Crimping tool for Molex PicoBlade connector

[frozenfrogz]

Dear forum,

I am looking forward to outfitting an assortment of wires with 5 contact Molex PicoBlade connectors in the future on a more or less regular basis for my prototypes.
The crimping handtool Molex is offering will cost me about 250€. I saw, that cheaper tools like the Engineering PA-09 can also be used to make decent crimps, but there seem to be a lot of steps to go through to get a good crimp.
Does anyone here use the Molex tool? Is it a perfect crimp in one go, so the 250€ are worth spending or should I go with the Engineering PA-09 or something completely different?
I am not going to do high volumes of crimps, but am willing to pay for a tool that makes life a little easier.

Thanks and kind regards,
Frederik

[nali]

I went through a period of needing Picoblade for prototyping. After looking at the Molex hand crimp I decided just to ask my friendly cable supplier to make up a bunch of wires with a contact both ends, at various lengths. I could either make up a PB-PB patch cable or snip off one end if I was connecting to something else.

I can't remember the price but it was pretty cheap, I think I ordered a couple of hundred.

[jc101]

I have a Molex crimp for the MicroFit connectors (Molex part 63819-0000) and the PicoBlade one looks like the same style.  It does make perfect crimps every time with a single action that has saved quite a bit of messing around.

If I needed one for another series of connector I would get another Molex one without hesitation.

[frozenfrogz]

Thanks guys, I will crunch the numbers and see what will be cheaper in the long run. Digikey offers pre-crimped wires, but only 100mm, 150mm and 300mm.
Maybe I find someone in my area that can supply custom cables at an affordable rate

[ConKbot]

I'd go for the Molex tool. Picoblade pins and sockets are absurdly tiny, and without a holder on the tool you're going to regret the decision quite quickly. And a micro fit tool definitely isn't going to work with them, they are a good bit smaller than the microfit pins.  You're going to need a good stripper that can leave a clean edge and some very sharp cutters to trim the conductor to length without leaving a long point. The insulation portion of the crimp is quite small,  so 0.7mm can be the difference between not crimping the insulation at all, and having the insulation get into the conductor portion of the crimp.

I'd also highly suggest some sort of magnification for getting the hang of it initially. Once you get it down, the magnification is only needed for inspection.

Because of how small they are, the relative thickness of the crimp body is quite high, so getting the right crimp pressure without a ratcheting crimper may be tricky, or at least take a lot if trial and error. Plus if the die is too wide, getting the crimp body to roll over correctly and form a proper crimp may be tricky.

With the right tools, they are easy. With subpar tools, you're going to be pulling your hair out.

http://media.digikey.com/photos/OK%20Industries%20-%20Jonard%20Photos/ST-550.jpg id suggest the tweezer style adjustable strippers for wire that small, or a pair of thermal strippers. And "Ultra flush" style cutters (preferably carbide, but not required)

[SvanGool]

I use an ENGINEER PA-09 for a lot of connectors, it is the typical tool that everyone wants to lend from you, it is simple and very effective. They go for app. $48 e.g.: eBay auction: #252022867808.
According this table it should also be able to handle Molex PicoBlade 50058-8100, 50079-8100 and 50125-8000/8100. I did use it with PicoBlades and had no problem, it is two steps: one for the not insulated and one for the insulated part, if I would only do a couple of connectors per week, I would know where to spend my money better.

[Yansi]

I use an ENGINEER PA-09 for a lot of connectors, it is the typical tool that everyone wants to lend from you, it is simple and very effective. They go for app. $48 e.g.: eBay auction: #252022867808.
According this table it should also be able to handle Molex PicoBlade 50058-8100, 50079-8100 and 50125-8000/8100. I did use it with PicoBlades and had no problem, it is two steps: one for the not insulated and one for the insulated part, if I would only do a couple of connectors per week, I would know where to spend my money better.

Thank you for a tip!  I also sometimes am in a need to use the Molex bloody small Picoblade connectors and being able to crimp them with something better than using a needle nose pliers will come for sure handy! 

[frozenfrogz]

Regarding wire strippers I am VERY HAPPY with my Weicon No.5. Best 15€ I ever spent on a small hand tool!

If the Engineer tool indeed does a good job I am thinking about getting the PAD-01 set for a little under 100€ from Hobbyking. It looks like something that will set me up properly for a lot of future occasions. Since I run into a lot of one-off prototyping it seems logical. Then again, I could opt for only using PicoBlade connectors, because they do a good job and are cheaper than JSTs. Oh my - this could turn religious xD

[frozenfrogz]

Just to quickly wrap it up and not leave another open-ended thread:

I bought the Engineer PAD-01 crimping tool for 91€ (plus some thread locker and two component epoxy and shipping) from the source mentioned above and here is my conclusion:

The tool is very well built and I really like the futuristic look of the orange grip in combination with the burnished / black finishing.
I failed the first crimp on the insulator part, but now knowing how to look after the correct alignment in the tool I am left with very satisfying crimps. If I had to do a couple hundred of these ridiculously (sic!) tiny PicoBlade contacts I would most probably spend the 350€ (yes, that seems to be the current official price tag) on the Molex tool just for peace of mind.
However for my prototyping needs the Engineer does a very good job. It is fiddly and you need to take your time to check for proper alignment. Then again I am seeing myself using this for a lot of different connectors. Today I had to crimp some H.R. A2542 2.5mm pitch connectors and that went so well

I also bought a wire end ferule crimping tool (LSC8 6-4) that I am very pleased with. It seems to be a clone of the Crimpfox UD6-4, but a very good one.

Edit: The small sorting containers are a very nice additional feature since I really like sorting small parts in associated groups. They now hold some five-contact male and female PicoBlade housings plus angled and straight tht pcb sockets as well as the needed contacts.
I had quite some trouble getting the crimped contact in focus for the picture - did I mention these are tiny? xD
This is the Molex 50079 female contact for 28-26 AWG with 26 AWG wire. The insulation is 0.95mm OD and was a tight fit (datasheet says 1.05mm max OD for this contact)