OT Need crimping lesson

[Paul Alciatore]

I do not have one of those, but have used them at more than one job. They are well designed but are intended as a general use tool so there is no guarantee that they will perform correctly on any given terminal/wire combo. That and the fact that they are only intended for a very few types/sizes of terminals is why I have not purchased one. I suggest using my destructive test with each new brand/size of terminal.

I use the Klein 1005, and nothing else, for crimping power connectors. the resulting crimp is ugly, but they stand up to the WWF sized man ape full pull test.



the tool on the left does not crimp, it crushes.

[Paul Alciatore]

Will they work? No way to tell except to test them.

Perhaps I did not emphasize it enough above, but it is not just a matter of matching the tool to the terminal. It is a COMBINATION of three things: the tool, the terminal, and the WIRE.

All three must be taken into account. You can have a tool that is the OEM's exact recommendation for a particular terminal but if the wire size is not also a match, then the joint can fail. All tool/terminal combinations are only good for a small range of wire sizes. So a tool/terminal that will work perfectly with a #24 wire can fail with both a #12 wire and a #32 wire, FOR DIFFERENT REASONS.

All three must be considered. And that is why many of the "it worked" stories above are not what one should go by.

My destructive test WILL TELL YOU what works.

oh . just so I'm not screwing up again .... the connector description says .1mm -1.5mm

so will these work ?

[jdunmyer]

I have one of these hydraulic crimpers from H.F. https://www.harborfreight.com/search...ulic%20crimper It comes with a bunch of dies for different size wire/terminals. I used mine when I made cables for golf cart batteries, using copper tubing for terminals, it worked great.

[Mike Amick]

Ok, all good. Amazon delivered these next day. Only complaint is that I have to squeeze the part of the connector that holds the wire somewhat with
needle nose to get it to fit right in the tool, but I am going to contribute that to the Chinese connectors.

[AD5MB]

The gold connectors above, that look like the letter B are known to electronic technicians as "double buttcheek splices

A few years back I got a group of Navy officers to do my job by telling them that I was pretty sure that any anchor clanker who turned down a chance to make a double buttcheek splices would be thrown off the boat.


years

[J Tiers]

Paul:

I appreciate your concern. However, it may be misplaced. Yes, if the crimps are for a critical application then care is required. Actually more than care, the crimper has to be certified, the crimps measured to ensure correct pressure etc, and the assembly tested.

For a normal shop application, that is extreme overkill. There is normally no hostile environment, not like the environment in a 737 wheel well (it does not even have complete doors) or under your car's hood.

It is actually shocking how often a "Bubba crimp" done with needle nose pliers will work for the life of the equipment. A crimp produced with a tool of the type intended, which appears properly made, was made using the die opening that fits the terminal, passes a pull test, and is making electrical contact, is quite unlikely to fail.

Furthermore, lacking a certified crimper for that exact terminal, and without knowledge of the proper crimp dimensions, how do YOU propose to test it in a way that is meaningful? Exactly, you cannot test it in any relevant way, and must fall back on general principles.

If you cannot perform a manufacturer's test, you are making a crimp that is in fact only "pretty well connected". There is no ducking that fact. But, the good news is that crimps made in that way are very likely to work for longer than needed.

No part of the test you propose is any better than guessing. The same is true of what I proposed. They may be "good guesses", but they are still guesses, and essentially worthless. If you must do better, then you have no choice but to pay for the many hundred dollar certified crimper, and use it.

[wmgeorge]

Well I learned to crimp the right way as a USAF Air craft electrician. They purchased quality terminals and splices name most used comes to mind is T&B. No cheap $hit on my B52's and KC135's air craft. We had two pairs of approved crimpers, one crimped both the wire and insulation at the same time and would not release until the correct pressure was applied. The other was like Paul posted above Klein 1005 and I now use 100%. Crimp the wire and insulation and pull to try and get it apart, that was the test. Sorry folks pretty simple, not rocket science.

The only soldering that was allowed was wires into Cannon plugs used for connecting to the control boxes.

I have wire strippers like we used in the Air Force, handles you squeeze and wire sized dies that do not score the wire. Did all this on mission critical air craft, no short cuts, no guessing.

PS Solid wire is for wiring houses, never a crimp terminal on solid wire. Stranded wire for everything else.

[eKretz]

You can crimp a barrel terminal with those Kleins, but that's about it. Any small electronics and you will be S.O.L. with those. The specialty crimpers are for specific terminals, like double flags, etc. If you don't use those terminals then obviously you don't need them. If you do use them, then you need the specialty crimpers if you want to do a good job, especially on tiny wiring.

[wmgeorge]

You can crimp a barrel terminal with those Kleins, but that's about it. Any small electronics and you will be S.O.L. with those. The specialty crimpers are for specific terminals, like double flags, etc. If you don't use those terminals then obviously you don't need them. If you do use them, then you need the specialty crimpers if you want to do a good job, especially on tiny wiring.

That is what they are intended for, barrel terminals and splices. That is what we are talking about... I have small specialty crimpers for the rest.

[eKretz]

That is what they are intended for, barrel terminals and splices. That is what we are talking about... I have small specialty crimpers for the rest.

back at you. That's not what it seemed you said previously... You said: "Klein 1005 and I now use 100%..."

And we were discussing all sorts of crimpers and terminals, not just barrel.

[junkaddict]

The OP did not seem like he wanted to spend hundreds of dollars to crimp some cheap Chinese terminals, nor did he say this was some kind of mission critical application. So I pointed him to some cheap Chinese crimpers to crimp his cheap Chinese terminals, and from the pictures, it would appear that they provided cheap Chinese results that were acceptable.

[eKretz]

Yes, you gave him a good shove in the right direction. My point is that the Klein crimpers would not work for the OP's connectors. Used correctly, the Chinese crimpers can do the job, I've used them myself. 'Nuff said.

[wmgeorge]

back at you. That's not what it seemed you said previously... You said: "Klein 1005 and I now use 100%..."

And we were discussing all sorts of crimpers and terminals, not just barrel.

100% for barrel terminals for wiring as automotive, boat, CNC machines etc, not electronic or tiny connections. No one crimping tool can do all. I have crimpers that go back to my HeathKit days.

[eKretz]

Yes, as I and others have already noted. And for you too.

[garyhlucas]

The crimper on the left is a good crimper, for insulated terminals from #18 to #10 wire sizes. The jaws are interchangeable, and those are simply the wrong jaws for that kind of bare terminal. I have a similar pair and 4 different jaw sets.