https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/products.asp?cat=81

Stop by tomorrow, go through my .156 box, I'm sure you'll find one you can use.

LTG : )™

Boy that LTG - What a guy eh ! We need more like him.

Shove them further into the female connector.

LTG : )™

I think they are upside down

Yeah they look upside down - and you need a 7 position housing

hi z, I have a question: how are you going to put a 5 pin fem conn. on a 7 pin male header?

hi z,look for the 2pin connector like the one on the left in my pic. wires for 7 pin connector starting from the left blank,blank,green,brown,,blank green, brown. now you can have a six pack! g.l. joe

SAM_0007.JPG

Are you going to tell us if we were right?

I always shove mine as far as it will go into the female connector.

They were in upside down. I hope he just reversed them and everything was fine...

If only half of them are on, that typically means the relay isn't working. Usual cause is cold solder joints on that relay board. Reflow them and try again.

Thats what she said?

But anyway, did you also buy the IDC pusher to push the connectors in?

You don't need those silly connectors, those are just for people who can't solder.

Just solder those wires right onto the pins on the board, no more connectors problems

At least that is what many of the previous owners of pins that I have bought decided to do.

CantTell.jpg

Personally, I prefer to lessen the chances of a random short circuit . I can solder - barely .

While it does take care of connector problems by directly soldering to the pins, I would not recommend it. It makes it a real bitch when you need to remove a board to replace parts.

Thought I will admit that I have had an occasional machine that was such a basket case of hacks and problems that it was just easier to solder to the pins to try and get the thing running. Also sometimes some pins are in such bad shape and so close to being part machines that putting in any extra parts/time seems dumb.

Though I would not recommend this method in the vast majority of cases. I just have a habit of finding really beat to death machines (like a playfield and cabinet that is more barewood than paint) but I still want to get a feel for a title so I can decide if I want to spend the time/money to get a nice one, so I will do the bare bones to get it playing well so I can try it out for a while.

If anyone wants to see how to crimp these connectors:

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/another-bride-gets-the-works-eventually-will-be-a-bop-20-fingers-crossed

About a little more than 1/2 way down the first page.

-Al-

I just wanted to show how to crimp the connectors, the question comes up a lot on Pinside and I figured the link in this thread might help someone in the future. Glad it's all up and doing it's thing!

hi z, glad it's fixed, awarner that was a nice write up on the connectors. joe

Thank you!!!!!! I had alreadone this for a new Ultimarc video amp on RFM, and I "made it work", but man, will I use the heck out of that post next time!!! I have to go buy some crimpers like those - on mine - the ends are for crimping wires and not metal connectors like that.

Thank you very much! Thumbs ups on both your posts!

Good job!

I did a writeup on replacing these connectors, including links for where to get all the bits (the hardest part, really):
http://quinndunki.com/blondihacks/?p=1737

Gorgeous website and very thorough with great pictures! Can you clarify what "a ratcheting tool" is for those of us that don't have 3 hands to do the work you described ? Thank you!

Thanks!

I'm referring to a ratcheting molex crimper, along the lines of this Tool Aid model that I'm partial to:
http://www.toolaid.com/content/ratcheting-terminal-crimping-kit

That basic set does not include the die (interchangeable jaw parts) for molex, but the large one does:
http://www.toolaid.com/content/quick-change-ratcheting-terminal-crimping-kit-9-die-sets

You can also buy the molex die separately. It's Tool Aid part 18937.

All of the above is available on amazon, although the separate molex die is backordered as of this writing. You can call Tool Aid and order it direct.

Finding contacts for pins is pretty straightforward, I've never found it challenging.

Order them from GPE or Big Daddy

https://greatplainselectronics.com/

http://bigdaddy-enterprises.com/

Both these vendors will help answer your questions if you have any, and typically the prices do beat Mouser, Jameco, Digikey, etc.

Ratcheting crimpers are very valuable in pinball repair. I prefer the original Molex / Sargent crimpers, but they are not inexpensive. HTR-2445A for .156, HTR-2262A for .100, HTR-1719C for .062 and HTR-1031E for .093.

Thank you both for such detailed info! I know, sooner or later, I'll have to go behind the translites of some of my machines and do this kind of work - it is simply inevitable. Rather have the tools and know-how to do it than go in blindly without the right tools.

Great stuff - thanks again for such thorough responses!