You got a point, I'm a picky SOB. Plus horrible freight screwed me once. I've learned to never give anybody two chances. Screw me once, shame on you; screw me twice, shame on me.
Anyway lots of free time today, its snowing. I'm wasting the day surfing.
I see Mcmastercarr has nice unit for just under $50. Most likely an Amp. I'll get it with my next order. Mcmaster is on my #1A list. i just feel better doing business with those that have been good to me.
Karl
On Mar 26, 7:29=A0pm, "Stuart Fields" wrote: =A0If you are
Did he also have any info on maintenance and calibration. As I remember crimpers at work were " calibrated " every six months. Maybe annually. I believe the calibration consisted of crimping some terminals and then doing a pull test to verify the crimp was sufficient , but not so much as to weaken the wire.
Dan
I maintain a machine that does that. The crimper is a full revolution mechanical press.
Wes
Karl
Klein 1006 is good. McMaster-Carr #7289K1. I have the older model which has lasted 40 or so years. A new one is probably in order but it can wait. A good electrical supply will have the Klein brand also.
Don't get the other Klein that was mentioned. Don't get the McMaster- Carr 7007K92. They are trash.
Bob AZ
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
Ditto that. I needed a LONG tape measure. I got one on sale that has a fiberglass tape. It is 168 feet long, must mean something in metrics. It was $14, iirc. Similar models in good brands were up to $"How much you got?" I used it once on the property, and about twice a year in the past three years. Still looks fine, although it has a plastic reel and handle. Wouldn't have lasted that long with regular use.
I'm about 90/10 satisfied with HF. They have a great return policy. I really like my bandsaw, and it's still cutting. I put a piece of 3/8" x 4" flat bar in it the other day. Came back in a bit, and it wasn't running. I was cussin and fussin and I looked, and it had finished and turned itself off, just like it's supposed to, finishing in less time than I thought it would take.
Steve
On the subject, I own 7754K1 -- air powered crimper. I should use it more often.
On Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:47:12 -0500, the infamous Ignoramus764 scrawled the following:
I think you misspelled "Pittsburgh", Iggy, but they are reather good. I have a couple toolbags full of HF stuff and have found only a handful of bad tools in all of those.
Early on (I started buying from HF back in the early '70s), they had some really horrible crap, and you can see in the pictures that some of the stuff they sell is crap, but most of it has been well built. I'm still using some of the tools I bought from them 30 years ago.
I've chopped a whole lot of smaller square steel tubing with my little HF 4x6. Yesterday I chopped off a chunk of 1.5x3 solid AL bar with it. All with no issues. Of course the metal supplier I got the AL bar from had a horizontal bandsaw you could cut a car in half with (drool).
My favorites are made by AMP, and for that range of sizes, three crimpers -- or one of the newer ones with multiple size dies in one assembly.
The sizes you need are:
red 22-18 blue 16-14 yellow 12-10
Look for P.I.D.G. in the description.
You can cut down to only two crimpers if you get the yellow with black stripe terminals which fit the yellow crimper but crimp for 16-14. Some of the newer ones are marked with both size ranges. These are the "heavyhead" crimpers, compared to the other two sizes.
An example is in auction #180339763285 on eBay. The current price is a good one -- but it may go higher.
The mention of "Adjustable Die set" refers to the adjustment for the insulation crimp part -- done by pulling a pin out of one hole and putting it in another to slide the insulation part of the crimp dies tighter or looser -- three total settings -- to adjust for different thicknesses of insulation. This applies to the other sizes as well.
This one (#260383416849) is a different brand, though AMP makes similar ones these days -- which does not have a separate adjustment for insulation diameter crimp. However, it handles all three sizes in a single tool.
This one (#400036457700) is a set of dies for the newer style AMP crimper -- without the crimper. Again -- no separate adjustment for the insulation crimp.
This one (#310074255444) is an air powered version with the heads for both the blue (16-14) and the red (22-18) -- but is is probably more expensive than you want to play with. These sometimes show up for a lot less money. I don't see the pivot screws for mounting the heads into the pneumatic handle. The orange box contains pneumatic logic units to allow for gradual application of the pressure instead of slamming it on each time. But beware -- the rubber tubing plumbing these is likely to be brittle -- trace out the connections *before* you power it up -- and ideally replace the tubing first. I have one which I have to find which part of the pneumatic logic has a chunk in it which makes it not work.
Avoid this one (#330311102403). It is in *very* nice condition, but it is for the *small* yellow (26-22 ga) terminals which are quite hard to find. But it shows you what the other two should look like. The thing to check is the color of paint at the end of the handles (often only remaining on the inside) which codes the size as well as what is printed on the metal at the crimp head.
This one (#150334808348) is a newer style which still has the adjustment for the insulation crimp size. And it handles both the Blue and the Red sizes, so in combination with the yellow one at the start should work well. I don't have one of this style, but if I come across one at a hamfest for a reasonable price I will add it to my collection.
Note, BTW that some red ones are listed 22-18, and others 22-16. The 16 Ga end is not allowed for aircraft use -- use the blue where vibration is a problem for 16 Ga.
This one (#250382497684) is a good one for the blue size only, and the price is currently attractive.
Here (#270345183660) is a nice one for red size only at a nice price.
