Loading…
7
Hit 1,000 harness terminations logged this week, had no idea until I checked my spreadsheet
Honestly I've been doing avionics bench work for about 5 years now, mostly on legacy regional jets. I keep a simple count of every D-sub pin I crimp and every coax connector I solder, just for my own records. This week I crossed 1,000 without even noticing. Ngl it felt weirdly big because my first 50 were garbage, I re-did probably 20 of them after my lead caught me using the wrong die on a 20 AWG. Now I check the crimp pull test on every single one. Is there a number that made you realize you actually knew what you were doing, or was it more of a single screwup that taught you faster? Has anyone else kept a personal log like that or am I just a spreadsheet nerd?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
leehall1mo ago
Man, I always figured the pin size was what picked the die, so this is a kick in the pants for me. I had it backwards for a while and just got lucky nobody caught it early on. Your point about the pin covering a range makes way more sense now that I read it out loud. The wire gauge deciding the die explains why my 24 AWG stuff always came out cleaner than the 20. Gonna go check my die chart again before my next batch because I bet I've been mixing this up without knowing.
4
reesej271mo ago
The 20 AWG die thing is a common mix-up but I want to clear something up: on most D-sub pins it's the wire gauge that picks the die, not the pin size. So a size 20 contact can take 20-24 AWG wire, and each gauge gets its own die in the tool. The pin itself is usually rated for a range. That wrong die probably still crimped it enough to look fine, which is why pull testing saved you. Good habit to keep.
0