K

kboyd59

Active Member
I am building the wiring harness for my Icom -200 radio, I have two of my wires in the wrong holes on the molex connector, with out going out and buying a molex contact ejector tool is there any way of getting these connections out with out destroying the wires or the connector? Thanks for any help.

Ken Boyd
 
If you're in a hurry you can get one from Radio Shack. I wouldn't risk damaging the pin just to save a few $$$. The worst part would be not knowing the pin was damaged and having an intermitant problem or the radio not working at a critical time.
 
You can use a very small jewllers screw driver in a pinch. Or take a very thin piece of metal. It must slide in the front of the connector in the little narrow channel to compress the tang on the pin. Look at the shell and then a pin and you will see how small to make it. After you remove the pin you may have to bend the tang back into position before reinserting it back into the shell. You will not need a lot of pressure to remove the pin. Insert the metal tool and gently pull on the wire in the pin and it will slide right out.
 
I have had success using a piece of brass tubing bought from the hobby shop or
any other tubing the right size (slightly larger than the diameter of the pin in the
connector). This is less likely to damage things than the small screwdriver method.
 
I have never damaged a molex connector yet using a small screw driver in over 45 years. They work very well when you have mis-placed the proper tool which is just a long thin blade of spring steel, like what you would find in your tape measure rewind spring.
 
be sure the retainers are working

kboyd59 said:
I am building the wiring harness for my Icom -200 radio, I have two of my wires in the wrong holes on the molex connector, with out going out and buying a molex contact ejector tool is there any way of getting these connections out with out destroying the wires or the connector? Thanks for any help.

Ken Boyd
Click to expand...

Per the other posts, a cheap extractor, jeweler's screwdriver, fine steel probe, etc. will let you get the pins out. The REAL thing to watch out for is before you put them back in, you MUST be sure the retainer prongs are properly in place. I've learned this lesson too many times - if the retainers aren't in position, the pin will eventually work its way out of the connector body. Use a magnifier and be sure the little barbs stick out (all of them) so that they snap out upon insertion and prevent the pin from wiggling back out.

G.
 
I have found that the brass tube from a ball point pen will sometimes work. The last time I used a little flat blade that the radio guy at the radio shop gave me.
 
Here's a copy of a post I made in 2006....

Heres several quick tricks for any of those molex/square pins on radios, intecoms, etc...

Instead of buying the $14-$70 "removal tools" that in themselves are not overlly strong and do break you can try some of the following...all of which I or my guys have done (I didn't come up with all of them, I'm just plagarizing others ideas in most cases)

1st, you can simply use a piece of an old hacksaw blade that you take to your belt sander, basically whittling down one end of it to about 1/16" wide for about 3/4" long. It needs to be a bit narrower than that, but it's a nice trick that works fine.

2nd trick, take a piece of .041 safety wire (the nice heavy stuff), cut yourself a piece about 6 inces long...then smash one end of it flat with a hammer and you have the same things...and it only costs pennies and is disposable.

3rd, a "Bobby Pin" with the nub clipped off the end and unfolded also works really well.

4th, one of the smallest flat blade screwdrivers in a good set of jewlers screwdrivers almost always works just as well too.


There are a few more, but the above are the most popular. Yes, I have the high dollar ones in the shop, but we also have a bunch of the hacksaw blade homeade ones on the tech's benches as well. Cheap, disposable, and easily modified...and as seems to be the norm - when you really need that tool and can't find one, you just make something else work!

Just my 2 cents as usual...but when you have a pin you need removed and no official tool, then necessity is the mother of creativity on these types of projects!

Cheers,
Stein.[/
 
Removing molex pins with hacksaw blade.

Thanks to Stein and everyone else who helped me with this small problem, the hacksaw blade worked perfectly, I can now start scratching my head as I start working on the wiring again, and to think I had a full head of hair when I started this project.

Ken Boyd
 
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