hours, 193,000 departures, and approximately 212,000 total connectors. Connector operating hours are in excess of 400,000,000. This paper is considered unique in that, to the best of the author's knowledge, no other such study has ever been attempted in respect to electrical connectors.