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Help with Molex Pin Extractor

24.27.41.140
Posted on December 2, 2022 at 16:07:12
Triode_Kingdom
Audiophile

Posts: 10044
Location: Central Texas
Joined: September 24, 2006
 Does anyone know how this tool is supposed to remove female Molex pins? It works great for male pins, but the female pins are flared at the open end. Not only will the hollow tube not fit over the flare, but if it did, it would then be too large to compress the locking tabs at the bottom of the pin. This tool and others that appear similar are all advertised as able to remove male and female pins. WTH am I doing wrong?






 

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RE: Help with Molex Pin Extractor, posted on December 2, 2022 at 16:35:34
Alpha Al
Industry Professional

Posts: 2958
Location: N. Carolina
Joined: February 16, 2004
Contributor
  Since: December 3, 2015
 I have one. You have to force it over the fem pin. That doesn't hurt anything. it may even make the fem pin grip the male pin tighter.

 

Buy a better one!, posted on December 2, 2022 at 17:26:21
gusser
Audiophile

Posts: 3649
Location: So. California
Joined: September 6, 2006
 The tool you show is the cheap hobbyist version. I know, I have been there too. A better spring loaded extractor is available for both 0.062 and 0.093 Molex pins (albeit two separate tools) and does not cost a fortune.

 

RE: Buy a better one!, posted on December 2, 2022 at 20:08:16
Triode_Kingdom
Audiophile

Posts: 10044
Location: Central Texas
Joined: September 24, 2006
 Molex sells at least two tools for this. One is spring loaded, the other isn't. That doesn't look as though it has anything to do with the actual mechanics of fitment or compression of the locking tabs. Based on the factory instructional diagrams, the tube that slides over the pin doesn't appear to be any different than the one I have (Waldon). How can the tube compress the locking tabs if it has to be large enough to clear the flange on the female pin? The locking tabs for male and female pins are the same, and the tube that's the correct size to compress the tabs on the male pin simply doesn't fit over the flange on the female pins. I've been all over the pins and the tool with calipers, and it just makes no sense.




 

RE: Help with Molex Pin Extractor, posted on December 2, 2022 at 20:09:59
Triode_Kingdom
Audiophile

Posts: 10044
Location: Central Texas
Joined: September 24, 2006
 This tool can't be forced over the flange. The OD of the hollow tube is exactly the same as the OD of the flange. If I even went so far as to put it in a vise, it would only crush the pin.



 

Clarification, posted on December 2, 2022 at 21:35:27
Triode_Kingdom
Audiophile

Posts: 10044
Location: Central Texas
Joined: September 24, 2006
 Just to clarify, is this the exact same tool you have? It's clearly the wrong size for female pins in the .093" series. It appears to have been designed solely for the male pins, which have a smaller shank diameter. Waldom makes a more expensive version of this, but I have no way to know whether it's a different size. They look the same in the factory photo, but who knows?



Unfortunately, these companies don't have online CAD drawing showing the ID of the tube. That includes Molex. The exception is Eclipse, which sells a range of extractors. Unfortunately, Eclipse doesn't list the specific pin types that each extractor fits. Catch 22. I think it's the 0.122" extractor, but not sure.



Guess I could buy the Molex tool, but it's a lot more expensive than any of these, and I might not need this again for the next 10 years. Sure would save me a lot of anguish if I knew the ID that will extract both genders of these pins.

 

RE: Clarification, posted on December 3, 2022 at 12:49:32
Alpha Al
Industry Professional

Posts: 2958
Location: N. Carolina
Joined: February 16, 2004
Contributor
  Since: December 3, 2015
 The one I have looks like fig 5 except it has a red ball on the end.

I sometimes need to use a dental pick or jeweler's screwdriver to squeeze the fem contact down smaller in order for the tool to fit over the pin. They sometimes get spread out.

 

RE: Clarification, posted on December 3, 2022 at 20:18:20
Triode_Kingdom
Audiophile

Posts: 10044
Location: Central Texas
Joined: September 24, 2006
 "I sometimes need to use a dental pick or jeweler's screwdriver to squeeze the fem contact down smaller"

In my experiments, it was necessary to actually curl the flare over itself slightly for the tool to fit over it. Even then, the tool was extremely hard to push down over the pin, and the kicker was that the pin sometimes wouldn't release no matter how hard the tool was pushed down or wiggled around. The tool is about 0.110" inside, and my measurements indicate the shank of the female pin has an OD of about 0.124". Because of this, I'm convinced the Waldom tool with the white plastic ball is designed only to remove male pins. In fact, it works extremely well for that. I ordered the Eclipse extractor with an ID of 0.122" today. If it works, I'll follow up here.

 

Followup (Solution), posted on December 30, 2022 at 14:10:54
Triode_Kingdom
Audiophile

Posts: 10044
Location: Central Texas
Joined: September 24, 2006
 "I ordered the Eclipse extractor with an ID of 0.122" today. If it works, I'll follow up here."

The Eclipse tool never arrived. The seller gave me a BS explanation that could have kept me waiting months, so I cancelled. My local vendor was out of the Waldom "enhanced" W-HT-2038-P tool that's supposed to remove male and female pins, so I ordered a Philmore 61-390. This looks exactly like the Eclipse 902-394 I tried to order, and I suspect they're made in the same plant in Taiwan. The ID of the Philmore measures 0.120", and it just barely clears the flange of the female pins. It removes the pins, although it's more of a struggle and requires much more force than using the smaller "plastic ball" extractor on the male pins. Anyway, the problem is solved, and I can recommend the Philmore tool for this use.



 

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