Building a connector

tonzauber · Dec 25, 2015

Hi all,

I have this AKG D30 with a connector made of unobtanium.

Actually I am considering building a connector myself - the metalwork is the "easy" part in this.

but how to build the actual connector assembly?

It is three pin, with blade-like connectors. Size-wise it looks as if the blades from a Siemens 3o pin connector could fit, so I consider "recycling" one of those and bring them into the correct shape.

I would mount them on the microphone connector and then try to cast with some resin - but what material would be suited best? It needs to be firm, reasonably temperature proof for soldering, and it should have a firm grip on the connector blades.

What would you suggest?

(And yes, building a different connector into the microphone would be much easier most probably, but only half the fun...)

JohnRoberts · Dec 25, 2015

tonzauber said:
Hi all,

I have this AKG D30 with a connector made of unobtanium.

Actually I am considering building a connector myself - the metalwork is the "easy" part in this.

but how to build the actual connector assembly?

It is three pin, with blade-like connectors. Size-wise it looks as if the blades from a Siemens 3o pin connector could fit, so I consider "recycling" one of those and bring them into the correct shape.

I would mount them on the microphone connector and then try to cast with some resin - but what material would be suited best? It needs to be firm, reasonably temperature proof for soldering, and it should have a firm grip on the connector blades.

What would you suggest?

(And yes, building a different connector into the microphone would be much easier most probably, but only half the fun...)

Connectors are surprisingly difficult to do well. For a microphone, a commercial microphone connector is probably a good idea.

JR

12afael · Dec 25, 2015

I would use epoxy to fix the "blades". Put the blades in the actual conector when glueing that should assure they are perfectly aligned.

Gene Pink · Dec 27, 2015

tonzauber said:
I have this AKG D30 with a connector made of unobtanium.

Before you build anything, can you post a jpeg here?

I'm sure many of us here have boxes full of "umobtainiums", it is worth a shot.

Gene

abbey road d enfer · Dec 27, 2015

tonzauber said:
Hi all,

I have this AKG D30 with a connector made of unobtanium.

That is quite surprizing. To my knowledge, AGG used only XLR and DIN types. D30 is a variation on D12, isnt'it?

I would mount them on the microphone connector and then try to cast with some resin - but what material would be suited best? It needs to be firm, reasonably temperature proof for soldering, and it should have a firm grip on the connector blades.

In fact, the grip should be on the part of the blade that does not connect to the pins, so the elasticity is maintained. That's the tricky part.

What would you suggest? First, send us a pic of the connector.

tonzauber · Dec 28, 2015

So here is a picture of the connector.

If I am not mistaken it is an AKG 3B 17C Connector.

tonzauber · Dec 28, 2015

this is how the male side should look like:

ln76d · Jan 7, 2016

Did you considered to change connector for XLR inside microphone?

Markus_Krippner · Jan 8, 2016

tonzauber said:
I would mount them on the microphone connector and then try to cast with some resin - but what material would be suited best? It needs to be firm, reasonably temperature proof for soldering, and it should have a firm grip on the connector blades.

Maybe something 3D-printed ?
The only problem might be the (soldering-)temperature... but it could work.

...markus

Whoops · Mar 18, 2016

ln76d said:
Did you considered to change connector for XLR inside microphone?

audiomixer · Mar 22, 2016

You could try using some low temp melting plastic - I bought some 'polymorph' plastic that can be formed under mild heat. have not had the opportunity to test it, but seems like a valid candidate for a one-off like that.

bought through the usual DIY channels.

epoxy or other resins might be very messy....

- michael

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