EMech WorkBench

A workbench for electromechanical designers, built by electromechanical designers.

Open the connector tools →

Connector families

Pick a family, then a series, to open its part number builder.

MIL-DTL-83723

Circular connectors with threaded or bayonet coupling and crimp contacts. Series III is active for new design.

MIL-DTL-5015

Circular threaded AN-type connectors with solder and crimp contacts.

Coming soon: MIL-DTL-24308 (D-sub), MIL-DTL-83513 (micro-D), MIL-DTL-28840.

Guides

How to read a part number, find a mating connector and choose accessories. Each guide links to the builders it is about, and says what they cover and where they stop.

MIL-DTL-38999 part numbers

How to build or decode a Series I-IV part number, with the Series III fields, codes and a worked example.

Read guide Series I and II breakdown

The shared Series I and II field order: MS number, class, shell size, finish, insert arrangement, contact style and polarization.

Read guide Series IV breakdown

Reading a Series IV part number: slash sheet, class, shell-size code, insert arrangement, contact style and polarization.

Read guide MIL-DTL-26482 Series 2 part numbers

What the Series 2 builder covers, how its part-number fields work, and which sheets it leaves out.

Read guide Finding a mating connector

How the builder lists candidate mates, what its filters mean, and what you must still verify.

Read guide M85049 accessories

What M85049 backshells, strain reliefs, boots, bands, dummy contacts and seal plugs are for, and a step-by-step way to choose one.

Read guide

All guides

Welcome

EMech WorkBench is for the people who design electrical and electromechanical hardware for aerospace, military and defense, space, and every other application where high reliability is a requirement, not a goal.

There is no degree in this work. Designers learn it on the job: from specifications and standards, from the colleagues who came before them, and from the school of hard knocks. Much of that knowledge is spread across long documents, old drawings and experience that is hard to pass on.

This site brings some of that knowledge together into practical tools. The goal is simple: help experienced designers work faster, and help people new to the field get past the learning curve sooner.

How the tools are built

Built on the specifications

The tools work from published specifications and standards, and say where their data comes from.

Made for real design work

Each tool answers the questions that come up at the bench: which part, what mates with it, what goes with it and what fits.

Private by design

The tools run in your browser. There is no account and no sign-in, and nothing you enter in a tool is sent to us.

Always growing

Tools are added and improved over time, and feedback from designers shapes what comes next.

Tools

Connector part number tools

Available

Build and decode MIL-SPEC circular connector part numbers one field at a time, and see the contacts, mating connectors and accessories that go with each connector.

What you can do

  • Build a part number field by field. Each list offers only the options the specification allows with your earlier choices.
  • Decode a part number you already have, to see what each part of it means.
  • See the insert arrangement for the connector you picked and, for most series, its key and keyway positions.
  • List the contacts, with quantities and standard contact part numbers.
  • Find mating connectors, filtered by plating and contact durability.
  • Add accessories that fit the connector: M85049 backshells and, for Series III and IV, shrink boots, shield bands and seal plugs.
  • Keep a parts list as you work. Copy it into a spreadsheet, download it as CSV, or search Newark for any part number.
  • Share a link. The page address holds the whole configuration, so you can bookmark it or send it to a colleague.

How it works

  1. Choose a connector series.
  2. Pick the options — shell style, shell size, insert arrangement and so on — or paste a part number to decode it.
  3. Add the parts to your list, then copy or download it, or copy the link to come back to it later.
Open the connector tools →

More tools on the way

Planned

The connector tools are the first of many. More tools for electromechanical design are planned. If there is a tool you wish you had, tell us with the Feedback button.

Before you use a result

These are reference tools. Their results are built from published specifications and secondary sources, and specifications are revised over time. Check every part number, value and quantity against the current specification and your own design requirements before you buy, build or release anything. See Part numbers and purchases.

This site isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Department of Defense, SAE International or any manufacturer.