DB connectors

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The T3002 D-Sub Crimp Tool (last item at that link) probably is what DoN referred to as a "scissors type" crimp tool. IIRC, he suggested it won't work well in comparison with Daniels or AMP crimpers when they are used with correct pins. (Daniels are in several current ebay auctions, eg 150511878340 and 190461084132.)

Anyhow, to the point. I have a crimp tool like T3002 and male and female pins like are sold at the link, plus DB9 and DB25 shells for same and have had bad luck with them. For example, loose wires in crimp, pins not retained in shell, bent pins.

For the few cables and low pin-counts you've mentioned, try solder cup connectors. Sacrifice half a dozen connectors for soldering practice -- eg make up several short gender changers and jumpers or test sets. Slide inch-long pieces of 1/10" heat shrink tubing onto each wire before connecting it, and some 1/4" over all the wires, also before connecting. See links below for details.

What gauge are the wires? How long is each of them? Do you need to terminate the wires in place, or can you string a pre-constructed cable? Do you know what kind of signal the wires carry? (Eg, servo voltage or current, switch closures, pulse train, serial RS232/422/488)

Links about soldering cable connectors -- containing both good and bad advice --

The pins have the same form factor, aspect ratio, etc. as Molex pins, but they're about 1/2 to 1/3 the size. And all the Molex pins I've seen have been tin-plated, while most D-sub pins I've seen are either brassy or gold plated.

By this time, I'd have ordered some pins and shells (be sure you get the right male/female combination) and squashed them with my needle-nose pliers. ;-)

Cheers! Rich

Not to mention that the last 1/8" or so of the pin body is supposed to receive the insulation, for strain relief -- solder a wire straight into the pin and it'll just break off right at the pin.

Heh -- I was unaware of the other option, most of the time that I've spent in the presence of crimped connections has been at an aerospace company.

Soldering is the way to go if you don't want to sign up for proper tools. I think if I were doing the job all day, and had the right set up, that I'd be faster crimping than soldering. But you need all those special tools.

Hell, send em to me you would have had em back by now. LOL

db

That one's close, but I don't like his pictures. This one has much better pictures:

Go for it! It'll be fun!

Cheers! Rich

Just solder them, Karl. :)

I might add - solder tail connectors. No pins to fiddle with.

Thanks for the advice. I just bought this one:

Karl

Most High tech companies crimped. We had massive heavy duty trays like tool boxes - but bigger - a hole 6' tall of various size of crimps.

If you solder - try not to get to much solder wicking up into the wire as it will stiffen that point of entry and might make it hard to put on the shell or become brittle of sorts - and crack there.

NASA and high tech companies use 'anti-skating' tools - a pliers with a small split tube that is drilled out for the wire and also the insulation. A perfect fit is made - clamp on - solder - the pliers or clamp cools the wire and insulator (plastic) and prevents it from wicking solder or making a nasty shaped / colored insulator plastic. Normally low grade metal - e.g. pot metal - easy to drill and fit.

Mart>

We used AMP air powered crimping machines. They used more air than anything else in the factory.

That is a good crimper but it has to be set up right to get a proper crimp. Also the crimping pins in the tool must be in good shape or you will get a poor crimp. Over crimping will cut the wires inside the pin and they will break and cause problems. If the crimp is under crimped the wire will pull out under moderate pull. The Daniels will crimp the better pins with the barrel and inspection hole but will not crimp the cheaper pins.

I always liked solder type connectors and with them I used silver bearing solder because of its lower temp and more reliable flow into the pin on the critical jobs I did. Silver bearing solder is not silver solder which has a lot higher melting point. I always used Teflon sleeves over the pins rather than heat shrink. Heat shrink tubing will easily melt if it was accidentally hit with the soldering iron tip. On a 100 pin high density connector it is not hard to do.

One other thing is that if you have only 4 pins in the connector I would recommend putting several more dead pins into the connector to hold the plug on the mating connector better, that is if the mating connector has a full set of pins in it. With only four pins taking the strain they will tend to get intermittent if exposed to any amount of vibration.

John

Yes -- the anti-wicking tweezers prevent this and allow some multi-stranded flex between the back of the connector and the start of the insulation. That reduces (but does not eliminate) vibration induced failure. (Individual heat-shrink sleeving over the back of solder-pot pins and the insulation will help greatly.)

Anti-Wicking tweezers.

Vibration induced failure is a lot more expensive to fix if the device is in space at the time of failure. :-)

The ones which I have mostly seen are tweezers with what looks like a bullet shape between the tips. It splits in half, and has a small hole at the small end to heat-sink the wire, and a larger hole concentric with that in the rest of the "bullet" to support the insulation, and to set a specific length of uninsulated wire after the end of the insulation and before the solder.

I do have one pair which are not as elaborate -- a pair of plates on the tips with just a wire diameter hole through the join. It accomplishes the same task -- but does not support the insulation during the soldering.

Enjoy, DoN.

But most eBay auctions will be using the AMP name, because they will be for crimpers made before the change. :-)

O.K. It looks as though the one which I found on eBay for the flag style terminals is the right one, based on checking the number on mine.

It is a 90312-1, and IIRC was going for about $28.00 on eBay last night. (A *very* good price for the tool.)

The crimp notch marked 28-24 is for the blue dot marked pins (male and female) for the D series connectors.

The crimp notch marked 24-20 is for the red dot marked pins.

