All the Squishers Suck

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Bob La Londe 20 hours ago

I have several insulated wire terminal crimpers and they all pretty much suck. The only ones that hold are the kind the pierce or nearly pierce the insulation like with a non insulated terminal crimper. Odly the bst is the cheapo that came with the 9.95 all in one crap set fromt eh discount auto parts store. Noen fo the expensive or very expensive name brands work very well anymore.

Years ago a buddy of mine show me a regular stamped sheet metal combination stripper crimper sold by Napa Autoparts The crimping dies were a square parallel surface and they worked. They just worked. Any wire within the range for the terminal was solidly crimped in. Not long after I found Klein made a pair that was identical except for the color of the handles. Klein might have made the Napa tool for all I know. They are no longer available. They worked with any wire in the range of the terminal. Not just the maximum size rated for the terminal like everything out there today.

AI pretty much recommended those with near piercing style dies. T&B (1111) or Klien (1005) forward plier style. Mostly made for noninsulated terminals.

I decided to try this one which I think is a Klein although McMaster doesn't reveal that in their details.

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If they turn out to be another POS crimper I'm just going to f****ng make my own. I have a drawer full of pliers of various types I almost never use, lots of grinding tools, I can always take a shot at hard milling, and I have enough 4140 on hand to make a thousand pairs of pliers if I can just figure out the best heat treat.

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Jim Wilkins 16 hours ago

I have several insulated wire terminal crimpers and they all pretty much suck. The only ones that hold are the kind the pierce or nearly pierce the insulation like with a non insulated terminal crimper. Odly the bst is the cheapo that came with the 9.95 all in one crap set fromt eh discount auto parts store. Noen fo the expensive or very expensive name brands work very well anymore.

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I generally get good results from the hardware store crimper that also shears screws. The industrial ones from flea markets tend to be worn from heavy use without oiling, I've shimmed under the jaws of some to tighten them.

For high current crimps on batteries and inverters I test the resistance or check for heating with a thermal imager, or both. Before finding the micro ohmmeter I passed 1A or 10A through the crimp and measured the drop, at 1A

1mV indicates 1 milliOhm. A car light bulb is a handy current limiting resistor from a 12V power source.

Although it's frowned on I solder the open end with fine solder which gives good control of the amount melted into the joint, to avoid filling it and creating a stress concentration in the stranded wire exiting the crimp.

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Snag 12 hours ago

I've got a couple of pair of the "hardware store" variety . I use the part for non-insulated that punches thru the insulated sleeve . Nothing I do is sensitive enough to need milliamp precision .

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