Is it possible to crimp Molex Mini Spox without experience in crimping?

[M_a-r_k-u_s]

Hello everyone,

I want to crimp cables (Molex Mini Spox) to repair a robot. Since I have no experience with crimping, I wanted to ask here if it is possible to do it successfully without having it done before. Because the crimping pliers from Molex costs 400 bugs or so and I don't want to waste the money. I just saw that Molex offers also pre-crimped cables, but to maximum length of 450mm, which is not enough.

I have some links to the plier and socket in case you don't know Molex Mini-Spox:
https://www.digikey.de/de/products/detail/molex/0008701040/259393
https://www.digikey.de/de/products/detail/molex/0638281900/7400393

Thank you,
Markus

[inse]

This is rather flimsy stuff.
If you need proper strain relief I would recommend to extend pre- manufactured cables.

[wraper]

You do not need experience for crimping. It's very easy do right if you have a proper tool. Just watch some video how it's done to be sure you do everything properly.

[wraper]

This is rather flimsy stuff.
If you need proper strain relief I would recommend to extend pre- manufactured cables.

Frankly your post makes no sense, please elaborate.

[inse]

The proper tool is €400, so soldering extensions to pre-manufactured cables makes probably more sense.
As with hobby tools you will not get a reliable crimp.

[tooki]

Hello everyone,

I want to crimp cables (Molex Mini Spox) to repair a robot. Since I have no experience with crimping, I wanted to ask here if it is possible to do it successfully without having it done before. Because the crimping pliers from Molex costs 400 bugs or so and I don't want to waste the money. I just saw that Molex offers also pre-crimped cables, but to maximum length of 450mm, which is not enough.

I have some links to the plier and socket in case you don't know Molex Mini-Spox:
https://www.digikey.de/de/products/detail/molex/0008701040/259393
https://www.digikey.de/de/products/detail/molex/0638281900/7400393

The Mini-SPOX contact isn’t too demanding on the tool, compared to some connector types. The ~$25 Toozo TZ-4228B (aka SN-4228B, etc) from aliexpress does a pretty good job on it. (I just tested it, using the second-smallest die opening, and it came out quite well, fits into the housing, and seems to pass an unscientific pull test.)

Molex sells a cheaper crimp tool, the https://www.molex.com/molex/products/part-detail/application_toolin/0640160201 which is officially for the Mini-SPOX (among others) that costs about $150 on Digi-Key. We got one at my old job and weren’t super impressed by it, but Digi-Key refunded the money (without even wanting the product back!) without any questions, so it’s something you could try out. Maybe you’ll receive one that was a bit better than what we got. But the $400 tools are much, much easier to use.

You could consider buying pre-crimped leads and extending them with soldered splices.

[Ian.M]

Tooki has put more effort into testing crimpers than many hobby users have into using them! See: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/affordable-crimp-tools-for-small-connectors-(dupont-etc-)/