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crimping question

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it doesn't look like a pair of pliers would be at all possible...seeing as the wires are inserted into the holes...im sure the crimping tool has lots of straight pokers that crimp the wires inside or something....i may be completely wrong but i can't see any way to do it with pliers...i guess you can try with pliers...but i don't think you will get anywhere
 
Actually, you crimp and then put it in the hole, I believe.
 
A db25 is easy to solder, probably a lot easier then trying to crimp with pliers. And you get a very good connection..


Just remove the first two mm's of insulation, twist to ceep the strands together and put it into the hole on the connector. To make it even easier, get a "helping hand" or similar thing with a couple of aligator spring things

Put a hot soldering iron on the "cup" (what the wire just got put into) and some solder on the other side, in between the wire and the "cup"

Let the solder flow into the "cup" and when it's full, you're done!

And work smart, take the ones nearest to you first, then rotate the connector and do the other side. It's easy melting the insulation if a hot iron touches it..
 
Ok, I wasn't sure how to actually solder those things. So, basically, you just put the wire into the "cup" and let the solder melt into it? Hmm...sounds easy! Thanks for the explanation, I needed that.
 
Well, I guess that soldering is just one of those things a real modder has to know. And it's not that hard, it just takes some practice. And an ok soldering iron and some good solder, of course.

I'm using a really cheap 15W soldering iron, as well as a gas pen for thicker wires.

And the "helping hands" have really helped me. Trying to solder a wire to a SMD component by holding the PCB in one hand, the wire with your teeth and the iron in the other hand is REALLY difficult!
 
So what would a "helping hand" look like or be? Is it going to cost me more/anything?
 
you cant crimp db25 connectors with ordinary pliers. In fact, you cant crimp any connectors with ordinaty pliers, not if you want to make sure of a good connection and guarentee that the wires wont pull out of the connector. For the d-sub pins you asked about, youd need something like this:

http://www.l-com.com/jump.jsp?lGen=detail&itemID=3454&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=3454

Proper crimp tools arent cheap. Im lucky in that respect, I work for a company that uses this kind of thing on a daily basis, so I have a crimp tool for practically every kind of connector you could think of, plus over 10 years of soldering experience to fall back on if needed. The best thing you can do is just buy yourself an iron and learn to solder. Itll save you a fortune on the long run, and its surprising where itll come in handy.
 
Something like this:
helpinghand.jpg
 
if all you need the helping hand thing for is holding a few wires down for this project, it might be cheaper to just but 2 of the alligator clips and screw them to a board or your workbench.
 
Helping hands are great for this sort of thing. From my experience, soldering and crimping are about the same level of difficulty. I recommend Radio Shack's 15W soldering iron because it's physically smaller. It's narrower and has a more pointed tip, making it easier to get to small spaces.

When crimping, I've used needlenose and diagonal pliers as well as a nail clipper. I use the nail clipper as a wire stripper too.
 
Hmm....so just a couple of alligator clips? I might try that. If I don't have helping hands for this kind of project, is it very hard?
 
If I don't have helping hands for this kind of project, is it very hard?

Something i've found that makes a very good soldering vise is a pair of vise grips, they don't work in all cases but work well in some, as they're heavy and they lay flat, and depending on the size have a good adjustment range (mostly I use 6") Wrap some sort of tape around the jaws (or insert a piece of cotten/cardboard) so they're nice and soft and won't scratch whatever it is your clamping, then open 'em up larger than you need, insert your DB-25 (or whatever) into the jaws, then tighten until its just snug enough that your DB-25 won't move when you touch it with the soldering iron. I've got 2 soldering vices at home, but in the field as often as not I use the vise grip trick because I have a pair in my tool sack. Worse come to worse you could probably use a tiny drip of super glue and razor knife it off when your done. Or the soldering vise in the pic is I believe a little over $10 at Radio Shack
Good Luck
elec.tron
 
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Vice grip..I do have! I could use that, but should I be worried that the grip has rubber on each grip? I don't want to melt anything.

Agg...I need to get to Rat Shack soon to get this stuff...
 
i need to get one of them helping hand things. wont burn myself near as much then! lol. but yeah, solderin them aint too bad, but ya could pick up a spare DB 25 in case ya hold the iron on there too long and melt it. and just practice with solderin. you'll get better. thatshow i got so good.
 
Oh boy, I tried doing it the cheap way at first, by ripping an old head off a db25 wire and screwed that up VERY badly. I was trying to solder to these itsy-bitsy pins! I know now that its better to buy it and do it the real way.
 
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