Ultra Low Mass Interconnects and Connectors

[Steve Eddy]

OHHHHH! Wait a minute, do you mean the cotton braid?

If so, I pulled that off some cloth covered tinsel wire that I got from Odis LeVrier at House of Telephones.

se

[BobEllis]

thanks for both. I'd forgotten how to do the four strand braid.

[tade]

Are the jaws of those "audiophile" crimping tools gold plated, and is the hinge jeweled?

sorry, i hate to rib.

[Steve Eddy]

Originally posted by tade
Are the jaws of those "audiophile" crimping tools gold plated, and is the hinge jeweled?

sorry, i hate to rib.

Hehehe. Hey, I dish out my share of ribbings guess it's time I get some back.

se

[tade]

haha good sport!
anyway, those interconnects are very nice looking. comething about when the little things come together that is very rewarding.

[Steve Eddy]

Originally posted by tade
haha good sport!
anyway, those interconnects are very nice looking. comething about when the little things come together that is very rewarding.

Thanks. I know what you mean. And I've always had an afffinity for little things too (and by that I mean physically little).

se

[wytco0]

Steve, which crimping tool do you use? I have one of the £20 ones (40$) and it isnt very good, it tend to just crush everything into a mess.

Can you recommend a type? a link would be good.

Thanks.

PS It could just be operator error on my part, I don’t have any good instructions on how to crimp properly!

[Steve Eddy]

Originally posted by wytco0
Steve, which crimping tool do you use? I have one of the £20 ones (40$) and it isnt very good, it tend to just crush everything into a mess.

Yeah, that's pretty much what the cheapie one I have did to these small contacts. The cheapie crimpers are intended more for your more common crimp terminals which just have a single crimping barrel. And they don't have a crimper small enough to it right using 30 gauge wire. The smallest one on mine only goes to 28 gauge.

Also, the crimp portion of these contacts has two separate sections with a small gap between them. One section crimps down on the bare wire and the other crimps down on the insulation. The proper tool has two separate crimpers with a spacer between them.

Can you recommend a type? a link would be good.

The one I have is from Molex, but it works with the AMP contacts as well seeing as the crimp portion of both brands are the same. It's a ratcheting crimper too meaning that it ratchets down until the right amount of pressure has been applied before it releases, preventing you from undercrimping or overcrimping. Nice tool.

Be aware that this isn't any sort of universal crimper. It's made specifically for the size and type of crimp used on these contacts so you won't be able to use it on much else.

Here's the datasheet on it:

Molex Crimping Tool Part No. 11-01-0209

Mouser sells it for either $170 or $197 depending on whether you believe their printed catalog price or their online catalog price.

PS It could just be operator error on my part, I don’t have any good instructions on how to crimp properly!

Well it's pretty straightforward. You put the crimp in the crimper, with the bottom of the crimp on the "male" half of the crimper in the die for the right wire gauge you're using, squeezing just hard enough to keep the crimp from falling out, then insert the wire and squeeze hard.

se