John S01
Aluminum
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2017
- Location
- Sunnyvale CA
Scissio Controls - Products sells a modular 10ee module box replacement that requires you to remove your original 24 pin connector and attach it to their module box replacement. It also uses the four alignment pins in the back of the module box, and the black metal box itself with the alignment rod is used with the replacement.
I think some of us might want to do this, but don't want to destroy our original module box in the process. I decided to make a replacement 24 pin connector and I was successful, so I would like to share this with you. I thought of offering to make them for a price, but after producing about five, I don't think anyone could pay the amount of money that could get me to spend the hours needed to make another one.
As Peter5322 has mentioned in a few posts on this forum the module box connector uses ELCO pins which are defunct. I searched and found a close substitute that is still available.
It is 25% smaller, but the mating surfaces are a perfect match with those on the monarch module box pins.
The part number for the EDAC/ELCO pins is 516-290-xxx. There are various forms of soldered connections you can see here:
https://www.mouser.com/Connectors/B...ectors/_/N-axj5h?Keyword=EDAC+516-290&FS=True
516-290-590 is the crimped version I used. You can buy an EDAC/ELCO Crimper for anywhere from $150 to $300 new.
I manually crimped them with needle nose pliers, but could not get a consistent diameter for the crimp ( which varied from 0.125" up to 0.160+" depending on how sloppy I was).
I found an ELCO 067515-01 crimper on ebay for $20 used and took a gamble on it, it worked perfectly. Using this tool, all of my crimps are smaller than the 0.121" diameter of the pin, so now I can make wired pins with a consistent diameter. This is important because you want the pins to fit into their holes securely while the holes are being filled with glue and it has hardened.
Crimp the connector to a one or two inch long 18 gage wire, this wire size creates the strongest connection for this size pin.
Using a 1/8" drill bit for metal machining did not make consistent hole sizes in plastic. The bit tended to heat up and melt the plastic occasionally. I bought some PLAS-Drill 1/8" bits that made consistent 0.125" holes for my connector. These holes were a little oversize, and made gluing the wired pins in place tricky because they tended to move before the glue hardened, and even using cyanoacrylate glue with an activator needed a lot of patience. You want the pin+wire to dig in and hold position while filling the hole with glue. I bought some 3.1 mm drills (0.122") to drill a hole that these pins will lock securely into, but haven't tried one yet.
The pins with wire attached should stick up to a height of 0.300" above the surface of the connector.
Here is how to make the connector.
Use plastic in the shape of 2.7" x 1.4" x 5/8"
Any of these dimensions can be a bit shorter and maybe longer, but there is a limit to fit into the module box opening.
Create a step on each side of the 2.7" dimension of 0.150" depth that is 0.400" wide. These steps will need to be drilled to hold a support bolt on each side. Put a through hole (size 0.250") 2.375" apart centered on the Y axis. See your original connector to see the support bolt holes if I'm confusing you.
In the face of the connector, which is 1.9" x 1.4" drill 4 rows of 6 holes/row for a total of 24 holes. Start at y=0.160", x=200" from the top left of the face and drill holes of about 0.125" diameter through the connector. The offset for each hole is 0.296" on the x axis and 0.354" for the y axis. Just look at the picture at Connector Face, it wears me out trying to describe this.
Take your 24 pins and feed them through the connector so they stick out 0.300" tall.
Orient them like you see them on the back of your module box (each row 90 degrees opposite of each other) and glue them in place. I used cyanoacrylate glue and it didn't stick completely. It delaminated somewhat, but my connector works fine and looks crummy. Connector Face
Connector Rear
To drill the center hole for the alignment rod (connected to the dial you spin to remove the module box), attach the connector you made to the tube board, then pull down the tube board and remove the support that holds the alignment pin coupling nut by pushing out on the two supports (see picture at https://photos.app.goo.gl/2ph3SY1bYAzNtyti9). Drill it out from that side, I think it is about 0.160" but I can't remember, just measure your alignment rod.
Also, you need four alignment pins, if you want to make them, they are made of 3/16" OD rod 0.700" long with 0.325" of that threaded 8-32 with a screwdriver slot on the other end.
