Looking for a source of high quality (EZ-Hook/BusPirate) jumpers

[amaschas]

I recently bought a BusPirate 5, and it ended up coming with an auxiliary probe kit that partially solved an issue that has been driving me crazy for years. Namely, the dupont connectors used for every set of jumper wires I've owned does not really fit the pins in test hooks and probes designed to help interface to IC pins or hard to reach connectors such as the EZ-Hook. The connectors on this probe kit were very different, seemingly an exposed pin with a bit of heat shrink to prevent shorts.



I immediately started looking around for jumpers that used this connector style, but the closest thing I could find were these EZ-Hook products that are not only continuous linked sets with a minimum of 25, but also outrageously expensive. What I'm hoping to find is a set of multi-color jumper wires in the style of standard jumpers like these with dupont connectors, except with these higher quality connectors that offer a much tighter connection to various pins:



Failing that, I'm hoping maybe someone can point me to some similar connectors that would let me construct my own jumpers in this style. Any recommendations would be appreciated!

[rounin]

I'm pretty sure those are female Molex SL pins wrapped in heat shrink. 90% sure Saleae Logic used the same. Eg part Molex 16-02-0069 for a tin plated 24-30 AWG contact. Hand application tool is Molex 2002187000.

Expensive, but it crimps correctly 99% of the time first try and the wire/terminal pullout force is nice and high.

[tooki]

The gold standard in 0.1”-pitch is the Amphenol Mini-PV, the great-granddaddy of them all. The product line was once owned by DuPont, which is where the cheap Chinese “DuPont” connectors got the name (even though they aren’t actually clones of Mini-PV, but most likely the JST RE series, or Harwin M20. Unknown which of those came first.) The ultra-high-force variant of the Mini-PV contact holds extremely well, and according to Amphenol, the “PV” stands for “perpetual virgin”, because they’re designed for high mating cycles (1000, IIRC).

TE’s AMPMODU (MOD IV and MOD V, specifically) and Molex SL are also excellent, but not quite as good as Mini-PV.

Honorable mention goes to Harwin M20, which looks absolutely identical to Chinese DuPonts, but actually performs really well. They don’t loosen up after three cycles like the Chinese ones.

Mini-PV, AMPMODU, and M20 all offer 1-pin housings. (Though the Mini-PV one is grotesquely overpriced.) Molex SL does not, which one reason why you see them in heat shrink. The other is that many grabbers simply don’t have room around the pin for the 1-pin housing.

Most EZ-hook products (and clones) use a 0.025”/0.64mm square pin, and any of the contacts listed above will work for those, and I would not dissuade you from using Mini-PV, AMPMODU, SL, or M20.

But a grabber models use a 0.04”/1.02mm round pin. For those, you use a single female standard D-sub contact, with heat shrink. Those can be anything from the cheapest folded, stamped contacts, to $6-each mil-spec machined contacts with precision leaf springs or lantern-style internal spring contacts.

Finally, some grabbers (from other manufacturers) use a 0.5mm or 0.6mm round pin. 0.6mm ones will hold reasonably well in a socket for a 0.64mm square pin, but may be a tad looser. You can get nice sockets for both 0.5mm and 0.6mm from Mill-Max and Preci-Dip. Some of theirs are also expressly stated as being compatible with 0.64mm square pins. Expensive and durable, but retention force is not particularly high.

[shabaz]

The SL are usually reasonably priced too. Almost as good (but cheap!) are 2226TG, and with those, and heatshrink, and one of the older used tools, AMP 90202-2 (frequently available from ebay), the result is visually identical to those cables in the photo. I end up doing it more often than I want, because all my prototype boards rely on 0.1" header pins usually. Admittedly not very productive! since cables can be bought ready-made, but the DIY ones can be made to the exact size/color and (I feel) looks better! : )

[amaschas]

Thanks so much for the replies, this was all super helpful! I also managed to find these Schmartboard jumpers, which while a bit pricey seem like they might be along the lines of what I'm looking for: https://schmartboard.com/10-of-each-green-brown-grey-orange-and-purple-7-female-jumper-wires-with-200-headers-920-0214-50/

The 2226TG is particular interesting given the affordability of the crimper.

tooki: thanks for the detailed overview of the options and various pin sizes. Very much appreciated!

[tooki]

Thanks so much for the replies, this was all super helpful! I also managed to find these Schmartboard jumpers, which while a bit pricey seem like they might be along the lines of what I'm looking for: https://schmartboard.com/10-of-each-green-brown-grey-orange-and-purple-7-female-jumper-wires-with-200-headers-920-0214-50/

The 2226TG is particular interesting given the affordability of the crimper.

tooki: thanks for the detailed overview of the options and various pin sizes. Very much appreciated!

You're welcome!

I have a few Schmartboard jumpers and they appear to be high quality; I’m sure you’ll be happy with them.

[tooki]

The SL are usually reasonably priced too. Almost as good (but cheap!) are 2226TG, and with those, and heatshrink, and one of the older used tools, AMP 90202-2 (frequently available from ebay), the result is visually identical to those cables in the photo. I end up doing it more often than I want, because all my prototype boards rely on 0.1" header pins usually. Admittedly not very productive! since cables can be bought ready-made, but the DIY ones can be made to the exact size/color and (I feel) looks better! : )

We should make a note of the AMP 90202-2 in my big DuPont crimper thread, if it hasn’t been done already!

It’s an AMPMODU crimper,  and I can say from extensive personal experience with a newer (but lower-end!) AMPMODU crimper that they make excellent crimpers for a whole slew of small contacts, including AMPMODU (obviously), but also tons of DuPont clones, as well as Molex SL, KK254, and more.

They do work for Mini-PV — I’ve crimped dozens of them with mine — but you have to slightly close the insulation wings of the contact first, because Mini-PV comes with the insulation wings very wide open. (Original tools for Mini-PV have very, very wide “funnels” on the dies to guide in those wide wings.) Once thusly prepared, they then crimp perfectly.

The 2226TG is, as far as I can tell, identical to Harwin M20. (I have a mix of both at work; I can only tell them apart because of the labels on the bags.) I would, however, sooner suggest Harwin M20 over 2226TG for a simple reason: “house brands” like Farnell’s Multicomp Pro sometimes switch suppliers without changing model numbers or documentation, so potentially the quality can change on you. Harwin M20 costs pretty much the same, IIRC, so I see no point in taking a risk on a house brand, tiny as that risk may be.

[tooki]

I will add that while I love basic 0.1” header connectors for lashing together breadboards and modules, I’ve almost entirely stopped using them when I design my own PCBs or on soldered protoboard. For that, I use connectors with positive latching and polarity, so far mostly KK254 and JST XH.

KK254 is a much more tolerant contact, in regards to crimp tool selection and strip length, and has excellent mating cycle life. (It’s useless for jumpers because there is no single-pin housing, and the contacts cannot be used without a housing.)

JST XH is a more compact connector, especially in vertical clearance, but the contact is much pickier about the tool, since the crimp wings are so narrow. (The entire crimp width, for both conductor and insulation, is about 4mm!)

I’ve also started using Molex Micro-Fit, but only because I was able to snag the original tool for cheap. It’s also got a very narrow crimp area, as many newer connector designs seem to. (This is a 3mm pitch connector, so not a drop-in replacement as all of the above are.)

[amaschas]

Just to keep adding information as I find it for anyone searching for something like this in the future, this post was super informative: https://community.element14.com/technologies/test-and-measurement/b/blog/posts/making-0-1-jumper-cables---crimp-tools-tested