Connector/Strain Relief

Little Bill

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Staff member
Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician
I was asked if I could repair or replace this connector. I only looked at it long enough to take pictures of it so I'm not sure if it can be repaired. I was wondering what type connector this is and if it needs some type strain relief. It is on a machine that magnetizes parts and the ring where the cord attaches is moved frequently.


 

Joethemechanic

Senior Member
Location
Hazleton Pa
Occupation
Electro-Mechanical Technician. Industrial machinery
It's a MagnaFlux coil used to magnetize parts to check for cracks. No idea who made the connector.
 

Joethemechanic

Senior Member
Location
Hazleton Pa
Occupation
Electro-Mechanical Technician. Industrial machinery
Old school method was to give the parts a bath in diesel fuel, then wash them with soapy water, then paint them with whitewash. The cracks will show right up.

As far as the connector goes, I've seen them with all kinds of different connections. Some are hard wired, and sometimes they have a foot switch connected to the coil by a separate cord. Yeah they get banged around a lot, so strain relief would help
 
Yes they can be repaired use a solder iron/ station not a solder gun.
Loosen the strain relief then the shell can be unscrewed providing access to the solder lugs.
I still use 60-40 rosencore solder I find it is better than the non lead types but that is my opinion.
I fill the pins with solder or tin the wires and with the wire in the pin fill with solder, both ways work.
Don’t overheat the pin you can melt the plastic.
For a nice clean job a short piece of heat shrink slipped up on the wire, when the solder cools slip the heat shrink down.

Oh to get the solder out of the pin heat it and smack it down on the work bench this will usually clear the pin, it sounds funny but adding a bit of fresh solder can help de soldering.
 

Todd0x1

Senior Member
Location
CA
Yes they can be repaired use a solder iron/ station not a solder gun.
Loosen the strain relief then the shell can be unscrewed providing access to the solder lugs.
I still use 60-40 rosencore solder I find it is better than the non lead types but that is my opinion.
I fill the pins with solder or tin the wires and with the wire in the pin fill with solder, both ways work.
Don’t overheat the pin you can melt the plastic.
For a nice clean job a short piece of heat shrink slipped up on the wire, when the solder cools slip the heat shrink down.

Oh to get the solder out of the pin heat it and smack it down on the work bench this will usually clear the pin, it sounds funny but adding a bit of fresh solder can help de soldering.
or it could be crimped.....
 

Todd0x1

Senior Member
Location
CA
This is a poor application of that connector -theyre not really made to be on handheld stuff that is moving all the time. I would retrofit a wire mesh cord grip onto the backshell (there are ones that terminate in two eyelets you put between the clamp halves) when repairing it, that should help your repair last longer. I'll also guess they pick this thing up by the cord.
 

Little Bill

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician
This is a poor application of that connector -theyre not really made to be on handheld stuff that is moving all the time. I would retrofit a wire mesh cord grip onto the backshell (there are ones that terminate in two eyelets you put between the clamp halves) when repairing it, that should help your repair last longer. I'll also guess they pick this thing up by the cord.
Not picturing what you are saying here.
 

Todd0x1

Senior Member
Location
CA
Not picturing what you are saying here.


The eyelets on the cord grip can go under the same screws that hold the cable grip together on the amphenol connector.

Now I have looked closer to your picture and it looks like the entire cord grip isn't there and there's a zip tie involved in strain relief. It's possible there's one that will screw onto the back of the connector's backshell. Printed along the side of the locking ring or insert on that connector there will be a number, might start with a M can you find that?
 

Little Bill

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Staff member
Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician

The eyelets on the cord grip can go under the same screws that hold the cable grip together on the amphenol connector.

Now I have looked closer to your picture and it looks like the entire cord grip isn't there and there's a zip tie involved in strain relief. It's possible there's one that will screw onto the back of the connector's backshell. Printed along the side of the locking ring or insert on that connector there will be a number, might start with a M can you find that?
That clears it up, I've never seen a strain relief like those. Ones I know about have connectors on the end.

