What the gold plating thickness means for your application
At 30.0µin (0.76µm), the gold plating on the 66601-2 is three to six times thicker than the flash gold (5-10 µ") found on economy contacts. That thickness directly translates to mating cycle endurance — expect several hundred mate-unmate cycles before the gold wears through to the brass substrate, which matters for a contact that will be disconnected during equipment servicing. The gold layer also blocks oxide formation in humid or mildly corrosive environments, so the contact resistance stays stable over years of service in an unsealed housing.
Crimp tooling and field repair
Because the 66601-2 is a crimp contact, you can re-pin a damaged harness on site with the correct tool — no soldering iron needed. TE recommends their CERTI-CRIMP hand tool (such as 58433-3) with the appropriate die for 14-18 AWG wire. The stamped contact body has a defined crimp barrel that produces a gas-tight connection when the tool is properly adjusted. For a technician in the field, that means a failed pin in a Multimate III+ connector is a ten-minute fix, not a full harness replacement.