MilSpec Crimper

[TheTurtle]

I need to make a harness.  I thought I could just pull the pins from my old connector and put them into the new connector.  Turns out the pin size is different which means I need to cut the wires, crimp the new pins on and then insert them into the new connector.  Another "simple" wiring job gone long...

I can just have a harness made for $250.  But I bought the connector for $40.  So hey Ill just get the crimper and it will be fine.  Those of you that know are laughing now...  DMC crimpers are $250ish and quickly go up from there.  Worse there are 100000 different sizes.

Im not going to be making a lot of harnesses so Im looking for a harbor freight version of the tool.

I found this one which looks like it might work but I cant really tell.  Ill call stein tomorrow and find out.

http://www.steinair.com/product/4-way-indent-crimper/

 

The pins I have are for the female side.  They are labeled M39029/32-259 and look like this:

http://www.peigenesis.com/en/shop/part-information/M3902932259/TRI/EACH/301777.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjw9r7JBRCj37PlltTskaMBEiQAKTzTfDbN2CsbrFe4rRpC9NrrusgTfuOKLDH1gVhmTRD8DDwaAiaw8P8HAQ

 

will the crimper above work?

If not anybody got a crimper they wanna let me borrow?

[thinwing]

Oh man...don't you have some EAA guy to help you!!...harbor freight is not the answer..

 

[TheTurtle]

Just now, thinwing said:

Oh man...don't you have some EAA guy to help you!!...harbor freight is not the answer..

 

I wish, there's no community at SNA.  Camarillo has a pretty big one but I never got into the "club" over there.  I'm going to contact a few other people I know but not sure how thats going to work out and I really need to get back to IR training.  Im about 50/50 on just buying the stupid harness. 

[thinwing]

Copy that...when I need to crimp a pin...I first hit Ray the electrical engineer next door hanger..he says yeah I loaned that to Bob building the rv8 4 hangers over..so I hop on the mini bike and find Bob just leaving for lunch he says yeah I got it let's go to lunch!Two hours later I finally get the crimper but get distracted when somebody taxis up with a cool bird and I cage a ride!when we get back It takes me an hour to find the crimper that I layed down in all the excitement.Meanwhile ,Ray,says I found my other crimper so I just did for you..what took you so long?

[Andy95W]

Turtle- I was in the same boat a few years ago, I only needed to crimp 7 pins so I wasn't going to buy a crimper for that. So I soldered them instead.  A few years later I had to do another 10, so I soldered them too.  Now I just solder them all. Takes more time but I haven't spent the $250 yet.  (And I trust my solder connections more than crimped.)

[TheTurtle]

27 minutes ago, Andy95W said:

Turtle- I was in the same boat a few years ago, I only needed to crimp 7 pins so I wasn't going to buy a crimper for that. So I soldered them instead.  A few years later I had to do another 10, so I soldered them too.  Now I just solder them all. Takes more time but I haven't spent the $250 yet.  (And I trust my solder connections more than crimped.)

im pretty good with a soldering iron but I dont see how you would solder these pins?  For that matter I dont what actually crimps?  I gotta check some more youtubes on these little pins.  You dont happen to have picks of a soldered pin and wire do you?

[N201MKTurbo]

3 hours ago, Andy95W said:

Turtle- I was in the same boat a few years ago, I only needed to crimp 7 pins so I wasn't going to buy a crimper for that. So I soldered them instead.  A few years later I had to do another 10, so I soldered them too.  Now I just solder them all. Takes more time but I haven't spent the $250 yet.  (And I trust my solder connections more than crimped.)

A crimped connection is more robust than a soldered connection on a stranded wire. When you solder a stranded wire the solder wicks up the wire and causes a stress riser at the end of the solder. This can cause the wire to fracture at that point especially in a high vibration environment. This can be mitigated somewhat by supporting the wire with heat shrink which acts as a strain relief.

With a crimped connection the insulation crimp acts as the strain relief for the wire crimp.

[N601RX]

10 hours ago, TheTurtle said:

I need to make a harness.  I thought I could just pull the pins from my old connector and put them into the new connector.  Turns out the pin size is different which means I need to cut the wires, crimp the new pins on and then insert them into the new connector.  Another "simple" wiring job gone long...

I can just have a harness made for $250.  But I bought the connector for $40.  So hey Ill just get the crimper and it will be fine.  Those of you that know are laughing now...  DMC crimpers are $250ish and quickly go up from there.  Worse there are 100000 different sizes.

