Molex

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Molex

Type	Electronics
Founded	1938
Headquarters	Lisle, Illinois, United States
Industry	Electronics
Products	Electrical connectors, Molex connector, Optical fiber connectors, Switches
Website	http://www.molex.com/

The 4-pin power connector used in PCs commonly known as a Molex connector. Yellow and red wires provide +12 V and +5 V respectively, with black wires being ground.

Molex (NASDAQ: MOLX) is a leading global supplier of electronic interconnects. Molex sells over 100,000 products, including everything from electrical and fiber optic interconnect solutions to switches and application tooling. Molex serves a variety of industries, including the telecom, datacom, computer / peripheral, automotive, premise wiring, industrial, consumer, medical and military markets.

Molex connector

Molex originated a large variety of connector types, but only one is commonly used in microcomputers, and thus known unambiguously as a "Molex connector" in that context. That connector type is the one pictured, which is used for power connections for disk drives and other computer components. An AT or ATX standard power supply normally has multiple connectors of this type.

A connector that delivers power has female pins in a male housing, as pictured; a connector that receives power has male pins in a female housing.

History

The company began by making flowerpots out of an industrial byproduct plastic called Molex. Later they made connectors for General Electric and other appliance manufacturers out of the same plastic. [1] Most recently Molex acquired Woodhead Industries in the largest acquisition in its history.

External links

• Official website
• Pinout and description
• The part numbering system used for PC "Molex" power connectors