Best wire crimper

Karl Townsend fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Karl, if you do solder, solder JUST at the wire-tip end of the terminal's ferrule, then do a light crimp of the body of the ferrule onto the insulation of the wire, to help provide some strain-relief.

But crimping alone is best in a high-vibration environment...

So... AMP makes a line of ratchet-action crimpers with replacable dies that operate much like their coax and RJ(phone) connector crimpers.

You cannot accidently under-crimp or over-crimp a connector, assuming you use the correct wire size, ferrule size, and die.

The are pricey, but you'll likely never replace the tool, and they do perfect work.

LLoyd

You need a ratcheting crimper with a die that has three holes for different sizes of wires. I have a version of this crimper:

Mine is not that crimper exactly, but looks similar, and I am satisfied with it. (just different handle color)

Those ratcheting crimpers work great.

My vote would be for a Paladin crimp tool:

I have the 8000 series CrimpALL and can't fault it at all. It's tougher than many crimp tools for which you'd spend three or four times the money.

The 8000 series frame is stronger than the 1300 series frame, and here in England they sell for about the same price. So the 8000 is the better deal. I got mine from

Some crimp enthusiasts don't like Paladin tools. I'm really fussy about tools myself and I still don't understand why. The tool I bought is an incredibly durable tool, precisely made and not insanely priced. I can't see what's not to like about it.

You can check the dies available on Paladin's website which I mentioned above.

Best wishes,

Chris

By the way, it's a ratchet crimper. Somewhere I remember reading that it's designed to do a minimum of 50,000 crimps.

Chris

There are probably better crimpers available (for much more $$$), but this one seems to work fine for me. It's miles better than the single-action pliers-like tools.

OK, two votes. Guess I'll bite. I've had BAD experience with horrible freight and vowed to not purchase there again. I'll give them one more chance to change my opinion.

Karl

The rule that I follow regarding Harbor Freight is: do not buy anything that needs sharp edges, and do not buy anything with any motors (electric or otherwise).

Their digital calipers are a great deal as is their 0-3" micrometer set. Their new digital micrometer looks good as well, though I haven't personally used it... yet...

Do not change your opinion of Harbor Freight. They sell crap, but also sell good tools. So evaluate your needs as whether you need a tool that will last a long time under regular useage, or do you need a tool for occasional use.

Then also evaluate the tool that HF sells. Some are good and some are not. If you can not see the tool at a local store, ask here if it is any good.

With some stores you can assume the quality is good. But with Harbor Freight, I assume that the tool will be at least worth what I paid ( provided it is on sale ).

A racheting crimper for $10 from HF or one from W.W. Grainger for $68.

Dan

And their Professional wrenches are rather good, as well.

Well this will probably piss some people off...

If you can figure out yourself how hard to squeeze to get a good crimp, I would forego the ratchets.

But you should match the tool to the type of terminal in use. Plastic covered terminals are different than bare metal and flag style are even different yet. If you crimp/use all three of these types you really need three styles of crimpers (note some crimpers have spots for combinations of these on the same tool). The tool should have provisions for different size terminals too. One size does not fit all worth a toot.

Ratchet styles are usually bulky and can be hard to use in tight spots. Plus they usually won't allow you (easily, if at all) to stop in mid-crimp and reposition things.

If you want to blow some extra cash spend it on better quality terminals. There is a HUGE difference in terminal quality and how well they crimp/hold.

Klein, AMP, Ideal... are all pretty decent brands.

A tool similar to this served me well for most of my career:

This type works okay for non-insulated:

Try to avoid the styles that crimp on the handle side. Those are really awkward to use in cramped spaces. DAMHIKT!

If you were going to crimp coaxial connectors I might sing a different tune and recommend the ratchet style...

Ignoramus 764: You rule is the same one I was living by until my friend did a re-build on a 35' sail boat which involve much drilling of SS. He used a set of HF drills and I never saw him in the act of sharpening one. He claimed they worked great. Further I've been using the $19.95 4" and 4 1/2 " grinders. They seem bullet proof. If they quit it is only $19.95.

I sure like it better if my rules hold up longer.

Karl, only you know what kind of a guy you are when it comes to tools. Do you want a great tool, or do you want a cheap tool which nominally does the job (it won't be as good, pretty much guaranteed)?

If you want a quality tool, go with Paladin or AMP. If you want the cheap tool, go with Harbor Freight. You get what you pay for.

Best wishes,

Chris

The HF drills that I bought were utter crap. They would melt in the hole, sort of, and leave such a hard residue that the only way to fix it was a carbide drill.

I have a set of Shars drills and those work OK.

Harbor Freight has some items where you do indeed get more than you pay for.

As for crimpers, AMP is kind of the mil-spec bulletproof gold standard with the price to match. Ideal is like 90% or the quality of an AMP for

50% of the price. HF for the correct items is frequently 75% of the quality for 20% of the price.

Karl: We just had a gentleman write an article for our magazine (Experimental Helo May issue) on crimping. He covered three classes of crimping and showed three different ring-tongue connectors. If you are going to crimp wires used on aircraft, he recommended an AMP 59250 PIDG crimper which retails in Digi-key and Mouser etal for, get ready, hold on to your seat, protect your first born, but around $1,200. Yep there ain't no typo. I found a used one on e-bay for $80. It is a ratcheting design and will cover two different wire size ranges.(22-18 & 16-14) I looked at this closely and can't find any justification for a price greater than $200, but I ain't a good business man. As a retired Electronics Engineer, I found his article informative. He also advises strongly against soldering on the crimped connector to avoid the possibility of corrosion inside the crimped connector. I know from experience that if the solder wicks up the wire beyond the crimp it can cause wire breakage just upstream from the crimp.

Are you aware that there are different die shapes for insulated vs uninsulated terminals? Could it be that you have the rignt crimper for the wrong job?

Pete Stanaitis

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Karl Townsend wrote:

Likely like the crimpers I used in the military on aircraft.

I think the battle of soldered vs crimped connections was settled a long time ago. Crimps won. A *proper* crimp is gas tight and allows maximum flexibilty of the wire.

Wes