DIY servo leads

[John Armstrong 2]

I am thinking about having a go at making my own servo leads. As I need some quite long leads for a large scale glider I am building I thought it a good idea to try my own rather than join leads together. As there are no threads on this topic has anyone else tried this and are there any hints and tips?

[Stevo]

I've tried it John, very fiddly to get right so I gave up-I have 40 years of electronics experience... You will need a magnifying glass and a cripming tool - If you need one you can have mine!

[Vaughan Wilson]

The crimping pliers I use successfully are "Engineer Micro Connector Pliers PA-09" and can be found on eBay / Amazon.

I have tried the cheap ones you can get on eBay but they are useless.

Check out this site:

**LINK**

[Dave Hopkin]

Buy servo wire and splice a section of wire in with soldered joints and heat shrink

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

I reckon making your own is the way to go...but it is fiddly and you need a magnifier as already said, would surprise me if a google search never turned up a tutorial.

John

[gangster]

I am sure that there was a link to a very good you tube tutorial on this very forum. Be prepared to waste a lot of pins in the learning curve. Alternatively as someone suggested join with solder and heatshink for a totally foolproof solution

[bert baker]

I know my place in society, and it ain't making servo leads,

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

How about this tutorial ?

[will -0]

I have a set of crimpers that I got from Ashtek many years ago. THey look like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Servo-and-JST-Lead-Crimping-Tool-Jst-Sh-With-Ratchet-RC-Model-/291477544640?hash=item43dd6a5ec0

and seem to work really well.

Can't say I've ever really needed a magnifier, just nip the crimp in the crimp tool (those ones lock on), strip the wire to length so that one part of the crimp gets the wire and the other gets the insulation, insert and squeeze.

[Don Fry]

I know my place in society, and it ain't making servo leads. Only skill, to entend a lead and heatshreak. And do you wish to commit a few hundred hours, and a few hundred pounds to a steep learning curve on crimping under a glass.

[kc]

If you don't want to solder then Component Shop sell extension leads in 500, 600. 750, 1000, 1200mm lengths. The connectors could be covered by heat shrink to prevent them from accidently coming apart.

Edited By kc on 23/09/2015 20:14:06

[John Armstrong 2]

Thank you for all those useful comments and Vaughn for the crimping tool link. I should have said that I have already bought the bits from Airtek and understand what you mean by needing a magnifying glass!! The one thing that puzzled me was after the pins are attached how are they retained in the plug?

[Dane Crosby]

John, a close look at the plastic plug housing shows that each pin tube/slot has a tiny plastic latch. This locates on a tiny square slot towards the rear third of the pin. Once the pin is pushed relatively firmly in to position there will be a tiny click as this latch catches the pin. If the pin is inserted upside down, the latch doesn't work and you will be able to pull the pin out of the housing for another go! These plastic latches can easily be damaged so align carefully when inserting the pin.

[Allan Bennett]

I've been crimping my own connectors for many years now, for my aircraft and for my electronics hobby projects. I don't really see a need for a magnifying glass, or for many years' practice. I've never had one fail on me yet, but I have had one or two rejects where the pins got mangled in the crimper, or they crimped without the wire being in the right place.

For some reason I can't fathom, I've found that the "crimp sockets" I get from RS Components for use with their "crimp housings" are easier to handle than the ones sold for RC use at my local model shop. The housings are available in other pin-counts too, useful for connections in multi-rotors.

I'm also happy to extend servo leads by cutting them in half and soldering in a suitable length of servo cable.

[Geoff S]

Posted by will -0 on 23/09/2015 19:48:26:

I have a set of crimpers that I got from Ashtek many years ago. THey look like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Servo-and-JST-Lead-Crimping-Tool-Jst-Sh-With-Ratchet-RC-Model-/291477544640?hash=item43dd6a5ec0

and seem to work really well.

Can't say I've ever really needed a magnifier, just nip the crimp in the crimp tool (those ones lock on), strip the wire to length so that one part of the crimp gets the wire and the other gets the insulation, insert and squeeze.

I've been crimping my own servo leads for years using an Ashtek crimping tool as well as Ashlok connectors. When Ash Jones packed up his part time business I stocked up on Ashlok multipin locking connectors which I find are excellent. It's not really that difficult and you can make them to the exact length you need and use twisted wire for longer ones.

I do use a head magnifier but that's because my 75 year old eyes aren't as good as they were so I use it for lots of other jobs. I too spent a life time in electronics design and the greatest problem was the gradual reduction in the size of all components. I used to keep a box of assorted value resistors in my bench drawer and had no problem picking out the right value from the pile, now I can't read the value of the tiny ones even with the magnifier

Geoff

[Rich too]

The leads are so cheap from HK I don't bother, and I use heat shrink to secure all of my servo lead joins, and control horns on the servos and flying surfaces.

[Kevin Wilson]

I use crimp pliers from Hobbyking, and after a few false starts it has clicked and I get very few rejects.

I have bought ebay leads and granted, they are cheap; but the quality both in wire and connectors is extremely variable.

Also I am as likely to be shortening servo leads as I am making extensions. Having crimp capability allows both.

[Tim Mackey]

http://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=48709

[ben goodfellow 1]

making leads is very easy . used loads of hk jr connectors and there crimpers work really well. fly low

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Simon Chaddock]

If you are a real cheapskate like me (or you want save every last gram of weight) then you reuse everything.

Extract the pins, carefully undo the cord grip crimp and break off the wire. Extend the servo wire with solder joints and heat shrink. Finally file the wire crimp down, resolder the new wire to the pin, re-crimp the cord grip and insert the pin back into the connector body.

A servo pin ready to be soldered onto the extended wire.

Its a bit of a 'time no object' exercise but on the plus side the joints are all soldered so good electrical contact, its cheap as the only cost is the extra servo wire. It is a bit fiddly with 32AWG leads.

Edited By Simon Chaddock on 26/09/2015 21:55:27

[Bob Burton]

I thought that one reason for using crimped connections was to specifically avoid the use of solder which is more prone to failure due to vibration.

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Yes Bob that's what I was thinking, thought i'd been told crimped joints where superior.

John

[Bob Cotsford]

and that's why I don't like soldered extensions on servos used in IC models. Soldered servo connectors were why we used to carry a 12v soldering iron as part of our field kit in the 70s. No thanks.