15 Sep
2014
15 Sep
'14
11:22 a.m.
On Sun, 14 Sep 2014, Sean Caron wrote:
I switch off as the situation dictates... I have a
nice Hakko iron as
well as a Crimpmaster with like 15 different die sets (I found someone
selling like every single one, and I stocked up! anyone got a line on
MMJ plugs??) and generally if I don't expect to ever want to change the
connection, or if I am splicing or attaching very small wire (~26 ga)
where there isn't really an appropriate lug size (and I don't want
Scotchloks everywhere) I will solder; I will crimp lugs if I'm doing
something more temporary, or if I deliberately need to attach to
something that takes lugs e.g. a terminal strip, etc.
MMJ plugs...yes, I bought up a stash of the Tyco/AMP variety when Tyco
announced they were ceasing production (despite my complaints to Tyco's
management, who claimed this was part of "LEAN production"...what a bunch
of BS). Does your crimper die require the AMP or WE/SS (Western
Electric/Stewart Stamping) variety? Much of my tooling for these is for
the AMP variety, hence why I stocked up. Bel-Stewart (Stewart Connector
Systems) is still manufacturing the WE/SS variety though, so if those are
what you need (most likely), they shouldn't be too difficult to obtain.
http://belfuse.com/ethernet/modular-plugs/
Look under 'keying' for OST, but make sure you get the correct orientation
since they make types with the tab offset on opposite sides. Lego
Mindstorms for example uses OST modular plugs keyed opposite those used
for DEC MMJ.
The [Ideal] Crimpmaster is a nice tool and not too
expensive... maybe
$40 for the handle and $15-25 for each specific die set you want. You
don't have to go and shell out $400 for the AMP crimper or the Deutsch
crimper or whatever... There are many knock-offs of the Crimpmaster that
take the same dies... probably even cheaper if you need the price point
to be lower yet.
If you ever have the chance to grab a secondhand Paladin Tools 8000 series
frame, grab one. It has a lower breakover force and will fit the full
sized Crimpmaster dies. While I have a bunch of these for general purpose
stuff, I still use OEM tooling from AMP/Molex/T&B/etc for most projects.
Interchangeable dies are not available for many discrete contact types too
(AMP CPC or 2mm pitch Hirose or JAE for example).