Header cable repair Hmi plugs

[Niall Flynn]

Hello folks, 

I am currently trying to source hmi plugs for my strand 2500 watt and 1200 watt magnetic ballast lights. (2500w)I have bought a ballast and head both strand but the plugs don't screw together they are slightly different. I wanted to swop the plug on the ballast and the header cable to get them working together.  And my 1200 watt the plug just broke on the header cable. I am finding it hard to source new ones, and struggling with how to take apart the plugs on the header cables them selfves? And ideas, I am a competent electrician but never had to swop these out before and it's baffling me. I intend fully megar testing each core once I replace them.  

[Ed Conley]

Try ɢɪʟʙᴇʀᴛ ɴᴀᴠᴀʀʀᴏ
GalaxyRS.com

he might be able to help ya out on the repair/walk through.

 

[Niall Flynn]

Thanks for the response, I just wondered if there was anyone repair shops like this one in Europe? 

[Matthew Parnell]

We’ve found it’s often more cost effective to purchase new header cables. The Veam connectors are notoriously expensive on their own, and need special tooling and an experience hand to get right. 
 

Strand 2.5 and 1.2 connectors are similar but have different keyways. This is by design because mismatching the ballast and head can be catastrophic to both. 

[Phil Rhodes]

Let's not overthink this. Tiny Hirose connectors are tricky. VEAMs are huge and much less stress.

I have repaired HMI cables on a couple of occasions and it's not that hard to do if you're handy with a soldering iron, and particularly if they're soldered on to begin with. A lot of them are crimped, which is probably better, as the metal cores don't get heat-treated and become brittle during the soldering process. That said, the crimped ones can't really be reworked unless you can get the contact inserts separately, which is tricky at best, especially on older types. In an extreme emergency you can solder the wires onto the back of the crimps, but that's a temporary solution at best and not something I can recommend doing.

That said if you can find an affordable source for the connector, a reasonable repair is something any competent technician should be able to do. It's just a cable, they're just connectors, it's just soldering. Probably there's some Chinese knockoffs that may be acceptable to you, if you can figure out exactly how those polarising notches are set up.

Don't do it if you aren't sure what you're doing and perform all the relevant safety checks afterward. A failure could create fire and electrical hazards as well as destroying the ballast and head.

P