molex schmolex!

x77x

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soldering my first 9-10 pin molex today...

not very fun


guess ill do 1 today and 1 tomorrow =P
 
I crimp and solder mine for guaranteed durability and great connection. Time consuming, but there is no wires sneaking out, and no connection problems. Think about how much time you spend tracking down shorts. I dont have that problem with the games I build.
 
Why aren't you crimping it??

That's what I was going to ask. Molex terminals are designed to be crimped (make sure to have a proper crimping tool for the job, and know how to use it); unless he is talking about board-mount Molex connectors, like the ones on an Atari ARII board.
 
i dont have a crimper =P

i tinned all my tips first

then pushed the tabs down with a screw driver...

then soldered again

guaranteed 100% =)
 
I crimp and solder mine for guaranteed durability and great connection. Time consuming, but there is no wires sneaking out, and no connection problems. Think about how much time you spend tracking down shorts. I dont have that problem with the games I build.

Soldering is completely redundant with a proper crimp. You couldn't pull a properly crimped terminal off a wire with a truck; the wire or the terminal would break first.
 
growing up in the ghetto...

i use to solder with a butter knife

leave it on the stove til it got hot the ran over to what needed to be soldered...
and if it cooled off, repeat

still to this day you go to my momz house all her butter knives have burnt and twisted tips


butter knives make good screw drivers too!
 
growing up in the ghetto...

i use to solder with a butter knife

leave it on the stove til it got hot the ran over to what needed to be soldered...
and if it cooled off, repeat

still to this day you go to my momz house all her butter knives have burnt and twisted tips


butter knives make good screw drivers too!

Buy a proper crimper (they are like $16) and learn how to use it. Then you will be doing it the same way the factories did it when they made the machines in the first place. A properly crimped terminal on wire is more durable than a soldered terminal on wire, because solder can crack when flexed, while this is not an issue for a crimp. If you are connecting and disconnecting the Molex connectors often, this is more of an issue than if you never touch them again, of course.
 
I used to crimp with a pair of needle nose pliers and then solder, until I got the right crimping tool (the one I had was from Radio Shaft and was the wrong size :(). Bought the right one from Fry's and it works like a charm.

ken
 
I give everything the overkill treatment. Just force of habit.

Well, it is not really overkill if the additional measure is less durable than the primary measure; it is just redundant. In other words, a proper crimp is stronger than soldering, so you aren't adding any security to the connection by adding solder. It would be like adding a thin piece of twine to a heavy steel chain.

Adding solder is worthwhile if the crimps are dubious however (though simply correcting the crimps is even more worthwhile).
 
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A crimping tool is well worth the $20, even if you only use it on 20 pins. It is a glorious time saver! With one of those spring loaded wire strippers, a jewelers screwdriver to remove pins, and a molex crimper I can repin blazingly fast.

The first time I messed with repinning, I tried to be ghetto and use an improper crimper and solder. It sucked, looked like crap, and took forever.
 
Guaranteed to be brittle and snap off if the wires are flexed.

Get a crimper and do things right...

I've seen plenty of shitty crimp jobs that fall apart, but I have yet to find a soldered molex connector that has snapped....
I agree that a good crimp should be sufficient. But on my games I will crimp AND solder, and feel good about it. Yes it takes longer, but it gives me peace of mind. Do it once, do it right, forget about it. :p
 
set it and forget it !!! but wait theres more!
IHT00051.jpg
 
I've seen plenty of shitty crimp jobs that fall apart, but I have yet to find a soldered molex connector that has snapped....
I agree that a good crimp should be sufficient. But on my games I will crimp AND solder, and feel good about it. Yes it takes longer, but it gives me peace of mind. Do it once, do it right, forget about it. :p

A shitty crimp job is not the same as a good crimp job, using the proper tools.
 
A shitty crimp job is not the same as a good crimp job, using the proper tools.

Agreed.

I just started crimping a week ago and torture tested my crimps to refine my technique. When I "got it", the crimps were unbelievably strong and were taking WAY more punishment than a soldered connection ever would.

As a matter of practice now I give a nice tug on everything I crimp to make sure that it's 100% before I move on, and it works very well.
 
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