Box Header vs Female Header: Two Sockets That Are Not Interchangeable
August 15, 2026Views: 262
简牛排母区别
Same nickname, different mate
Chinese shop language calls both parts a “seat”. A female header’s cavities take a pin strip. A box header’s pins take an IDC plug. One is a female contact; the other is a shrouded male field.
Compare
| Item | Female header | Box header |
|---|---|---|
| Mates to | Pin header | IDC ribbon plug |
| On the PCB you see | Holes, springs inside | Square pins inside a wall |
| Shroud | Usually none | Yes, often keyed |
| Typical job | Board-to-board, Dupont, modules | Board-to-wire inside the chassis |
| English | female header, socket | box header, shrouded header |
What “box header plug” means
The plug is the cable IDC housing, not the board part. Ordering a plug when you needed a board header is a classic mix-up. Board = box header; cable = IDC plug; plus ribbon = one set.
Ask first: is the other side a pin on another PCB, or a ribbon? Junjia can route that sentence to pin/female or box/ejector without relying on the word “socket”.