Test Probes

The most important parts of a jig are the probes. At TheJigsApp we focus on two part ATE probes as they’re better for the vast majority of use cases than available alternatives. We support most kinds of ATE probe sockets and, of course, all their different tip styles. Unless you have a clear reason to pick a different kind (higher current, lower inductance, or higher density) we recommend using standard R100 class probes. These are rugged and reliable pins with a huge number of available types. Using two-part probes mean that and they go in sockets, meaning that when they do eventually wear out, replacing them is fast and easy.

There’s an excellent summary from Harwin available here.

Probe Classes (2-Part)

Our jigs are highly dimensionally stable and can support sizes down to the R50 probes. A chassis configuration supporting this is scheduled for release in Q4 of 2024. For now, we support R75, R100, and R125 probes.

The current rating for these parts vary by manufacturer and the tip used. High current rated versions are available for all of these probe families. Voltage ratings are dependent on spacing to other probes.

Probe Tips

All of the 2-part ATE probes have many different heads available from multiple manufacturers for a variety of use cases.

Maintenance & Replacements

Refer to this Smiths Interconnect guide for details on probe life. One thing they don’t recommend but does come up is hot plugging. That really kills probes. We encourage designing the order of connections in case of accidental hot plugging and to improve ESD performance but it should be avoided.

QATech also has a useful guide here.

Replacement probes and tools are available from us and from other suppliers such as QATech, Mouser, Digikey, Ingun, TE Electronics, & Sfeng Probe.