As to the scissio.com module replacement, it works great, highly recommended. Tim Jones is a great person, communicates well, and ships fast.
I think some of us might want to do this, but don't want to destroy our original module box in the process. I decided to make a replacement 24 pin connector and I was successful, so I would like to share this with you. I thought of offering to make them for a price, but after producing about five, I don't think anyone could pay the amount of money that could get me to spend the hours needed to make another one.
As Peter5322 has mentioned in a few posts on this forum the module box connector uses ELCO pins which are defunct. I searched and found a close substitute that is still available.
It is 25% smaller, but the mating surfaces are a perfect match with those on the monarch module box pins.
The part number for the EDAC/ELCO pins is 516-290-xxx. There are various forms of soldered connections you can see here:
https://www.mouser.com/Connectors/B...ectors/_/N-axj5h?Keyword=EDAC+516-290&FS=True
516-290-590 is the crimped version I used. You can buy an EDAC/ELCO Crimper for anywhere from $150 to $300 new.
I manually crimped them with needle nose pliers, but could not get a consistent diameter for the crimp ( which varied from 0.125" up to 0.160+" depending on how sloppy I was).
I found an ELCO 067515-01 crimper on ebay for $20 used and took a gamble on it, it worked perfectly. Using this tool, all of my crimps are smaller than the 0.121" diameter of the pin, so now I can make wired pins with a consistent diameter. This is important because you want the pins to fit into their holes securely while the holes are being filled with glue and it has hardened.
Crimp the connector to a one or two inch long 18 gage wire, this wire size creates the strongest connection for this size pin.
Using a 1/8" drill bit for metal machining did not make consistent hole sizes in plastic. The bit tended to heat up and melt the plastic occasionally. I bought some PLAS-Drill 1/8" bits that made consistent 0.125" holes for my connector. These holes were a little oversize, and made gluing the wired pins in place tricky because they tended to move before the glue hardened, and even using cyanoacrylate glue with an activator needed a lot of patience. You want the pin+wire to dig in and hold position while filling the hole with glue. I bought some 3.1 mm drills (0.122") to drill a hole that these pins will lock securely into, but haven't tried one yet.
The pins with wire attached should stick up to a height of 0.300" above the surface of the connector.
Here is how to make the connector.
Use plastic in the shape of 2.7" x 1.4" x 5/8"
Any of these dimensions can be a bit shorter and maybe longer, but there is a limit to fit into the module box opening.
Create a step on each side of the 2.7" dimension of 0.150" depth that is 0.400" wide. These steps will need to be drilled to hold a support bolt on each side. Put a through hole (size 0.250") 2.375" apart centered on the Y axis. See your original connector to see the support bolt holes if I'm confusing you.
In the face of the connector, which is 1.9" x 1.4" drill 4 rows of 6 holes/row for a total of 24 holes. Start at y=0.160", x=200" from the top left of the face and drill holes of about 0.125" diameter through the connector. The offset for each hole is 0.296" on the x axis and 0.354" for the y axis. Just look at the picture at Connector Face, it wears me out trying to describe this.
Take your 24 pins and feed them through the connector so they stick out 0.300" tall.
Orient them like you see them on the back of your module box (each row 90 degrees opposite of each other) and glue them in place. I used cyanoacrylate glue and it didn't stick completely. It delaminated somewhat, but my connector works fine and looks crummy. Connector Face
Connector Rear
To drill the center hole for the alignment rod (connected to the dial you spin to remove the module box), attach the connector you made to the tube board, then pull down the tube board and remove the support that holds the alignment pin coupling nut by pushing out on the two supports (see picture at https://photos.app.goo.gl/2ph3SY1bYAzNtyti9). Drill it out from that side, I think it is about 0.160" but I can't remember, just measure your alignment rod.
Also, you need four alignment pins, if you want to make them, they are made of 3/16" OD rod 0.700" long with 0.325" of that threaded 8-32 with a screwdriver slot on the other end.
As to the scissio.com module replacement, it works great, highly recommended. Tim Jones is a great person, communicates well, and ships fast.
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