Dupont Crimp Tool Tutorial

This Instructable describes how to crimp Dupont connectors on a wire without soldering.

A custom cable with 2 single male pins to 2 grouped female pins will be created step by step. (See the picture) This cable is not available in any store, so let's DIY with the right tools and components.

Dupont is also called Jumper Wire cables. They are low cost and used to connect hardware such as sensors, Arduino boards and breadboards together. The connectors are available in male and female with a 2.54mm (100mill) pitch.

Advantages of creating your own custom cables:

• Cheap.
• Solid connection.
• Custom cable length.
• Custom cable color.
• Easy to connect / disconnect hardware.
• Any combination of male / female connectors.
• Group male / female pins in one single connector with 1 to 8 pins.

Applications:

• Connect sensors to your Arduino board.
• Connect a breadboard to your Arduino board.
• Connect other hardware PCB's together.
• Wire hardware in a final product.
• Others.

Let's start and have fun!

Dupont housings are available in single pin or multiple pins (groups of 1 to 8 pins). Ready-made cables are also available, but it's cheaper to create your own cables.

The following components are needed for this custom male-female cable:

• 2x Dupont male.
• 2x Dupont female.
• 2x Single pin Dupont housing.
• 1x Dual pin Dupont housing.
• Two colored wires.
• Dupont crimp tool.

Dupont kit:

This Dupont starter kit contains male and female connectors with different housings:
http://www.banggood.com/310Pcs-2_54mm-Male-Female-Dupont-Wire-Jumper-With-Header-Connector-Housing-Kit-p-1063303.htm

Tools:
I use this Dupont crimp tool:

https://www.banggood.com/COLORS-SN-28B-Pin-Crimping-Tool-Crimping-Plier-Spring-Clamp-28-18AWG-Crimper-0_1-1_0mm2-Square-p-1249161.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN

Wires:
You can use:

• Individual wires such as LiY 18 x 0,1mm, 26 AWG
• Flat cable, for example:

http://www.banggood.com/5M-1_27mm-20P-DuPont-Cable-Rainbow-Flat-Line-Support-Wire-Soldered-p-959792.html

Note: A Banggood shipment takes about 2 to 6 weeks, but is very cheap.

Tip: It's valuable to buy the connectors in quantities of 100, 200 or even 1000 pins.

Other required tools:

• Wire cutter.
• Flat nose pliers.

Let's build the cable!

The first step is to cut wires with the same length.

Tip: Choose your favorite wire colors, such as:

• Black for ground.
• Red for power.
• Blue for negative power.
• Other colors for data.

Strip the wires on both sides with 4mm copper.

Use a nipper to cut a male or female header from the strip.

Keep the attachment at the end of the Dupont connector. The attachment will be used to position the connector in the crimp tool.

Place the stripped wire in the male or female Dupont connector.

The position is important: Click on the picture for additional comments.

Use a flat pliers to fold the pull relief. This is needed to keep the wire in the right position by placing the male/female connector with wire in the crimb tool. (Next step)

Note: You should not solder the wire.

1. Place the Dupont connector into the crimp tool with the copper side downwards.

2. Put the connector as far as possible until the attachment reaches the crimp tool.

3. Crimp the connector on the wire.

4. Remove the cable from the tool.

Note: Click on the pictures for additional comments.

Use a plier to remove the attachment at the back of the connector.

Mount the connector housing with the copper wires up and connector hole on top.

Congratulations! Now you can create your own low cost cables dedicated for your hardware by using the right tools and components.

Feel free to leave a comment with feedback or your success story. :-)
Thanks!