Sleeving & Crimping Thread

[ThatRacingGuy]

Ran out of molex terminals (E22 didn’t send me the right amount but they are in the post now) so tried some cheap short wing ones I had around, as soon as I put it in the PC...

Suppose that’s why they’re cheap! Lucky it’s only the last 7 wires or so.

Also bought a molex pin kit (cheap and fake, broke my own rule of never buying cheap tools!) and it just doesn’t fit at all.
Genuine tool now on order from RS, then to finish wiring it all in black, then get sleeving!

 

[ThatRacingGuy]

So after that terminal failed I decided to take the other cheap ones out too.
I now have 5 out of the 14 terminals stuck in the connector with no sore attached.
Even with the molex extractor on one end and ifixit tweezers on the other they won’t budge.
Is this a lost pair of connectors now?

 

[ThatRacingGuy]

Don't buy cheap terminals, don't buy cheap terminals, don't buy cheap terminals.

How do I get these out? No luck with molex removals tool and pliers.

 

[ThatRacingGuy]

Well the first attempt was a great success

 

[confusis]

Practise, practise, practise

 

[ThatRacingGuy]

I can’t seem to get the heat shrink to hold the sleeving. It pull straight out. I try shrinking more and it will burn

 

[Biowarejak]

I can’t seem to get the heat shrink to hold the sleeving. It pull straight out. I try shrinking more and it will burn

Hmm, might need one with a higher shrink ratio?

 

[EdZ]

You could 'cheat' using heatshrink tubing that includes an inner coating of heat-activated glue, but the risk is that the glue can leak out the ends and spoil the visual effect if the tubing shrinks too much.

 

[Highscore]

What tools and parts should I acquire if I want to do is take the cables from a sff corsair PSU and just shorten them to the length I want? My guess is:

1. Tool to remove the cable from the clip
2. A tool to crimp the wire onto a new clip
3. Clips
4. Shrinkwrap

Are there tools to do something similar with the 19 pin USB header and a USB C header? I'd love to shorten all my cords rather than make them from scratch.

 

[Thehack]

What tools and parts should I acquire if I want to do is take the cables from a sff corsair PSU and just shorten them to the length I want? My guess is:

1. Tool to remove the cable from the clip
2. A tool to crimp the wire onto a new clip
3. Clips
4. Shrinkwrap

Are there tools to do something similar with the 19 pin USB header and a USB C header? I'd love to shorten all my cords rather than make them from scratch.

I recommend you get the molex cheapest crimper. It will give you decent crimp quality.


You can also use the cheaper dual crimp everyone buys or the Engineer PA-20 but I found the cheap molex one gives me the better crimps.

If this is a long term hobby, you should just buy the molex premium one for 18 awg. Perfect crisp crimps. Wish I bought one off the bat.

Just search for mini fit Jr removal tool. Official one is like $12 and knock offs are half that.

You should just give up on USB c or 19 pin header and buy it pre made. It's a pain.

For "clips" they're call mini fit Jr connector housing. You should Google the housing and pinout you need. Plenty of guides on youtube to help you, so... Use the search feature.

 

[Highscore]

You should just give up on USB c or 19 pin header and buy it pre made. It's a pain.

What makes it a pain?

This would be a 1 time deal. What I want to do is either shorten the length of the front panel cables in the NCase. They are way too long. Or make a new one to have the front panel parts be at a right angle instead of straight so they don't mush against the radiator. Also, use ribbon cabling to keep it cleaner.

 

[BirdofPrey]

USB receptacles and the board side connector for USB C aren't pinned, they are soldered to a PCB with the connector, and the solder pads are very tiny. It's quite the fiddly process, and signal tolerances are quite tight.

 

[Highscore]

USB receptacles and the board side connector for USB C aren't pinned, they are soldered to a PCB with the connector, and the solder pads are very tiny. It's quite the fiddly process, and signal tolerances are quite tight.

Focusing just on the USB 19/20 pin header, how hard is that?

I really want to end up with this, but with the NCase female ends to still fit the I/O panel, as well as have it be trimmed to the appropriate length to avoid cable clutter.

 

[BirdofPrey]

Slightly more feasible, but still a pain in the ass. I still second the recommendation of trying to find a shorter premade cable.
This is one of those areas where 'good-enough' is probably the best goal to have.

 

[PVC]

A few things I learned about crimping from a long and boring video (#28 Engineer PA-21 vs IWiss IWS-2820 JST Crimpers) that I think maybe you should watch.

