I began to use Molex connectors in the early '70's when I designed and built electronic equipment. The connectors and pins came in small blister packs sold at Scotty's Radio and TV in Blacksburg, VA, a short drive from my apartment. At one point I used so many Molex connectors I bought a complete kit that provided an assortment of connector types and a crimp tool. The kit disappeared long ago, probably lent and forgotten.

The folks at Waldom Electronics worked with Molex to create a new line of Molex Kits, such as those shown in the photos here. The 76650-0019 kit includes 10 types of connectors that range from one to as many as 36 contacts. The crimp terminals (100 each, male and female) will accept 18 to 24-gauge wire. The hand tool will cut and strip wires as well as crimp the connectors. The kit also includes a small pin-removal tool you can press onto an installed contact to remove it from a plug housing. If you're at all like me, you'll need that tool. MSRP: $US 37.30.

The Solderless Terminal Kit, part no. 76650-0041 comes with 150pc 0.25" male and female quick-disconnect "spade style" contacts for three color-coded wire-size ranges, yellow for 10-12-gauge, blue for 14-16-gauge, and red for 18-22-gauge wires. This kit does not include a crimping tool and it doesn't include a reference to the type of tool that would work for these components. Manufacturer's suggested resale price (MSRP): $US 12.20.

Some kits serve to let you examine and test a connector type before you decide whether or not to use it in a design. The , for example 76650-0228 kit includes a 5-m length of 4-conductor cable terminated at one end with a keyed female Micro-Change connector. Four separate male and female connectors let you try this type of connector in panel-mount or field-attachable forms. So, you would buy this kit to take a closer look at the Micro-Change connectors without having to sort through catalog pages to find what to buy just to make an evaluation. MSRP: $US $120.

If you need to order more connectors or pins, the paper cover sheet in each kit indicates the Molex part number associated with each compartment.

You'll find these and other Molex connector kits at www.molexkits.com. The site lets you select connectors by type, Molex connector family, application, and most-popular. Each kit's information includes a description, bill of materials, and links to related kits or products. I found the site easy to use and navigate through.

These are just the types of kits engineers, technicians, schools, and home workshops can put to good use. You and I can't buy directly from Waldom, but distributors such as Allied Electronics, DigiKey, Mouser, and Newark Electronics sell kits to end users. I plan to buy one each of the .062" and .093 power-connector kits. I have only a few 2-pin power connectors left and could use an assortment of other pinouts. --Jon Titus

The new MolexKits.com website brings new time-saving features to allow users to search for and buy connectors. By organizing connectors into kits that can be searched for by parameter, application, family, and solution type, molexkits.com greatly simplifies the sometimes daunting task of finding the right connector or connector series for your needs. I wish that this site and its kits had been available to me years ago, it would have been a great time saver!