A pin extractor! My kingdom for a pin extractor!

[MacGyver]

I gotta admit that I signed up here for basically one question - at least for now. I'm sure I'll eventually get deeper into solar and run into more issues, but for now, there's one burning question. Does anyone know where to get a 4mm pin extractor? (yep - red for burning) This has been driving me crazy. I'm pretty handy with tools across a wide range of fields, doing electrical, plumbing, carpentry and and computer repair, so I'm used to having tools for just about everything. What amazes me, with the advancement of solar energy everywhere, and all the associated companies out there, I've yet to find anyone who sells a pin extractor for MC4 connectors. Every tool kit I see has the usual stuff - a stripper, a couple of screwdrivers, the crimpers, etc. But no one has a pin extractor???

[Ben25]

I've never seen one... Just cut it off and crimp on a new one.

[MacGyver]

I've never seen one... Just cut it off and crimp on a new one.

I would have thought it obvious that that's what I'm trying to avoid.

[Mike90250]

I think as part of the UL rating, the device is a "whole unit" you cant buy a blade for a wall plug, you just replace the plug. Even the $50, 440V-30A plugs.

There are MC4 disconnect tools, to unlock and separate the male/female half's.

[SunEagle]

I think as part of the UL rating, the device is a "whole unit" you cant buy a blade for a wall plug, you just replace the plug. Even the $50, 440V-30A plugs.

There are MC4 disconnect tools, to unlock and separate the male/female half's.

I saw pictures of both the Male and Female MC4 connectors and it looks like they can come apart by unscrewing the coupling in the back. Unless these are cheap knockoffs.

MC4 Male connector 150124192.ubPuL4bS.jpgMC4 Female Connector 150124190.DrAWdDHQ.jpg

[MacGyver]

I think as part of the UL rating, the device is a "whole unit" you cant buy a blade for a wall plug, you just replace the plug. Even the $50, 440V-30A plugs.

There are MC4 disconnect tools, to unlock and separate the male/female half's.

I don't think the blade for a wall plug analog applies here since MC4 connectors are sold in parts, with the pins to be crimped on and clicked into place. In putting one of my systems together, I'd inadvertently put the wrong pin in a housing and figured there had to be an extraction tool just like those used for Molex connectors. I just can't imagine there isn't an equivalent for people in the installation industry who run into the same problem.

[MacGyver]

I saw pictures of both the Male and Female MC4 connectors and it looks like they can come apart by unscrewing the coupling in the back. Unless these are cheap knockoffs.

The backshells can be unscrewed but the pins remain clicked into place.

[SunEagle]

The backshells can be unscrewed but the pins remain clicked into place.

I just noticed the little metal "fins" on the Male pin. They must get captured once it is pushed into the body plug. That sucks.

[MacGyver]

I just noticed the little metal "fins" on the Male pin. They must get captured once it is pushed into the body plug. That sucks.

That's how they're like Molex connectors and other types of industrial power connectors. The extraction tools for these types of pins are basically a thin, rigid metal sleeve that goes around the pin to compress those fins. That allows them to be removed. Unfortunately, they have to be manufactured to match individual pin sizes, in the case of MC4s, 4mm.

[sensij]

Have you tried a standard 3.6 mm extractor and found that it is too small? That is the size for a #8 pin, which would typically be used on 10 AWG wire. Next standard size up is #4, which is 5.7 mm, probably too big.

The documentation provided by Amphenol for their Helios connector (H4) explicitly says that the pin connection is not reversible once locked. Multi-Contact's system is probably similar, based on the fact that neither sells an extraction tool.

Edit: I'm using the word "standard" loosely, since there are lots of combinations possible.

[inetdog]

I don't think the blade for a wall plug analog applies here since MC4 connectors are sold in parts, with the pins to be crimped on and clicked into place. In putting one of my systems together, I'd inadvertently put the wrong pin in a housing and figured there had to be an extraction tool just like those used for Molex connectors. I just can't imagine there isn't an equivalent for people in the installation industry who run into the same problem.

The other reason for wanting to extract a pin is if you got out of order and attached your MC4 connector before running the wire through a tight space.
I am afraid there may not be a practical way to extract the pin. You could destroy the rest of the connector, I suppose. But if you have the wrong pin in a housing that will not gain you much over redoing the connection completely. Unless you are very short on wire length.

[MacGyver]

Have you tried a standard 3.6 mm extractor and found that it is too small? That is the size for a #8 pin, which would typically be used on 10 AWG wire. Next standard size up is #4, which is 5.7 mm, probably too big.

The documentation provided by Amphenol for their Helios connector (H4) explicitly says that the pin connection is not reversible once locked. Multi-Contact's system is probably similar, based on the fact that neither sells an extraction tool.

Edit: I'm using the word "standard" loosely, since there are lots of combinations possible.

The metal I've seen on other extractors doesn't have much give to it. By necessity, they're very thin and very rigid and I don't imagine that even a slightly smaller tool would stretch enough to accommodate a larger pin. I'd seen extractors crack quite a bit and pretty easily when I worked at a defense plant, doing cable assemblies. Extractors are also typically expensive, probably in part due to their being specialized tools. I can't see spending money on a 3.6 mm tool just in case it works.

I looked at Amphenol's connector online. Their pins don't appear to have the same little flap to secure their pins as mine - and most others, I believe. Amphenol's definitely looks like it's locked in for good.

[thastinger]

Tried a coffee stirrer or some other straw close to size? Should work if you can get the tension off the locking fins first.

[MacGyver]

Tried a coffee stirrer or some other straw close to size? Should work if you can get the tension off the locking fins first.

I like the way you think. But my friends didn't give me the nickname MacGyver for nothing.
Yeah - I searched for straws, slivers of metal, plastic, whatever I could find in my bins and bins of spare parts but nothing's fit the bill yet.

[bcroe]

I gotta admit that I signed up here for basically one question - at least for now. I'm sure I'll eventually get deeper into solar and run into more issues, but for now, there's one burning question. Does anyone know where to get a 4mm pin extractor? (yep - red for burning) This has been driving me crazy. I'm pretty handy with tools across a wide range of fields, doing electrical, plumbing, carpentry and and computer repair, so I'm used to having tools for just about everything. What amazes me, with the advancement of solar energy everywhere, and all the associated companies out there, I've yet to find anyone who sells a pin extractor for MC4 connectors. Every tool kit I see has the usual stuff - a stripper, a couple of screwdrivers, the crimpers, etc. But no one has a pin extractor???

I looked at that early on; my conclusion is you are SOL. MC4s have a tough job and need to
be cheap. Guess they decided it was too much to make the pins not interchange. Bruce Roe