Making my own sleeved cables for PicoPSU?

U

Ulti

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 11, 2010
Messages
189
Well I just bought an Antec ISK-100 and I tried to sleeve the cables but I've already broken two and the metal connectors are stuck in the black ATX plug so I guess I'm going to have to make my own cable.

Now I want to make the same sort of cables that it originally had so that means I would have to make something from a 18 pin ATX connector to a 24pin ATX + 12V 4pin ATX + 2x SATA connectors. Would this be easily doable? Because I've not really got any choice now that I've got metal connectors stuck in the original PSU cables.

I've looked at MDPC-X (where I bought my sleeving and heatshrink and ATX cable remover) but their crimp set is too expensive.

I've from the UK so any suggestions/guides on what I need would be great.

From looking at this guide it seems I should buy 18 gauge wire for all the cables? I notice that the cables I broke were the grey, green ones which were thinner than usual, are 18 gauge wires suitable for this?

EDIT:

I found some crimp tools for about a quarter of MDPC-X price, would any of these be suitable:
1. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CRIMP-TOO...rkingTools_Accessories_SM&hash=item4cf99b5b00
2. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Modular-d...rkingTools_Accessories_SM&hash=item519aa54781
3. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ratchet-C...827?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item43a5d7892b
 
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None of those crimp tools would be suitable. Crimp tools are generally designed for a specific connector or family of connectors (there are some with interchangable jaws but they don't come cheap).

E37 for a crimp tool and a load of pins sounds very reasonable to me.

Crimping takes a little practice to get the hang of, expect to screw up a few pins initially.
 
Thing is, the case itself was only £63, so spending €37+9 on a crimp tool + more on a wire stripper etc doesn't sound very cost efficient to me. Guess I'll have to contact Antec for a set of replacement cables for now until I can afford to buy the crimp tool, wires, wire stripper etc.
 
I have used cheap crimpers and they suck, period.

The MDPC-X tool is by far the best of the best. I bought one and each and every crimp is 100% correct.

The price is well worth it.

That said i buy all my sleeve, heatsink and contacts from MDPC-X. I like making my own cables, mostly because I get to decide what gauge the wire is, what colors to use, and what length is best for the application.:D

I use 16 gauge wire for ATX and 18 gauge for everthing else.
 
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May I ask why you prefer 16 gauge wire for ATX and 18 gauge for everything else?
 
Ulti said:
May I ask why you prefer 16 gauge wire for ATX and 18 gauge for everything else?
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Larger gauge wire for the PSU current and demands. Lot of amperage flowing through those wires.:cool:
Most PSU ATX and CPU wire is 16 gauge. Most everything else(PCI-e,SATA,molex) is 18 gauge.
 
Then shouldn't I use 18 gauge wire for the ATX for my use as it's sort of a Pico PSU and so I won't have many cables so I might as well right?
 
Ulti said:
Then shouldn't I use 18 gauge wire for the ATX for my use as it's sort of a Pico PSU and so I won't have many cables so I might as well right?
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You can use up to 20g wire for the Pico PSU, considering it's not putting out much more than 50w.
 
What has g got to do with the output? I thought magoo said I should use larger g for the high amperage flows. But what you suggest seems to be the opposite of what magoo suggests.

By the way, what is the 18 pin ATX connector on the PicoPSU (or whatever PSU it is) called? I can't find any of them for sale and mine has 2 broken metal pins stuck inside them so I don't think I can reuse it.
 
Well the ATX connectors are molex "mini-fit JR" connectors (or clones thereof). You can get the connectors from that range in pretty much any pin count you want and I suspect that is what the PSU vendor has done (it's possible they have commisioned a similar but incompatible connector but IMO it's unlikely)

http://www.molex.com/molex/products...utoNav=1&sType=s&filter=&fs=&channel=Products

http://uk.farnell.com/molex/39-01-2...ch=rel_1&matchedProduct=39012185&Ntt=39012185

Unfortunately the only places that will stock the sizes that aren't in common PC use are the large electronics vendors and they tend to have fairly substantial minimum order values and/or don't like dealing with individuals (farnell are happy to deal with individuals but the £20 minimum for credit card orders gets a bit annoying).

Your best bet may be to get a normal ATX shell from a PC modding supplier and cut it down to size (make sure you plug it in first so you know where to cut to make the keying work). The locking tab probablly won't match up but frankly mini-fit connectors are stiff enough that a locking tab isn't really needed.

What has g got to do with the output? I thought magoo said I should use larger g for the high amperage flows. But what you suggest seems to be the opposite of what magoo suggests.
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american wire gauge is confusing in that a larger number means a smaller wire.
 
Ah so that's how it works. Well I'm gonna see how my RMA with Antec goes. If they send me a new cable kit I'm just gonna stick with the multicoloured cables for now and try do something later but I've got uni in 2 weeks so I don't think I will have time to bother... I really wanted to make my last PC a work of art though but unfortunately it seems it won't be happening :(
 
Well Antec have decided to send me the cables for free even though I insisted on paying! Great support from Antec!

Guess I won't need to be buying cables anymore, I'm gonna give up on it and just stick with the stock cables.
 
well im glad you got everything sorted out great antec support makes me want a antec product now
 
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