And this one (#160191330208) is an example of the yellow with black stripe for 16-14 Ga in the Yellow heavyhead crimper. If #6 ring terminals are the size you need, you can skip the Blue crimper and terminals. But beware that these are relatively rare in auctions.
So -- this is a snapshot of some of what is currently on eBay.
Good Luck, DoN.
What it is missing is the adjustment for crimping the insulation for different thicknesses of insulation. It is right only for a given thickness of insulation.
Otherwise, it is a good crimper. (But AMP makes some of this design too -- a notch up from the cheapest ones -- which also are designed for shearing screws to length, a step down from the ones designed for P.I.D.G. terminals.)
Enjoy, DoN.
No, when you want to cut a car in half you go to the Alameda County (CA) Bomb Squad Range and mix up a few thousand pounds of Thermite. That'll do it right quick... ;-)
Mythbusters - Gotta love em.
-->--
The calibration on AMP crimpers consists of closing it until it is just before the last click which will release the ratchet, and then checking the crimp area with go and no-go gages of specific diameter pins.
This detects both wear in the crimp surfaces and in the various pins which make up the compound linkage which gives you lots of mechanical advantage.
The same applies to the hydraulic ones, except that there is no wear in the mechanical linkage -- just in the die's crimp surfaces.
Wear in either place can give you weak crimps. Not a problem for an individual user, but for those used in production assembly, the calibration is truly needed over time.
Enjoy, DoN.
My recommendations based on what I carry. For "red" and "blue" color coded lugs I use a Midland Ross H-7B crimper which I bought from my employer at tool disposal sale 20 years ago. Still performs a certified crimp to this day.
For "yellow" color coded lugs I use a Thomas&Betts WT145C crimper. Same performance as above. This crimper model will also perform crimps on the "blue" color coded lugs but prefer the above crimper for the smaller wires.
These two types show up on the auction sites frequently for way less money than new.
If you can't find a picture of what they look like, send me a note and I'll snap a picture of mine.
Good hunting
Jim Vrzal Holiday, Fl.
As mentioned by Jim V, T&B Thomas & Betts tools produce extremely good results and are made to last, they've been making very durable wiring tools for decades.
The T&B tools are much better quality and more versatile than Klein or brands in the Cooper Group.
I agree that it will but I agree to some of what you say.
Agreed.
With provisions I disagree here.
Definitely.
Yep but there a few other decent brands.
This is where we part.
This is the tool I've used for 20+ years now. I use it on insulated as well as unisulated. Yes I can here groaning and screaming in the background but hear me out please.
I do a LOT of automotive type wiring (I've wired or repaired the wiring on three trailers in the last two weeks). Trailers, tractors, and the like. One thing I find is that you often have to connect to different sized wire. Many of todays trucks have really light gauge wire running back but trailer wiring is usually in the 14-18 gauge range. Yes they make butt connectors to change wiring size but they're expensive and keeping a large enough selection for all the different combinations is nearly impossible (I have a hard enough time keeping enough of the standard ones). With these pliers is very possible to make a good long lasting connection to different sized wire with a standard connector. It's even possible to splice more than two wires this way (would somebody please help the man who fainted in the corner there). I have often in the past used a standard butt to connector to splice three wires together (a common need when wiring lights). Rarely did I have trouble with these. I try to keep some of the crimp version of the wire nuts on hand for that job any more but sometimes I run out.
In my experience trailer wiring is the most abused of any wiring. I know some might like to disagree with that but keep in mind the trailers I'm wiring aren't run on the highway everyday. They're out in the field with brush, grass, and rocks trying to drag the wires out from under the trailer. When you add the water, mud, and ice then you get a real nightmare for the wiring. My experience has shown that when crimped with anything else other than this style of pliers the wires will get pulled out. Yes I'm even talking about the fancy ratcheting crimpers everyone is reccommending. Actually I especially mean those. I've got a set and thought when I got them that I was really uptown. But in use I found them clumsy, slow, and worst of all I started having lots of problems with bad crimps. I've had crimps pull right out immediately after crimping with them. I never had that problem with the Kleins.
There I've said it. I've been wanting to say this since this thread started but I've been way to busy the last few weeks to do much posting.
Now would somebody please call the medics in to take care of the wounded left by my little outburst.
Agreed.
Whole different animal as well as the larger crimpers.
It is adjustable for insulation thickness BUT it isn't as easy as some. There is a wheel on the side with different notches to adjust crimp range.
I was always making do with the terminals I had on hand. A trick for what you're trying to do with a terminal that is a tad too big is to strip the wire extra long. Now fold it over two or three times so it fits snuggly in the oversize terminal barrel.
Something like this crappy ASCII art:
Stripped Insulation Wire =========------------
Folded Over ========------ ------
If you are going to use your non-insulated crimper on insulated terminals you might as well just pull the insulator off before crimping. You'll get a better crimp then. I used to pull insulators off quite a bit, especially on butt-splices. They ended up being a lot less bulky after applying tape then. Seems like they always needed some tape where I was using them :)
I was mostly working on vehicles too. Don't ya just love those Scotch-Lok type connectors and where people try to use them underneath vehicles and such ;-)
I do that all the time. Twist the end so that all the strands stay together, then fold it once. Makes a nice snug fit.
Chris
I had a similar pair I got off the Matco truck. Except they had the screw cutters also. I used them for everything for over 20 years. Then my neighbor lost them. I don't loan tools any more unless I'm attached to them.
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