I will take a closer look later. I just had Carpal Tunnel surgery and need to wait till I heal some.
Thanks!
 

Frank DuVal

Senior Member
Location
Fredericksburg, VA 21 Hours from Winged Horses wi
Occupation
Electrical Contractor, Electrical Engineer
Amphenol MS connector
Look closely at the connector and look for black ink part number. MS3106Xxx-xx S or P Should be an S, but some designers put power on pins rather than sockets.
or it could be crimped.....
Crimp pins in MS3106 / Series 97 Amphenol connectors are very rare. The ones I have seen were not the nice round pins/sockets of the MS3126 series, like the M39029 series, but the open barrel style.

Oh to get the solder out of the pin heat it and smack it down on the work bench this will usually clear the pin,
I usually drop them on the floor.😄 Clears the pins right out.

This is a poor application of that connector -theyre not really made to be on handheld stuff that is moving all the time.
I think our military would disagree.... ;) HA! Hey, it only moves when I use it...

I do like the Kellems grip with the eyelets to attach to the backshell screws. That should work better than the heat shrink backshells in this application, or the regular two screw clamp type that was on here.
 

augie47

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee
Occupation
State Electrical Inspector (Retired)
That clears it up, I've never seen a strain relief like those. Ones I know about have connectors on the end.

I will take a closer look later. I just had Carpal Tunnel surgery and need to wait till I heal some.
Thanks!
That would be a tough task to tackle for a while after CT surgery
 

Little Bill

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Tennessee NEC:2017
Occupation
Semi-Retired Electrician
UPDATE:
I have the connector off and found the following numbers.......
On the bottom part where the cord goes thru and has a place for a strain relief, the number is MS 3057-12A
On the barrel of the connector, the number is 97 3106A 22-2S

It is a 3-pin female

I tried the numbers at one site and they don't have pictures of what these numbers show. I don't want to order something and either get it wrong, or need other parts. I would like to get the whole asbly. I know the strain relief itself would be separate but not sure about the rest.

Help!
 

don_resqcapt19

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
retired electrician
UPDATE:
I have the connector off and found the following numbers.......
On the bottom part where the cord goes thru and has a place for a strain relief, the number is MS 3057-12A
On the barrel of the connector, the number is 97 3106A 22-2S

It is a 3-pin female

I tried the numbers at one site and they don't have pictures of what these numbers show. I don't want to order something and either get it wrong, or need other parts. I would like to get the whole asbly. I know the strain relief itself would be separate but not sure about the rest.

Help!
I thought that Amphenol had a Kellems type strain relief but did not find it in this catalog.
 

Shaneyj

Senior Member
Location
Katy, Texas
Occupation
Project Engineer
UPDATE:
I have the connector off and found the following numbers.......
On the bottom part where the cord goes thru and has a place for a strain relief, the number is MS 3057-12A
On the barrel of the connector, the number is 97 3106A 22-2S

It is a 3-pin female

I tried the numbers at one site and they don't have pictures of what these numbers show. I don't want to order something and either get it wrong, or need other parts. I would like to get the whole asbly. I know the strain relief itself would be separate but not sure about the rest.

Help!

Mil spec is made by several manufacturers. Bendix, amphenol, te connectivity to name a few.
3106 means straight plug. “A” means it’s meant for an overmolded backshell and 22-2s is the connector arrangement.
I have a cheat sheet somewhere. I’ll find it and link.
If you’re replacing you’ll probably want to go with an E or F in place of the A. Those have strain relief on the backshell.
I use mouser as my main supplier but octopart is cool cause it’ll show different vendors that have them in stock.
I mainly use amphenol and use bendix, etc as secondary.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Shaneyj

Senior Member
Location
Katy, Texas
Occupation
Project Engineer
File is too large to attach but here is a link to it.
Page 4 shows order code.
Page 5 shows connector arrangement.
Page 9 shows the shell style you have.
Page 23 is the E/F style shell I'd recommend as replacement.

Mouser link to your exact plug

I'd recommend this as replacement
 
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