Fixing a three-pin female fan connector

[Mr_Jon]

I had a connector get stuck somewhere it shouldn't; the end result being the wires got ripped out and separated from the pins.

I've ordered a new connector and pins, the guidance of which suggest that soldering is necessary along with crimping. Can anyone confirm that the former is needed, or is it (as I'm wondering) overkill?

[DDY]

I would hazard a guess that the connectors you've ordered have solder buckets and also crimp ear things on the back end which grip the cable sheath - providing a strain relief rather than electrical contact, which is of course provided by the solder. Hence requiring soldering and crimping.

A hack way of avoiding soldering on these types of connectors is to fold the stripped wire back on itself so that it's crimped on the outside of the sheath, I've done it plenty of times to save time, but I'm always cognisant of the weaker connection.

There is usually a version of that connector pin which is crimp only, such as the one that's fitted from the factory, but usually requires a specific crimp tool.