Common wire-to-board, wire-to-wire connectors, and crimp tools

[DanieldH]

These days, I am looking for very small, yet easy to assemble cable connections. I found this guy with excessive knowledge on the matter and I thought I'd share it.

 

https://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/

 

Matt has lots of other interesting topics on his page also.

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

Bookmarking for reference.  There's so many connectors there that are otherwise hard to identify.

My "favourite" custom tool that I haven't been able to avoid purchasing is the $150 screwdriver used to tighten the collet nut on 3-pin Lemo connectors.  It's nearly impossible to tighten them without the custom tool, but that is way too much for a piece of steel and a crappy plastic sheath.

[Conor]

13 hours ago, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

Bookmarking for reference.  There's so many connectors there that are otherwise hard to identify.

My "favourite" custom tool that I haven't been able to avoid purchasing is the $150 screwdriver used to tighten the collet nut on 3-pin Lemo connectors.  It's nearly impossible to tighten them without the custom tool, but that is way too much for a piece of steel and a crappy plastic sheath.

Ditch the Lemos and look at the aftermarket RED16 connector by Redding audio. It's a clone of the 3 pin Lemo, but designed such that no crimping tools are needed, voiding the need for the tool and making the connector reusable.

 

https://www.reddingaudioshop.com/product-page/3-pin-screw-locking-connector-for-sennheiser-lectrosonics

[rich]

2 hours ago, Conor said:

Ditch the Lemos and look at the aftermarket RED16 connector by Redding audio. It's a clone of the 3 pin Lemo, but designed such that no crimping tools are needed, voiding the need for the tool and making the connector reusable.

 

https://www.reddingaudioshop.com/product-page/3-pin-screw-locking-connector-for-sennheiser-lectrosonics

yes yes yes.
i use a similar connector (probably the same to be honest, but i dont get them from Redding)

it has a proper cable clamp making it much easier to assemble, and means its much less critical with the diameter of the cable (i have seen sooooo many Lemo crimp connectors that fail because someone has used the correct crimp tool which means that the crimped part doesnt really grip the cable. mostly COS11s)

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

7 hours ago, Conor said:

Ditch the Lemos and look at the aftermarket RED16 connector by Redding audio. It's a clone of the 3 pin Lemo, but designed such that no crimping tools are needed, voiding the need for the tool and making the connector reusable.

Thanks!  I think I was vaguely aware of that one.  Last time I looked, I couldn't get it readily available in Canada with reasonable shipping, so I ended up with the official Lemos and saved the difference with free shipping from Mouser.

I actually reuse my Lemos all the time.  The crimp collets are available separately at a reasonable (for Lemo) price, so I just keep spares on hand.  I also don't use the Lemo crimp tool:  a standard 0.1" crimp is close enough (within 0.1mm as I recall), and it's slightly tighter, which solves the issue @rich mentioned with the standard crimp being too loose for some cables.  For that reason I don't see the point in buying the official crimper.

The tool I haven't been able to avoid is the "screwdriver" for the collet nut.  It looks like that Redding connector has a similar design where it needs a split wrench to tighten the nut on to the connector.  But maybe that tool is more standardized?  The Lemo nut is metric and a very weird diameter ... I couldn't find a suitable generic equivalent.

[DanieldH]

Conor, Rich,

do you happen to have photos of the cable contacts or even a source of a 2D drawing?

[rich]

the part number for the Lemo collet nut driver is DCL.91.516.5TK
it cost me £40 when i got it, but on digging out the receipt, that was 12 years ago, so it may cost a fair bit more now.

i made a tool for the redding connectors. i had something close, and widened the space between the prongs with a dremel cutting tool. 
you could do the same with a suitable flat bladed screwdriver and a saw and file i imagine.

30 minutes ago, DanieldH said:

Conor, Rich,

do you happen to have photos of the cable contacts or even a source of a 2D drawing?

not for the redding connectors, but Lemo have a load of technical info on their site

https://www.lemo.com/int_en/solutions/originals/b-indoor-keyed/fvb-00-303-nlae13.html

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

I believe I paid $157 (CAD), last year for the nut driver.  I'm aware of at least one other person who made a custom tool instead, so you're not the only person to do that.  I don't have a grinder or dremel, so I'd be buying a tool to make one.  Not a bad investment long-term (a grinder is way more useful than a specialized collet nut driver), but it was faster and easier to buy the tool, price nonwithstanding.  Which I guess is why they get away with charging what they do.

[Conor]

17 hours ago, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

The tool I haven't been able to avoid is the "screwdriver" for the collet nut.  It looks like that Redding connector has a similar design where it needs a split wrench to tighten the nut on to the connector.  But maybe that tool is more standardized?  The Lemo nut is metric and a very weird diameter ... I couldn't find a suitable generic equivalent.

I simply use a pair of snipe-nosed pliers for this. No real need for the torque of a screwdriver, and I've wired 100s of these connectors.

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

5 hours ago, Conor said:

I simply use a pair of snipe-nosed pliers for this. No real need for the torque of a screwdriver, and I've wired 100s of these connectors.

I tried using a pair of tweezers, but I had the connectors come loose too many times.  The screwdriver does a much better job.  Maybe if I'd owned better pliers...

[Fred Salles]

On 8/4/2024 at 9:37 AM, DanieldH said:

These days, I am looking for very small, yet easy to assemble cable connections. I found this guy with excessive knowledge on the matter and I thought I'd share it.

 

https://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/

 

 

Great link ! Thank you Daniel