Im not going to be making a lot of harnesses so Im looking for a harbor freight version of the tool.

I found this one which looks like it might work but I cant really tell.  Ill call stein tomorrow and find out.

http://www.steinair.com/product/4-way-indent-crimper/

 

The pins I have are for the female side.  They are labeled M39029/32-259 and look like this:

http://www.peigenesis.com/en/shop/part-information/M3902932259/TRI/EACH/301777.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjw9r7JBRCj37PlltTskaMBEiQAKTzTfDbN2CsbrFe4rRpC9NrrusgTfuOKLDH1gVhmTRD8DDwaAiaw8P8HAQ

 

will the crimper above work?

If not anybody got a crimper they wanna let me borrow?

I have the same crimper show on steinair's website and it works well on machined dsub and hd dsub pins as long as the depth is adjusted correctly. Depth is adjusted by turning the threaded end a few turns in either direction while the more expensive DMC crimpers have a different fixed positioner for each contact.   DMC   Crimpers can often be found on eBay. 

If your switching from dsub to hd dsub the wire has to be 22 gauge or smaller. 

Edited June 2, 2017 by N601RX

[Yetti]

With those pins don't cheap out on the crimper.  get the right one otherwise it will deform and not go into the connector.  Check Ebay.   That little hole is good way to get solder in and do it right.   If you support the wire properly it won't vibrate and crack.  I use a hotter gun than some people would and work quickly.  I have an old Weller gun that rocks.  

[N601RX]

The little inspection  hole is there to verify that the wire stayed inserted the correct depth during crimping. 

[HRM]

You can mitigate the stranded wicking by giving the end a good twist if soldering is desired--I frankly prefer solder. Manufacturing does not like solder for the obvious reason. They also don't like cheap HF tools because in a day a worker might make a thousand crimps. For these low volumes pretty much anything that gets the job done will work, you are trading your time for tool quality or careful soldering.

[Andy95W]

6 hours ago, TheTurtle said:

im pretty good with a soldering iron but I dont see how you would solder these pins?  For that matter I dont what actually crimps?  I gotta check some more youtubes on these little pins.  You dont happen to have picks of a soldered pin and wire do you?

I don't have any pictures, but my technique is to pre-tin the wire with just a very small amount of solder, so that the wire is still practically the same diameter as before tinning.  After inserting the wire, I heat the pin itself while observing at the small hole.  I'm looking to make sure the wire stays completely inserted and when hot enough, the solder flow is visible as the hole fills with melted solder.  You'll need a low wattage pencil type soldering iron and a third hand to hold the pin, the wire, and the iron.

I do not doubt that what Rich said is true, that soldering creates a stress rider due to the heat.  I will only say that I have never had a problem.  I have seen how using the wrong crimper can cause the same problem, where the pinch creates stress fractures at the point of the crimp.

[Schinderhannes]

Yan - Call or text me I have 2 mil spec crimpers

[thinwing]

Crimp or solder I've seen them both fail...over crimping cuts the stranded wire and it breaks..soldered stranded is very brittle and tolerates little movement as it work hardens and breaks

[TheTurtle]

1 hour ago, N9495V said:

Yan - Call or text me I have 2 mil spec crimpers

awesome.  Will do.  Might have to come see you again this weekend.  Ill buy lunch this time.

[bradp]

Look at the stein tools video.  He says they recommend that import crimper.  

[TheTurtle]

24 minutes ago, bradp said:

Look at the stein tools video.  He says they recommend that import crimper.  

Emailed them and asked about the pins I have vs that tool and they say they dont use that pin and dont know if it will work...  Very helpful.  But mooneyspace came through for me.  @N9495V is sending me his to use!

[bradp]

I'll give a pirep.  I bought the Stein air import crimper yesterday with their pins.  

[bob865]

An old thread, but I found it when I was searching.  I ended up buying these:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B004H96T7I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They actually work really well.  I was extremely surprised.  I have crimped only about 18 pins so far, but I haven't had a single failure.  I assumed I was just going to be out $40, but they work as well as the little blue crimpers I used when I was in the marines.  better actually considering I don't have to keep up with a buch of positioners etc. 

I will add, I'm crimping high density D-sub connector pins. I haven't tried it on non-high density pins.

[jetdriven]

Don Valentine of valentine aviation (the stormscope guy) also rents a DMC crimper and positioners.