Single Quick Disconnect for 6 wires

[markronz]

Hey guys, I have 6 wires that I need to be able to quickly disconnect.   I found things like this at radio shack.  These would be fine if there were just one wire, but there's 6.  I'd rather not have to use six of those, and have to manually unplug all six.   Does anyone have any recommendations as to what to use to quickly disconnect 6 wires?   I thought of using a molex connector, but I don't have any experience with how to wire those types of pins.   Does anyone know of any other alternatives that might be easy to use?   The gauge wire is 22.

Thanks!

[BadMouth]

I'm using a lot of these lately:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062448
(female side listed below it)

EDIT: They just crimp on the same as the spade terminals.  Then you shove the terminal in the block.  It's barbed, so it goes in and doesn't back out.

[Nephasth]

PM coming your way...

[thebyter]

You could solder (or otherwise connect) the six wires together and add a little pigtail to crimp the quick disconnect?

Edit: Sorry, I immediately assumed you were disconnecting the same signal (like a ground wire).  If that's not the case, of course, this won't work.  Ethernet Cat5 is 24 gauge, so a cheap solution might be to use 3 of the 4 pairs of wires and a common jack?

Just trying to make up for my poor assumption earlier.  8-)

[ed12]

I'm using a lot of these lately:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062448
(female side listed below it)

EDIT: They just crimp on the same as the spade terminals.  Then you shove the terminal in the block.  It's barbed, so it goes in and doesn't back out.

thats a molex plug
but your reply is correct
there simple easy to use

ed

[drventure]

You could use a hacked serial cable (or old style VGA cable, though they have more than 6 wires).

Just get a male to female cable, cut it and then the two ends will connect between your two endpoints. I've done the same thing with USB cables (just make sure you mark them that they aren't ACTUALLY serial/usb cables, wouldn't want to plug that into a real serial/usb port!).

[bkenobi]

Those connectors posted above are more arcade accurate, but you could always just go with a D-sub connector.  They are easy to find and fairly cheap.  The down side is that you will have to buy 2 connectors and a couple housings.

Solder:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102497
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102496

housings:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103993


Ooohhhh, a crimp style too...
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103805
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103806

[mgb]

Definitely +1 on the molex connectors. you can find them locally at Radio Shack and those connectors were typically used in arcade machines

[markronz]

Awesome guys!  Thanks so much for all the help.   I went to Radio Shack last night and looked at the types that were there that you had recommended.   I went with the molex type ones.  Since you can crimp all the wires and such, it seemed pretty easy to do.    Also since there's existing wires I'm using, I didn't need to hack a ethernet,  serial or VGA cable, however for future projects that definitely might come in handy!    The D-sub connectors are also a nice alternative to be aware of, because I'm sure you can use some bolts to actually screw the two sides together, whereas the molex ones dont really have anything holding the male and female parts together.  So the D-sub ones look more secure. 

Anyway, the molex ones should suit me just fine for this particular project.   Thanks for all the info which will be helpful for everything else in the future!

[lilshawn]

the molex ones dont really have anything holding the male and female parts together.

actually, they hold quite well. depending on the particular molex housing you decide to use, you will find most have a slight bump on one or more of the sides that fit into a corresponding hollow on the mating part. some even have a tab you must push to release the connection (much like the motherboard power connector) the metal molex connectors themselves are quite good even just holding themselves together, just try placing a pin and a socket pin together and see how hard it is to pull apart.

[Dervacumen]

+1 on the Molex connectors.
I've used the D-Sub and Molex for many different projects, and if you're looking for a quick, easy way to group together a less than 20 wires, I don't see any reason to use anything but Molex.  D-sub is nice and I used it for my first project because you can get a ton of connections, but they are small and harder to work with.

There are two common sizes of Molex so be sure to stick with one size to make it easier to repair and/or switch around parts.  For most of your travels I would suggest .062 because it crimps on to 20-22ga wire better than the larger size molex .093.  If you work with vintage arcade machines I've used a lot of the larger .093.  All of the wires I've used in MAME machines are between 18-22ga, with the exception of AC power.