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My first Elco multi-pin project -
Show and Tell
Posted by Kurt Shetler
on December 24-28, 2001
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I put this posting together for those people who have never attempted
a multi-pin project before. Perhaps the photos will provide some
valuable information.
I'd like to thank Tim Trace for his invaluable help. And thanks
to my incredibly beautiful and talented wife for taking the pics!
Having ordered a case with doghouse for my AH GL2200, I decided
to put a quick disconnect on the fan end of my 20x8 snake. I did
extensive searches of the LAB archives regarding multi-pins. I evaluated
Whirlwind, Ramlatch, and Elco connectors.
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I settled on Elco for cost reasons. I got on Bi-Tronics re-sellers
list and ordered my parts and tools.
- 90 pin connectors and pins
- crimper
- extraction tool
- insertion tool
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The first thing I had to do was cut my snake (which took a major
effort, this is not a normal thing do do!). I came back about 6
feet from the fan started cutting. At this point it is imperitive
that you slip the external heat shrink and ELCO hoods over the wire.
If you miss this step you will be very pissed later.
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(Notice my high quality fan protector!)
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My snake is made from Horizon 28 pair IJIS (individual jacket,
individual shield). I started by stripping the outer jacket
and foil.
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Once I had exposed the drain wire, I used a short piece of
1/16" heat shrink tubing to isolate the drain. Tim Trace
learned this step the hard way (and passed on the lesson!).
It's important that none of the drain wires come in contact
with each other.
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Rather than risk nicked wire, I chose to use the old "Bic
'n Strip" method. A quick burst from a lighter, a fingernail,
and you have nicely stripped wire. The Elco crimp pins work
best when there is about 1/8" of exposed wire. The pin
has a section that grabs the wire insulation, and one that
crimps to the exposed wire.
Having heat shrinked the drain, and carefully stripped the
(+) and (-) leads, I'm ready to crimp the pin on to the wire.
I start by inserting a pin into the crimping tool. The tool
can crimp wires in two ranges 18-22, and 22-28. It's important
the pin be inserted into the correct crimp slot.
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One of the most important parts of this project was chosing a pinout,
documenting it, and sticking to it. It's time to insert some pins
using the Elco insertion tool.
It was at this point that I figured out I had screwed up. I thought
I could strip all the wires, crimp pins on all of them and just
insert them into the connector. Wrong.
The Elco 90 pin connector pins make a 90 degree angle to direction
the snake is traveling. This means that the leads closest to the
strain relief must be shorter than those towards the far end.
Having originally cut them all to the same length, I couldn't get
the leads to fit into the hood. The leads closest to the strain
relief were 2 to 3 inches too long.
I had to cut the pins off the leads closest to the strain relief,
and start over, cutting them to length as I went. You can see in
the picture below that the connector is now aligned at a 90 degree
angle to the snake.
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I knew ahead of time that I was going to screw up once or
twice, so I ordered plenty of pins, and set aside plenty of
time.
I continued to terminate leads, cut to length, strip, heat
shrink, crimp, and insert.
Here is (half) of the finished project.
The external heat shrink is pushed down the snake, I won't
shrink it until I have tested every connection.
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With more confidence and experience, I'm ready to tackle
the box end! And my insert snakes...and my guitar rig....
and my bass players rig.....
Those of you with experience doing large multi-pins can now
point and laugh. I'm sure there are hundreds of better ways
to do things. Perhaps these pictures will help somebody that's
never attempted this before. Feel free to send me suggestions
on ways to improve my technique, or any questions you might
have.
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