Which style crimper tool should I get, Ratchet type or Pliers type?

• Ratchet type crimps both the (wire-crimp) and the (insulation-crimp) at the same time
• Ratchet type is difficult to set everything in place, especially when fumbling with tiny connectors
• Pliers type crimps one-at-a-time (wire-crimp) first and then (insulation-crimp) second

Should I get the Cheap crimper tool or the Expensive-Engineer crimper tool?

• Watch the long and boring video and decide for yourself!! *eta; I learned more since this post. That long and boring video is about small/jst crimps. For larger gauge (main cables 24ATX-PCIe-EPS) use the recommended crimping tool (Molex 63811-1000).

Do I need a Large AWG/Gauge crimper tool or a Small AWG/Gauge crimper tool?

• I dunno. You may need two crimper tools, one for Large-AWG crimps and another for Small-AWG crimps??

 

[Thehack]

A few things I learned about crimping from a long and boring video (#28 Engineer PA-21 vs IWiss IWS-2820 JST Crimpers) that I think maybe you should watch.

Which style crimper tool should I get, Ratchet type or Pliers type?

• Ratchet type crimps both the (wire-crimp) and the (insulation-crimp) at the same time
• Ratchet type is difficult to set everything in place, especially when fumbling with tiny connectors
• Pliers type crimps one-at-a-time (wire-crimp) first and then (insulation-crimp) second

Should I get the Cheap crimper tool or the Expensive-Engineer crimper tool?

• Watch the long and boring video and decide for yourself!!

Do I need a Large AWG/Gauge crimper tool or a Small AWG/Gauge crimper tool?

• I dunno. You may need two crimper tools, one for Large-AWG crimps and another for Small-AWG crimps??

None of the tools are optimal for our use except the official ones. Most of the ratchet ones are oversized and cumbersome, so I would avoid that. In the order of importance I would get:

I would get the official molex tool, for $50, the non ratchet one. It crimps better than the ratchet type everyone sells. It is single action. After that, I would buy the official molex premium one, for $280. It will hold its value so you can at least sell it if you don't like this hobby anymore.

After that, I would get the engineer tool. If you work small, you need the small one and if you work large you need the large one.

I just ordered the higher quality IWISS for jst crimps, I will report how good it is..

 

[PVC]

After reading all six pages of this thread, please pardon my remaining ignorance about crimping tool models. There are so many names and some of the names seem to have interchangeable meanings. For example, it's even difficult to know what you mean by (official molex tool)?

Using the $50 pricetag as a hint, and after a roundabout search journey landing at Digi-Key; I think that you mean this;

Molex TOOL HAND CRIMPER 14-24AWG SIDE​

Manufacturer Part Number 0638111000​

Digi-Key Part Number WM9999-ND​

Digi-Key 63811-1000 Spec Sheet​

 

[Thehack]

After reading all six pages of this thread, please pardon my remaining ignorance about crimping tool models. There are so many names and some of the names seem to have interchangeable meanings. For example, it's even difficult to know what you mean by (official molex tool)?

Using the $50 pricetag as a hint, and after a roundabout search journey landing at Digi-Key; I think that you mean this;

Molex TOOL HAND CRIMPER 14-24AWG SIDE​

Manufacturer Part Number 0638111000​

Digi-Key Part Number WM9999-ND​

Digi-Key 63811-1000 Spec Sheet​

Yes it is that one. It is made by Molex. There are many other brands but having used a few, the molex is functionally superior despite its... Very basic appearance.

 

[PVC]

Thanks! A Goggle search for (Molex 63811-1000) gets you to the recommended crimping tool for (main cables 24ATX-PCIe-EPS) and the reviews agree to use this $50 official molex tool because the generic/$17 IWISS Crimper-IWS-2412M does not work as well.

Here's an image of that recommended crimping tool (Molex 63811-1000):

Looking forward to the tryout results from the smaller gauge IWISS Crimper for tiny jst crimps. I believe that model is the IWISS Crimper IWS-2820M.

 

[vinnyoflegend]

Yes it is that one. It is made by Molex. There are many other brands but having used a few, the molex is functionally superior despite its... Very basic appearance.

Some years of inflation later...is the consensus still the same on this if working only with PSU cables on occasion? As of today it looks like the Molex service grade tool is around $75-80 and the Engineer PA-21 is around $45. Is it a noticeable leap in quality and ease of crimps that would justify the +$30?