DIY PCI-e cables for S5, S7, R4 and S7 ASIC

[unsoindovo]

Hi all!
I need to assembly 1000 PCI-e 6pin cables, 60cm long [24 "] to use with S9 ASIC.
Some one can share info about where to buy connectors and cables
And what it is Necessary to assembbly it?
I think, i need crimping tools .. but wich type?
I think to use 15 AWG, 1.65mm2 cables ...
It is enough
or it is too thin?

thank you all.

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[sidehack]

Where are you located? I custom manufacture 6-pin PCIe cables using 16AWG wire (and other things - splitters, extenders, 8-pin/6+2 pin, 4-pin Molex etc with 16 and 18AWG) if you want to PM me for a bid. I'm in the US.

If you're talking about a cable with 6-pin on both ends you're looking at 12 pins per cable so 12,000 pins. Unless you buy a press, if you're just using hand crimpers that'll take weeks. Before I had a pin press I could reliably expect about 500 cables in a 40-hour week if your hand didn't cramp up and fall off first. That's if you have wire already cut and stripped; this takes much longer than pinning to do by hand.

[unsoindovo]

Where are you located? I custom manufacture 6-pin PCIe cables using 16AWG wire (and other things - splitters, extenders, 8-pin/6+2 pin, 4-pin Molex etc with 16 and 18AWG) if you want to PM me for a bid. I'm in the US.

If you're talking about a cable with 6-pin on both ends you're looking at 12 pins per cable so 12,000 pins. Unless you buy a press, if you're just using hand crimpers that'll take weeks. Before I had a pin press I could reliably expect about 500 cables in a 40-hour week if your hand didn't cramp up and fall off first. That's if you have wire already cut and stripped; this takes much longer than pinning to do by hand.

i'm in EU...
can you indicate me some e-seller?
Wath do you mean for "press"
can you share some pics???

[sidehack]

I don't know any cable manufacturers in Europe. I've shipped to Europe before.

A press is a machine for crimping pins. Pins come on a reel, put the wire in the right place and hit the pedal and it crimps the pin and advances to the next one on the reel. Not a small investment but definitely speeds things up. If I had enough wire on hand I could make your cables in 3 days.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

@ Sidehack re: wire
My fav source is http://www.weicowire.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=184_50_187
Good pricing and excellent delivery time for most types. Amazing how fast one can go through 5k-ft spools eh?

[agentcash]

I still hand crimp, but an automated cutting/stripping machine was a lifesaver. Something like $900 on ebay. Cuts more wire in 10 minutes than I could in 10 days, and now all my wires are the same length!

Make sure you swap out the feed cone to the right size if you're using 16 awg. Mine kept jamming when I first got it and it turned out the cone was too small.
.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Also when specing cables: we assume Female for the miner end but is the other end stripped/tinned or terminated with Male or Female PCIe plugs?

[sidehack]

I buy through a local electrical supply outfit. Good to support local economy, I don't mind paying a bit more because of that, and sometimes I get advice on things from the guys working there. It was nice to get a second opinion on things when I was figuring out the 400A 3ph service upgrade at the shop to expand hosting a while back.

I've got enough wire on hand for about 1100 cables of my standard 18" length, but for 24" a restock is necessary.

I was also lucky last summer to find a 30-odd year old crimp press in need of maintenance about 100 miles away. Picked it up, rebuilt the clutch and a new drive belt, bought some used tooling and have probably run 50,000 pins through it since then. Compared to hand crimping, it feels like cheating. Now if only I could find a good way to do sheathing. People keep asking for sheathed cables but putting on sheath without the ends fraying, and heatshrinking both ends, takes every bit twice as long as all the other assembly steps combined.

[agentcash]

@ Sidehack re: wire
My fav source is http://www.weicowire.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=184_50_187
Good pricing and excellent delivery time for most types. Amazing how fast one can go through 5k-ft spools eh?

Any tips on the wire choices? I've been buying 16 AWG PVC coated off amazon, but I notice they have 500ft THHN for ~$22. That's about a third of what I've been paying, but it does have a thinner jacket.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

@ Sidehack re: wire
My fav source is http://www.weicowire.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=184_50_187
Good pricing and excellent delivery time for most types. Amazing how fast one can go through 5k-ft spools eh?

