Professional electrical crimper

_RaT_ · May 2, 2006

I have not ever used AMP but have a few Paladin crimpers. My favorite while not for electrical is the one for RG6 coaxial cable. PALADIN

tlbuser · May 2, 2006

Try these. tool aid
Not super expensive, work well with all of the 3M connectors and the heat shrinkable type. A butane or propane torch works on the shrink type too, but you gotta be more careful. Or sneak out the wife's hair dryer /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

MarkLeininger · May 2, 2006

JerryG:
Posi-lok wins my award for most ingenious thing I've seen in crimping technology. There is no end of smart inventions.

MarkLeininger · May 2, 2006

Shimon:
The snapon looks similar to the crimper I have, and one problem I have is damaging the insulation on the fitting. Am I just squeezing too hard, or is there something about the jaws on the snapon that prevent that from happening? I imagined that the ratcheting style crimpers would be like the crimpers for coax fittings: it doesn't matter how hard you squeeze, you can't destroy the fitting because there's a stop on the tool.

wushaw · May 2, 2006

Here is a link to the ones I'm referring to, look down the L/H colum, they are AMP 59250 for the red and blue splices 16/18ga and the 59275 for the yellow and white 20/22ga.
There are four tension adjustments depending upon insulated or not insulated terminal.

_RaT_ · May 3, 2006

I also find some crimps are just better then others. StaKon are about the best I have found. 3M use good quality material in the insulator.

HGM · May 3, 2006

I'll also recomend the AMP then the Snap-On crimpers recomended.. With that said, I would also like to add that a wire crimp is a quick, easy temporary repair.. Although widely accepted, most are not very good quality repairs..They can weaken the wire if over tightened and will(unless sealed) allow corosion and moisture to infiltrate the harness.. I may be a little picky in this area, but when I make a repair, I dont need to do it again(plain and simple).. The best repair would be solder and heatshrink(with glue).. With a good kit its just as easy as crimping...

BTW, even Ford Motor Company has addopted the AMP crimp tool that comes as part of a kit including the bare solderless connectors, crimping tool, and heatshrink(with glue).. This is a good crimp, but.........(I still prefer solder)

Shimon · May 3, 2006

( one problem I have is damaging the insulation on the fitting. Am I just squeezing too hard, or is there something about the jaws on the snapon that prevent that from happening? )

It's usually due to poor quality insulation on the terminal. Most "automotive" style terminals use a hard plastic insulation which is more likely to crack or harden. These are usually dark blue (14-16ga) or dark yellow (10-12ga). The color is opaque. Usually the translucent colored ones (light blue/yellow/pink) use a softer, more pliable insulation. I recommend to use a terminal that is sealed and it's insulation is heat shrinkable. This keeps corossion out.

BlueRidge · May 6, 2006

It's usually due to poor quality insulation on the terminal. Most "automotive" style terminals use a hard plastic insulation which is more likely to crack or harden. These are usually dark blue (14-16ga) or dark yellow (10-12ga). The color is opaque. Usually the translucent colored ones (light blue/yellow/pink) use a softer, more pliable insulation. 

Yep - nylon vs. no-name plastic. With crimp connectors, it's worth paying for the better name brands like 3M. Get the translucent stuff - nylon. Better quality, and you can see what you are doing.

Inside a car, weather & corrosion is not much of an issue. On a tractor, it sure might be. Solder & heat shrink is BEST, but a good crimp and heat shrink is also very good. You want the type of heat shrink that gets gooey on the inside when you heat it. Not all does that.

Second the motion on AMP, Paladin, or Klein. Cheap tools are false economy. I'm not familiar with the Snap-On, so have no opinion.

Someone mentioned getting the connector in the right direction - this is critical, and very often overlooked.

If you look into the end of a crimp fitting, you'll see that it is a rolled tube. There is a seam running the length of it. You want that seam at 12 or 6 o'clock with respect to the crimpers. That is, you want the crimpers jaw to come down directly on the seam. Otherwise, the seam is likely to split open, and you'll have a MUCH weaker crimp. You DON'T want the seam pointing to the jaw opening, or back at the crimper's joint.

Attached is a pathetic attempt to illustrate this. The blue is the connector, seen from the end (and without insulation). The red are the crimper's working surfaces. It's a lousy drawing, but perhaps it's enough to show what I'm talking about.