Creating DuPont equivalent crimp terminal

Question

What’s the generic term for the single pin crimp terminal to stick on the end of a wire in order to push into an Arduino header socket? I’m used to the term Dupont connector but this isn’t a search term recognised by Farnell or CPC and there seems to be a fair mix of crimp terminals that may or may not be correct.

shabaz · Accepted Answer

Hi Andrew,

Oh, sorry, I forgot the Arduino has the sockets and not pins.

These crimp pinscrimp pins will fit, and are cheap, although stock is low currently. I've used these with heatshrink, I don't think these particular pins will fit the plastic housings Doug mentions.

The pin is of the order of 0.7x7mm. 1mm won't fit (e.g. typical D-sub pins won't fit, they are approx 1mm diameter).

EDIT: these crimp pinscrimp pins will also fit (0.635x0.635mm) and better availability, but they're more expensive.

fmilburn · Answer

I have recently started crimping my own and have some Amphenol as well as inexpensive Chinese pins and sockets. I have the crimper that Shabaz linked above and like it. The Amphenol work well. The Chinese unbranded ones are fiddly, especially the sockets. I have to pinch the bits that hold on the insulation a bit before inserting in the tool. In other words, you may find variation in what is out there.

dougw · Answer

They are crimp sockets in rectangular housings but there are many terms used by different manufacturers and distributors.

Consequently they are difficult to find, even though they are very common and almost every supplier carries them.

Here is an example from Amphenol:

HousingHousing

SocketSocket

shabaz · Answer

I had the camera out, so figured I'd take some photos.. I don't have the China crimps (although I did try them at one point) so cannot show the difference.

Step 1: strip cable, by about 4mm (eyeballed, no real need to measure with the pin crimp, since there is space for the excess length. The socket crimps need a bit more accuracy but can still be eyeballed). I'm using thin wire (10/0.1, i.e. 10 strands of 0.1mm) so I like to fold it back, so I strip twice this amount.

Step 2:

Since I'm using thin wire, I fold it back. Ignore this step if you get good results without doing this with your wire type.

I just use a fingernail to fold it over, no need for pliers.

Step 3: Insert crimp so that the to-be-crimped portion of the crimp pin is flush with the tool crimping area. Then lightly press the tool (or ratchet by one step) so that the crimp pin is held in place and won't fall out. That will leave a free hand for the next step.

Step 4: Poke in the wire from the other side, so that you can just see it egressing from that tool crimping area.

I should have taken the photo from the other side really. But the point is that the tip of the wire should be just visible coming out of the tool crimp area.

Press the tool entirely until the ratchet releases.

Final result: (Normally I'll put some heatshrink sleeving over it).

Some other views of the crimped result:

Some tool marks are visible, but this is heavily zoomed in, the actual amount of tool marks is acceptable I think.

The insulation clamping portion is visible here. I see no movement in that area when I bend the insulation to the right of the photo. It grips it well for this small diameter.

shabaz · Answer

Hi Andrew,

I think it's just called a crimp socket, or a 0.1" SIL socket crimp terminal. Anyway, a typical one is this crimp socketcrimp socket, it fits the 0.1" SIL pin headers on the Arduino.

There is a suitable crimp toolcrimp tool for it too.

There are plastic pieces to go over it, but I don't think they are available from Farnell/Newark for single pins. However, personally I feel heatshrink sleeving gives a nicer result.

neilk · Answer

Hi Andrew,

I decided to take the plunge and go for one of the (probably) Chinese kits, but from ebay rather than Amazon. It gave me the pins, sockets and a selection of housings. I thought the mistake I made was in also buying a (probably) Chinese crimp tool. I have do what Frank( fmilburn ) does which is to pre-bend the crimp component to hold the insulation before I crimp the whole pin or socket in the crimp tool.

I assumed I struggled because of my cheap crimp tool, but Frank seems to be saying that the cheap pins/sockets are the problem and the Amphenol ones are OK.

Frank, can you show us the difference, please.

