molex insertion tool

[anjing]

I'm preparing to order lot's of molex connector for my eztube mixer connections and i came across this insertion tool;

http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?WT.z_header=search_go&lang=en&site=us&keywords=WM5147-ND%09&x=0&y=0&formaction=on

Now this tool looks like i could use but the price is bugging me (60$on the canadian digikey website) I've been looking for a generic one but can't seem to find any...
Does anyone know were to find one?
I'v solved the problem of crimping with a generic ratchet crimper i found on ebay. But i find it hard to insert them cleanly when doing a 3 pin balanced cable.

Regards,

Pierre

 

[ruffrecords]

I have never understood why such simple tools cost such huge amounts. I have a very small phillips screwdriver that I use.

Cheers

Ian

 

[sodderboy]

I use a small screwdriver also.  You can make that with a 16P nail and fimo: file the nail to your liking, harden the end with flame starting in the middle and working out until the end has "rainbow" color, dunk in water, mold a piece of fimo over the head end to your desire and bake.
I used to use a mini 1/4" bit holder made of fimo until Craftsman started making them out of aluminum.
Mike

 

[Mbira]

a generic ratchet crimper

Would you share a pic of link of this?  I use little pliers and I have it!

 

[pucho812]

I have never understood why such simple tools cost such huge amounts. I have a very small phillips screwdriver that I use.

Cheers

Ian

I say the same about elco  tools for pin removal.

 

[anjing]

a generic ratchet crimper

Would you share a pic of link of this?  I use little pliers and I have it!

I paid 25$ usd with free shipping from ebay. I can send you the link if you want.

Regards,

Pierre

 

[Mbira]

Please do send a link!  The molex ones I looked at were hundreds of dollars!

 

[anjing]

Please do send a link!  The molex ones I looked at were hundreds of dollars!

The ebay seller/store name is xiaobao_semi here is the link http://www.ebay.ca/itm/200922931139?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
I never used the one from molex....but this one does the job for me!


Regards,

Pierre

 

[guy_4]

This link is working.
I've just ordered one.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SN-28B-Pin-Crimping-Tool-2-54mm-3-96mm-28-18AWG-Crimper-0-1-1-0mm-For-Dupont-/121243171145?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c3aa7f949&_uhb=1

Best,
Guy

 

[Mbira]

Ordered-thanks!!

 

[bruce0]

I am a little confused.  I like the ratchet crimper and may order one (mine is the squeeze harder kind with no ratchet).  But the original post was talking about a Molex IDC insertion tool I think.  I never liked those types of connectors anyway, and could never get them to work with a screwdriver (although they do have the advantage that you can string mutliple connectors on a continuing cable.).  Any alternative for those?

Are we talking about one tool that can do both jobs?  Or two different tools for two different jobs.

 

[anjing]

I am a little confused.  I like the ratchet crimper and may order one (mine is the squeeze harder kind with no ratchet).  But the original post was talking about a Molex IDC insertion tool I think.  I never liked those types of connectors anyway, and could never get them to work with a screwdriver (although they do have the advantage that you can string mutliple connectors on a continuing cable.).  Any alternative for those?

Are we talking about one tool that can do both jobs?  Or two different tools for two different jobs.

Hi Bruce,
  Those are two different tools, the ratchet crimper came up afterwards...

Regards,

Pierre

 

[Kingston]

This link is working.
I've just ordered one.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/SN-28B-Pin-Crimping-Tool-2-54mm-3-96mm-28-18AWG-Crimper-0-1-1-0mm-For-Dupont-/121243171145?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c3aa7f949&_uhb=1

Best,
Guy

  ... I wish I had seen this ten years a go. Good god the problems I would have avoided! If only you guys knew the personal hell I've gone through with all things 2.54mm molex.

 

[[silent:arts]]

Mhm, never had any problems with Molex connectors.
At the beginning I soldered them,
in the meantime I bought something like that cheap crimper.
Both work(ed)s well all the time.
Inserting tool? Just plug them in the housing?

What I do hate are Screw terminals 
Not "keyed" etc, and if you forgot to write down colors etc ...

 

[Kingston]

[quote author=[silent:arts]Inserting tool? Just plug them in the housing?[/quote]

Really? You've never inserted a soldered molex that particular micrometer wrong it takes to completely destroy the line up mechanism that's "just supposed to work"? For me it's every 1/6 connection or so.

[quote author=[silent:arts]What I do hate are Screw terminals  [/quote]

They have been my salvation. Keying comes from colored wires and (pick your own method of) their assigned duties. Also not possible to have a non-connection like with not-quite-perfectly-lined-up-and-imperfectly-crimped molex (every 1/6 of all connections it turns into a personal little hell).

 

[tazwolf]

Interesting thread, I must be doing something very wrong, it takes me hours to do a molex connector.
Even using a crimper (the cheapo pressure one not the ratchet one shown here, which I will buy) as soon as I
put the female housing on the male pins on the pcb they push the pins out of the male houseing, its like the little
metal petals on the back of the female pins are not big enough to hold the female pins in the housing.
Grrr, i can get it to work but i have to redo the crimping like 20 times per pin.

i tried soldering the wires as well but it seems its not that that is the problem but that the pins get
misaligned somehow in the female housling. Maybe im crimping too hard and bending the pins

Anybody else have this problem?

/Taz

 

[Kingston]

Anybody else have this problem?

Sounds unfamiliar. Maybe you are doing something wrong in the opposite way I have been doing something wrong.

Anyway this is a non-issue. Just say no!

 

[hymentoptera]

nice! I've been put off by the prices of Paladin, etc, crimpers. I'll probably buy one from that Hong Kong dealer if you guys think it's good enough.

As for that tool at the top, first post, I've been using mini screwdrivers like one poster said. OTOH I think I can make something like in the image. Good idea, heat-treating it! -h

 

[thermionic]

In the last few weeks I must've crimped thousands of Molex 2.54mm KK terminals...(and I still have the will to live - just about...). I have a generic ratchet crimper, just like the one in the link. However... I find huge variability in the quality of job it does...

Issues I've found are:

How far you insert the terminal laterally into the jaws has a profound effect, and there's no mechanism to ensure exact consistency in this regard.

Sometimes the contact flange gets 'rounded' when crimping... I'm not sure why - maybe it's to do with above?

Most annoyingly of all, getting the wire into the terminal by the right amount takes concentration... If you push in too far the insulation gets crimped twice, with the stripped wire not making a good contact. If you don't push in far enough, you don't grip the insulation and need to apply a dab of solder to ensure strength.

Does the Molex official tool that costs $$$$$ solve any of the above issues? I see mass-produced items with KK connectors in them. I figure they don't pay a guy to squint into the jaws of a crimping tool, judging whether the wire's in the right amount...do they?

 

[Rochey]

Machines, or chinamen with machines. Pre terminated wires are not expensive in bulk. The machines are a few thousand, and labor there is cheap.