Any tips on the wire choices? I've been buying 16 AWG PVC coated off amazon, but I notice they have 500ft THHN for ~$22. That's about a third of what I've been paying, but it does have a thinner jacket.

Jacket thickness only affects voltage rating and and durability.  As long as the voltage rating is good and you are not abusing the wires (crushing, abrading against edges, etc.) thin jackets is fine. Aside from that, the number of strands matters and can affect price as well as the wire stiffness with fewer/bigger strands (eg MTW or building wire) being stiffer/cheaper than hookup wire.

[unsoindovo]

@ Sidehack re: wire
My fav source is http://www.weicowire.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=184_50_187
Good pricing and excellent delivery time for most types. Amazing how fast one can go through 5k-ft spools eh?

if i read well they are in NY..
try to ask some quote for stuff+shipment...
thankyou NotFuzzyWarm

[unsoindovo]

I still hand crimp, but an automated cutting/stripping machine was a lifesaver. Something like $900 on ebay. Cuts more wire in 10 minutes than I could in 10 days, and now all my wires are the same length!

Make sure you swap out the feed cone to the right size if you're using 16 awg. Mine kept jamming when I first got it and it turned out the cone was too small.
.

can you share some brand/model plz.... i'm completely new in this things...
but if the price is under 1000$ could be a good deal!

[unsoindovo]

@ Sidehack re: wire
My fav source is http://www.weicowire.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=184_50_187
Good pricing and excellent delivery time for most types. Amazing how fast one can go through 5k-ft spools eh?

Any tips on the wire choices? I've been buying 16 AWG PVC coated off amazon, but I notice they have 500ft THHN for ~$22. That's about a third of what I've been paying, but it does have a thinner jacket.

a think leave AWG standard could be dangerous for the farm security against flames....
but i repeat.. i'm not an authority here...

[NotFuzzyWarm]

AWG or CM only apply to the wire core(s) diameter and has nothing to do with the insulation. The wire ref'd above all meet UL and CSA flammability standards within their voltage and temperature use ranges

[unsoindovo]

AWG or CM only apply to the wire core(s) diameter and has nothing to do with the insulation. The wire ref'd above all meet UL and CSA flammability standards within their voltage and temperature use ranges

thank you to inform me...
i repeat... i'm not an authority here...
no experience to suggest... with some sellers on alibaba or aliexpress??
can you share some dealer?
just to compare price and quality with http://www.weicowire.com...

[NotFuzzyWarm]

AWG or CM only apply to the wire core(s) diameter and has nothing to do with the insulation. The wire ref'd above all meet UL and CSA flammability standards within their voltage and temperature use ranges

thank you to inform me...
i repeat... i'm not an authority here...
no experience to suggest... with some sellers on alibaba or aliexpress??
can you share some dealer?
just to compare price and quality with http://www.weicowire.com...

Weico is not a reseller - They are a manufacturer of wire just like Belden, Carol Cable, and Alpha who are the major makers of wire/cable for the world. With them you know exactly what you are getting. Only difference is that Weico also does direct sales vs using only distributors.

[unsoindovo]

AWG or CM only apply to the wire core(s) diameter and has nothing to do with the insulation. The wire ref'd above all meet UL and CSA flammability standards within their voltage and temperature use ranges

thank you to inform me...
i repeat... i'm not an authority here...
no experience to suggest... with some sellers on alibaba or aliexpress??
can you share some dealer?
just to compare price and quality with http://www.weicowire.com...

Weico is not a reseller - They are a manufacturer of wire just like Belden, Carol Cable, and Alpha who are the major makers of wire/cable for the world. With them you know exactly what you are getting. Only difference is that Weico also does direct sales vs using only distributors.

ok i understand...
Weico can sell to private/final users too!!!

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Yes.
The only 'difficult' part is sorting through the specs you want as they make many different kinds of and often specialized wire and cable. Generally just standard flame-retardant 300V 80-105deg-C PCV hookup wire is fine for low voltage work in dry, oil-free areas.

Usually the thinner insulation's are found on semi-flexible wire made of fewer but thicker strands of copper. Look for something like Weico's # 3016 http://www.weicowire.com/image/pdf/hookupwire/UL1007%20SPEC.pdf which has 26 strands of 30ga copper in it so is rather flexible.

For the number of cables you want and the amount/cost of the wire used you must pay attention to these details...