I rubbed blue and red paint into the stamped markings for the sizes so I would remember which was which.

An example (with a Mouser part number) for one (female, 28-24 ga wire -- blue dot) is 571-665059 for the female pins. This should get you to the right page in the catalog to find the others. Digi-Key number for the same pin is 800 344-5339. (I happen to have bags of pins from both sources in the same bin in the hinged-lidded drawer.)

Sometimes I buy the pins from one or the other -- sometimes I buy a bag full at a hamfest. Depends on luck. I like to keep quite a few pins handy for emergency need.

The cheap one which crimps one set of flags at a time is AMP(Tycho) part number 29004-1. That one you would probably get from Mouser or DigiKey.

The fancy crimper (made by Daniels) for the machined terminals has AMP's part number 601966-1, and Daniels' part number M22520/2-01

The bushing nest in it at the moment is marked M22520/2-08, but IIRC, that was for a pin made by Canon, not AMP. It has a table on its label which shows which setting for the black crimp depth dial should be used for each different size of wire.

I've got a data sheet which shows which size of gauge pins to use for checking each setting. (Just in case you wind up with one. The auction last night was at about $55.00 IIRC -- not counting the necessary bushing nest.

Sel # Go No-Go ======================

Check the number in *my* other post from last night to make sure that the number on the crimper was 90312-1. If so -- go for it. Then e-mail me with questions about how the pins should be oriented when crimping.

Good Luck, DoN.

They are smaller than the Molex pins -- so your existing crimper won't do. But the one which I found on eBay last night (and just confirmed by looking at my crimper tonight in the previous article) is the right one.

Looks as though you can get the pins in as few as 100 per page for $9.50.

You also want the T3001 insertion/extraction tool. The copper colored end (red handle) is for insertion, the silver colored end (white handle) is for extraction. It is split and will pass over the wire to reach down and release the pin from the grip of the connector body.

I'm not sure about the T3002 crimp tool however. It looks pretty cheap, but might do what you need. Hmm ... $42.50! Go for the eBay one - it is much better, and only around $28.00 last night (well under $29.00 at least). (I didn't bookmark the auction, so I'm not sure whether the price is still valid.) Try for that first, at least.

I see the 9-pin, 15-pin, 25-pin, 37-pin and 50-pin (most mis-named with "DB" at the beginning. This is correct only for the DB25 (the 'B' is for the size of the shell. "DA" is the 15-pin, "DB" is the common 25-pin which caused all the confusion, "DC" is the 37-pin, "DD" is the 50-pin, and "DE" is the 9-pin (it got named after the others had been in production for a while, which is why it is out of sequence. :-)

The prices on the connectors look pretty good. (Actually *very* good.)

You'll still want to get backshells for them of some flavor. What flavor may depend on the style of wire you are feeding into it.

Good Luck, DoN.

That is unfortunate. That one requires:

2) The machined pins (better quality, but significantly more expensive, and *not* the kind in the web site which you posted a link to and which I just answered.)

If you expect to use that crimper -- *don't* order those pins. You'll have to find another source for the right pins.

For *those* pins -- you want the first crimper which I pointed to.

Good Luck, DoN.

Ouch! You missed a good price.

A quick search for "AMP 90312-1" (without the quote marks) finds four at the moment. The second is at $29.99 while the other three are at $49.99, $65.00, and $65.99.

The first one is missing the thing which holds the pins in the right position.

The second one ( the lower price) is also missing the pin holder. (You *can* hold them by hand, but it is easier with that to hold the pin, one hand to cycle the crimper handles, and the other to feed the wire in.)

The third one ($65.00) has the pin holder. (So did the one which you missed.)

And the forth one ($65.99) has it as well.

Unfortunately, the auctions no longer seem to have auction numbers which can be used for bringing up the auction without a long URL. :-(

Those are the four at present. I would suggest that you go for one of the later two, as the pin holder will make it easier to use without an assistant.

If you miss those -- use the search string which I showed up there, and look for ones with a black plastic lump on the back side of the crimp jaws.

And -- from another posting, it seems that you got the more expensive Daniels connector -- which means that you need the proper bushing nest and the proper pins. (You will need the machined pins for that -- though they will fit in the same connector shells, except perhaps for the 26-pin one which I'm not sure about. They probably have pins to fit that too -- but perhaps a different bushing nest. The flag type terminals are a lot more affordable.

Hmm ... the 26-pin ones will use a different series of pins -- the smaller ones used in the VGA 15-pin connectors, except that this is the shell size for the DA-15 connector (except for having three rows of holes for smaller pins).

There are certainly others -- I just spend more time typing what I know. :-) I've been interested in crimpers since about 1965 when I first learned about good ones.

Enjoy, DoN.

DAMNIT!!!

I should have waited to hear from you. The school of hard knocks is a good teacher 'cause you seldom forget the lesson.

I'll go back and try for the eBay auctions you suggested.

I "had" hoped to complete this little task quickly so I could test run the servos. Not going to happen now.

Looking at your other posts, it looks like I still need to buy pins. I thought the mouser offer had everything i needed for one connection - wrong again.

OK, let me get the right crimper and see the mouser shipment. Then, I'll double check with you on what else I need.

Thanks for all your excellent advice.

Karl

...

Thanks DoN. Let me win a crimper auction and then see the mouser parts. I'll confer with you BEFORE making another move.

Karl