Author Topic: Fitting 2 wires to a Molex crimp pin / contact  (Read 2349 times)

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Offline beaky

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Fitting 2 wires to a Molex crimp pin / contact
« on: July 07, 2012, 01:11:34 PM »
Here is 1 of the ways to fit 2 wires to 1 molex crimp pin

1st you will need to use the pins that take the larger wires (18 to 20 AWG)

Strip the wires back so you have more wire exposed than what you need, this will make it easier to twist the wires together.
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Offline beaky

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Re: Fitting 2 wires to a Molex crimp pin / contact
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2012, 01:14:45 PM »
Twist the 2 wires tightly together and tin them with solder, make sure you remove any excess solder, you want them to be as narrow as possible.
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Offline beaky

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Re: Fitting 2 wires to a Molex crimp pin / contact
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2012, 01:22:36 PM »
next  you will need to cut the soldered wires so they just fit neatly in the area being crimped.

Crimp the pin and then heat the area where the wires are with the soldering iron and add a minimal amount of solder so it is all soldered together.

you do not want solder running down to the contact area or this will cause problems.
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Offline beaky

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Re: Fitting 2 wires to a Molex crimp pin / contact
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2012, 01:26:17 PM »
once you have done this you will be able to fit it in the housing with room to spare
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Offline Homepin

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Re: Fitting 2 wires to a Molex crimp pin / contact
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2012, 02:19:21 PM »
I loath crimp connectors - they were only invented to make assembly "quick & dirty".

I always solder every terminal to the wires.

Excellent tutorial all the same Beaky!
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Offline pinsanity

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Re: Fitting 2 wires to a Molex crimp pin / contact
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2012, 02:20:05 PM »
Thanks for the write up beaky, much appreciated for an electronics novice like myself.

I have a question on a similar "line" if that is ok to ask it here.

Say I had a couple of mods that run off 12V dc and I wanted to use them both concurrently on the 12v dc line on the spare connector on the coin door interface board.

Would it be possible to adapt the approach you have outlined in this thread safely and simply twist the two mod wires together and run them off the same molex contact?

Or since they are 2 separate mods would they need to be spliced separately with a z connector or similar and still both use the same 12v dc power supply?

Or thirdly would they need to be separated altogether - that is would I need to find another 12v DC source on the machine for the second mod (i.e. in the backbox)?

My main concern is overloading too many mods to the one 12v dc power supply and possibly causing damage, so wanted to get some feedback before attempting a hookup.

Thanks for any suggestions.


Offline beaky

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Re: Fitting 2 wires to a Molex crimp pin / contact
« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2012, 02:30:39 PM »
Thanks for the write up beaky, much appreciated for an electronics novice like myself.

I have a question on a similar "line" if that is ok to ask it here.

Say I had a couple of mods that run off 12V dc and I wanted to use them both concurrently on the 12v dc line on the spare connector on the coin door interface board.

Would it be possible to adapt the approach you have outlined in this thread safely and simply twist the two mod wires together and run them off the same molex contact?

Or since they are 2 separate mods would they need to be spliced separately with a z connector or similar and still both use the same 12v dc power supply?

Or thirdly would they need to be separated altogether - that is would I need to find another 12v DC source on the machine for the second mod (i.e. in the backbox)?

My main concern is overloading too many mods to the one 12v dc power supply and possibly causing damage, so wanted to get some feedback before attempting a hookup.

Thanks for any suggestions.


If it does not drain to much current then it should be fine
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Offline beaky

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Re: Fitting 2 wires to a Molex crimp pin / contact
« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2012, 02:35:52 PM »
I loath crimp connectors - they were only invented to make assembly "quick & dirty".

I always solder every terminal to the wires.

Excellent tutorial all the same Beaky!
to tell you the truth I do the same on all my crimp connectors. when i re pinned one of the members space invaders pinball machine i soldered every pin after crimping it.

soldering all the crimp connectors that have to do with the G.I is a must because the hand crimper is no where near as good as a crimping machine. if you can pull the wire out of the pin after you have crimped it then it should have been soldered
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Offline pinball god

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Re: Fitting 2 wires to a Molex crimp pin / contact
« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2012, 08:51:10 PM »
Thanks mate for the excellent photos and explaination. Will give this a try when I get my t2 pcb back from repairs.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2012, 09:13:34 PM by pinball god »
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Offline johnwartjr

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Re: Fitting 2 wires to a Molex crimp pin / contact
« Reply #9 on: July 28, 2012, 05:35:57 AM »
I do something similar, but I don't solder the wires. Have had decent luck doing it that way over the years.

I've always been told that soldered wires inside a crimp will fracture sooner than a bare wire crimped, and also conduct heat faster.

This subject has been debated for ages and will probably be debated long after I am gone. Another thing I've seen done that works but doesn't look as neat is to splice 2 wires into 1 wire, heat shrink it, and then strip the end of the single wire, and crimp a connector to the single bare wire.

Offline beaky

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Re: Fitting 2 wires to a Molex crimp pin / contact
« Reply #10 on: July 28, 2012, 05:42:46 PM »
I do something similar, but I don't solder the wires. Have had decent luck doing it that way over the years.

I've always been told that soldered wires inside a crimp will fracture sooner than a bare wire crimped, and also conduct heat faster.

This subject has been debated for ages and will probably be debated long after I am gone. Another thing I've seen done that works but doesn't look as neat is to splice 2 wires into 1 wire, heat shrink it, and then strip the end of the single wire, and crimp a connector to the single bare wire.
I know what you mean about the crimping solder that's why i solder again after crimping. the solder will and does fracture when crimped. there are always going to be advantages and disadvantages doing it this way,

The method you have described is also an excellent and neat way of doing it.  ^^^
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