Neil

fmilburn · Answer

Shabaz and Doug are giving good advice below. What I have observed is the Chinese ones are made for an automated crimping machine while the Amphenol came loose. DSub pins also work well in my tool. The tabs that hold insulation on the Chinese ones are too wide to fit the die in my crimping tool without bending them a bit and that is a fiddly task and somewhat prone to bad connections.

shabaz · Answer

Hi Andrew, I've not used these before, but your insulation area looks good (it should terminate near the red line marking below), the wire portion should terminate at the yellow line portion though it seems (I could be wrong).

Andrew J · Answer

I think you're right looking at it that close up. The spring at the end is meant to depress when the pin is pushed into the receptacle, and it won't be able to with the wires there. I've ordered some thinner wire and more connectors, as well as the pin connectors you mentioned. It's not surprising that I don't know what I actually need until I find myself thinking it's all well and good but how am I going to connect this to that. Fortunately, I'm busy again this week so can't really get back to my project until Thursday.

Andrew J · Answer

Thanks guys, but I probably didn’t explain it very well. I have the crimp tool that you told me about previously Shabaz, but the crimp sockets you mentioned, above and previously, didn’t seem right: they look like sockets (obviously! And something I would push a pin into) but didn’t have single housing in that series, and I couldn't find what I was looking for in that series either. Heat shrink is a good idea for the housing and I have plenty of that.

Doug - the links you provide don't work for my Country (UK) but I suspect from the wording they are sockets as well.

What I'm looking for is the pin connector, I.e. the crimp terminal that is a male pin to push into a female header socket. There seems to be a lot of variations but I can't really make out which would be the right one - I think a 1mm pin should do it - but it doesn't help that I don't know what they are called! The dupont fly leads seem to fit properly but the ones I have aren't long enough. I could buy a Dupont crimp kit on Amazon but they all seem to be from cheap Chinese manufacturers and I'm very wary - as Frank mentions. D-sub pin terminals look ok but I realise they are intended for a different connecter.

dougw · Answer

The series I linked above is Amphenol Mini PV pin 47792-003LF 47792-003LF socket 75231-013LF housing 65039-036LF 65039-036LF There are other parts in the series - check which you need.

Andrew J · Answer

Thanks Shabaz. The 70 in stock will be more than sufficient; it's unfortunate that CPC don't sell them as I've already got a basket with them. I assume they will deliver the 70 now and 30 in October when they have them back in stock!!

I didn't think it would be so difficult to find the right ones - parametric search doesn't allow sizing to be used, and it doesn't help that thousands of items share the same basic name!

shabaz · Answer

Hi Andrew, Just to add to the list of compatible pins, here's another crimp pin which which fits breadboards: Molex C-Grid series, such as part code 16-02-0107 16-02-0107 however it is 4mm longer physically, compared to the TE EI series pin TE EI series pin . That EI connector option is highest on my list personally, because it is the lowest cost : ) Also, I've found a great tool, but it involves hunting around on e-bay for a used one, in the hope that it becomes available cheaply. It is AMP 90202-2, mine came damaged (although the seller didn't mention that) obtained for £15, and a friend found one for £45, so that seems to be the span of reasonable prices maybe (however, the only current UK seller is offering it for £130 so that's not worth it). Despite the damage on mine (a metal part is wedged out, as if something is stuck inside the tool) it works really well and it doesn't seem to impact performance. I can take some photos of example crimps with it, but long story short, the results are stronger than the wire, and both insulation and wire are crimped together, it works for a decent range of wire and insulation thicknesses, and it's really easy, because it frees up a hand to feed the wire in, and there is a stop to ensure precise wire depth alignment. And it's fast. Although it is for AMP terminals, I have tried it with the C-Grid pins, and also with Multicomp 2226TG 2226TG sockets and the result is better than ready-made jumper wires. This tool is not suitable for (say) typical JST ranges like PH or XH, but specifically for 2.54mm-pitch compatible pins and sockets, it's the best I've used so far. The tool looks quite strange.. but it's really cool : ) A question I find myself asking, is at what point do the crimping methods become better than we need : ) To me, the HT-225D HT-225D for 2.54mm pins already produces results that excel ready-made jumper wires, and it's a low-cost tool. The AMP tool is better and is quicker to use, but had it been much more than £45 (and even that's pushing it) then (to me) it would not be worth it, for the few hundred crimps I do each year.

Creating DuPont equivalent crimp terminal

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