[sidehack]

I stock Belden wire, but that one looks like the same specs.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

@ Sidehack re: wire
My fav source is http://www.weicowire.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=184_50_187
Good pricing and excellent delivery time for most types. Amazing how fast one can go through 5k-ft spools eh?

Any tips on the wire choices? I've been buying 16 AWG PVC coated off amazon, but I notice they have 500ft THHN for ~$22. That's about a third of what I've been paying, but it does have a thinner jacket.

As I posted ^ the thinner insulation usually means the wire is semi-flexible and has thicker strands in it so verify the strand count. For 16ga hookup wire 26/30 (26 strands of 30ga) is good and flexible.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

I stock Belden wire, but that one looks like the same specs.

Probably is. as Weico naturally has cross-references to most of what Belden and the other major mfgrs make. Difference is we don't pay for the distributor markup

They are more than happy to mail you some samples to verify the wire characteristics before placing a large order.

[agentcash]

I ordered a few spools to see how it compares. Thanks for the help.

can you share some brand/model plz.... i'm completely new in this things...
but if the price is under 1000$ could be a good deal!

This looks very similar to the machine I have. There is another listing on ebay that is about $60 cheaper, but there was only one left.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/110V-Automatic-Computer-Wire-Peeling-Stripping-Cutting-Machine-0-1-8-mm2-/331156485839

be prepared to experiment with it, as the buttons on mine are in chinese and the instructions were useless translations.


It's been so long since I bought a reel of pins I can't remember where I got them.
The PCIe connectors I got from Heilind - https://estore.heilind.com/45559-0002/MOL45559-0002.html
The crimper from Pololu - https://www.pololu.com/product/1928  (I think that's the same crimper, it's been a few years)

Edit: You can find distributors for the parts you need from this page: http://www.molex.com/molex/products/family?key=minifit_plus_connector_system&channel=products&chanName=family&pageTitle=Introduction&parentKey=minifit_products

[unsoindovo]

I ordered a few spools to see how it compares. Thanks for the help.

can you share some brand/model plz.... i'm completely new in this things...
but if the price is under 1000$ could be a good deal!

This looks very similar to the machine I have. There is another listing on ebay that is about $60 cheaper, but there was only one left.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/110V-Automatic-Computer-Wire-Peeling-Stripping-Cutting-Machine-0-1-8-mm2-/331156485839

be prepared to experiment with it, as the buttons on mine are in chinese and the instructions were useless translations.


It's been so long since I bought a reel of pins I can't remember where I got them.
The PCIe connectors I got from Heilind - https://estore.heilind.com/45559-0002/MOL45559-0002.html
The crimper from Pololu - https://www.pololu.com/product/1928  (I think that's the same crimper, it's been a few years)

Edit: You can find distributors for the parts you need from this page: http://www.molex.com/molex/products/family?key=minifit_plus_connector_system&channel=products&chanName=family&pageTitle=Introduction&parentKey=minifit_products

@NotFuzzyWarm and @agentcash
thank you a lot for the support!!!
i really appreciate it!!!

[unsoindovo]

I'm surrounded by one hour at the Molex site...
Incredible, how many parts what they look identical, have differnt uses...
this seems all the same PCI-e 2 row 6pin female pins
but what is used with PCI-e power cables???
no code are printed in my PSU standard cables...
so, how to understand..
http://www.molex.com/molex/products/listview.jsp?channel=products&fs=category:Crimp%20Housings,productname:%22mini-fit%20jr*%22,application:wire-to-wire,gender:or(female||receptacle),numberofrows:2&sType=z
and i found flammability standard too...
UL 94 -0 ,1 and 2...
googling i found http://web.rtpcompany.com/info/ul/ul94v012.htm
i think UL 94-0 is ok???

[agentcash]

Yeah it gets pretty complex with all the choices available. The part number for PCIe connector I use is 45559-0002, you can see it on the Heilind link

https://estore.heilind.com/45559-0002/MOL45559-0002.html

If you scroll way down that page there are the female pin terminals that go inside of it. They have many options as well, such as gold plating, etc. The cheapest option there looks like part # 39-00-0077 which is tin over copper plated brass.

https://estore.heilind.com/39-00-0077/MOL39-00-0077.html

Edit: After rereading your post, maybe you are asking what part plugs into the PSU itself? That tends to be proprietary by manufacturer of the PSU. Most of the people that I've seen making their own cables use server PSUs and choose their terminals based on what fits the blades or they direct solder.

