How to crimp this type of connector?

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I have a Microsoft Natural keyboard, which has an almost broken cable. The cable's outer isolation broke right outside the casing. Now I wanted to cut that part of the cable and simply solder the cable to the board (As I thought the cable was attached by soldering already).

However, as I opened the keyboard I saw that there is a connector which looks quite like this one:

enter image description here

Now I have a few questions. What are connectors like this called. I need the name to buy the right crimp tool. The housing of the connector could be reused, thus I only need the inner metallic parts for crimping. As this would have a very small diameter my question is if this might be the right tool?

enter image description here

A friend has this crimp tool but it would probably be of no use, as it is only for bigger cables. This one is here:

enter image description here

Has anyone any experience with this stuff? Or any suggestions of a nice and clean solution without a crimp tool? I'd be happy for any suggestions. If nothing works, I could still solder the cable to the board, but a connector is in my opinion the prettier solution.

Darokthar

Posted 2011-02-21T23:57:57.560

Reputation: 1 361

1I would solder it before I'd buy a crimping tool I'm likely to never use again, but that's me. – Shinrai – 2011-02-22T00:05:50.640

@Shinrai The tool would be about 18 bucks (I'd buy a cheap one not the one from the post g). That is cheaper than a new keyboard and i have missed the tool a few times before. I think it won't be the last time i use it. – Darokthar – 2011-02-22T00:16:08.800

Answers

4

It looks like a pretty standard 4 pin polarized molex interconnect. I do not think one actually crimps the connector, but rather crimps these contacts to the wires and slides them into the housing. I agree with Shinrai that it would be easier to splice in, and solder to the exposed wires in the picture.

Alex

Posted 2011-02-21T23:57:57.560

Reputation: 136

I worked with similar connectors before and this is the correct answer! Just be sure to orient the cables correctly before connecting the metal pieces. – AndrejaKo – 2011-02-22T00:43:30.857

@AndrejaKo thanks for the advise. Be sure, this is not the first time i mess around with cables and hardware. I just used soldering before but this time I'm really considering buying the crimp tool. – Darokthar – 2011-02-22T20:53:25.523

Asked: 2011-02-21T23:57:57.560

Viewed: 887 times

Active: 2016-03-05T22:10:32.790