[unsoindovo]

Yeah it gets pretty complex with all the choices available. The part number for PCIe connector I use is 45559-0002, you can see it on the Heilind link

https://estore.heilind.com/45559-0002/MOL45559-0002.html

If you scroll way down that page there are the female pin terminals that go inside of it. They have many options as well, such as gold plating, etc. The cheapest option there looks like part # 39-00-0077 which is tin over copper plated brass.

https://estore.heilind.com/39-00-0077/MOL39-00-0077.html

Edit: After rereading your post, maybe you are asking what part plugs into the PSU itself? That tends to be proprietary by manufacturer of the PSU. Most of the people that I've seen making their own cables use server PSUs and choose their terminals based on what fits the blades or they direct solder.

thank you agentcash!!!
now i'm deeping in weico site to choose wire...
then i ask fore some quote.
Do you Know if Weico have EU dealers?

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Do you Know if Weico have EU dealers?

No idea but if they do odds are it will cost more because any importer/reseller has to make money and that comes from their markup on reselling wire or other products.

Just ask Weico. On the website they do advertise international shipping but no doubt if shipping to the EU there will be VAT to be paid... That said, the cables certainly are a business expense so I assume your country lets it be a tax write-off no?

And I still think it would be faster/cheaper to just get the cables from Sidehack....

[unsoindovo]

And I still think it would be faster/cheaper to just get the cables from Sidehack....

i think it is my last choise...
DIY is not convenient :-(

[o_solo_miner]

If you like to look at this side:
http://de.rs-online.com/web/p/leiterplattensteckverbinder-gehause/2332769/

Sorry it is in german, but you can change it according to your country.

[unsoindovo]

If you like to look at this side:
http://de.rs-online.com/web/p/leiterplattensteckverbinder-gehause/2332769/

Sorry it is in german, but you can change it according to your country.

thank you for the tip...
but i confirm who is not convenient to home build cables..
For connectors, Heilind is more convenient:
https://estore.heilind.com/45559-0002/MOL45559-0002.html
but maybe, it is mor expensive for shipment...
I think RS have EU dealers too.

it is more convenient to buy cables from good sellers like sidehack or Finksy!

[sidehack]

For a big order like that I can give a pretty good discount. Message me if you want to talk details.

[agentcash]

For a big order like that I can give a pretty good discount. Message me if you want to talk details.

On a related note, you didn't happen to find a source for the Dell Z750P backplane connectors that was cheaper than multiple dollars each did you?

I remember last time I looked they were wanting $7 a piece or somewhere along those lines and didn't have any in stock, with a backorder time of months.

[sidehack]

No, it's pretty much a factory order part. $7 apiece is quite a bit more than I typically spent but then we bought several hundred at a time.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

If you like to look at this side:
http://de.rs-online.com/web/p/leiterplattensteckverbinder-gehause/2332769/

Sorry it is in german, but you can change it according to your country.

Those particular ones are not PCIe connectors. Same general family yes but not the correct ones.

The site shows the 3mm-pitch (pin spacing) version with a 5A rating and max wire size of 20ga -- too small.

The correct PCIe connectors as shown on https://estore.heilind.com/45559-0002/MOL45559-0002.html are 4.2mm pitch,  actually a 9A rating and up to 16ga.... Even the data sheet linked http://www.molex.com/molex/products/datasheet.jsp?part=active/0455590002_CRIMP_HOUSINGS.xml clearly states that is is PCIe (tm) and what they are for.

Just another reason that when it comes to large undertaking like 1,000 cables, unless you already have the know how, equipment, and time  to do it right, DIY is not ever really an option... Far better to pay for them pre-made by someone who has already done the homework and investment involved.

[unsoindovo]

Just another reason that when it comes to large undertaking like 1,000 cables, unless you already have the know how, equipment, and time  to do it right, DIY is not ever really an option... Far better to pay for them pre-made by someone who has already done the homework and investment involved.

i think this is the most impontant components!
I tried to diving into all this standard... wire and connectors, but if you have not a massive know how, you risk to loose time, money and if you do the wrong things, you risk to bust your miners...