Crimping electrical connectors... Sheesh... (1 Viewer)

[e9999]

yes, the Klein squishing type above look to be for insulated connectors where the dent type is not preferable as it would likely damage the insulation. Those specific ones are probably as good as they come for that type of manual crimping, better than the cheaper not-ratcheting pliers type, for sure. The potential issues are more with the connectors themselves, which are not great from both a construction/crimping and contact perspective, IMO.

 

[e9999]

btw, Klein does sell interchangeable jaws for their crimpers that will do a wide range of crimping types, see for example this one that looks OK for open barrel connectors like some Anderson Power poles and MC4s (see the list on the RHS for more):

Some of those RG jaws are hex crimpers that would be fine for closed barrel copper ring terminals too, I'm sure, if you can figure out the proper size.

[The beauty of copper terminals is that they are so soft (well, at least at first) that you can readily reshape them. As a matter of fact, I just did that a couple of days ago. I found some 10 AWG cables with copper ring ends that somebody had poorly crimped with some odd pliers. The poor things were flat and sad-looking and did not inspire confidence. Rather than cutting the ends off and replacing them, I used my hex hydraulic crimper and a couple of minutes later had some good hex crimped ends (if a bit bruised-looking).]


There are of course numerous much cheaper generic chinese crimper clones sold as a kit with a number of jaws.

 

[Mudder]

I didn’t know Klein sold multiple jaws for their crimpers. I’ll definitely be ordering some for some of the other types of crimps I do.

 

[e9999]

To be clear, I don't know for sure that these particular jaws will fit your specific crimper, though, you may want to double check.

 

[AirheadNut]

Over the summer I crimped hundreds, possibly thousands of wire terminals and connectors from 20ga to 2/o installing extensive electrical systems in mobile command and communication trucks. It really isn't too hard to get a good connection if one pays attention to what they're doing; it boggles the mind how many people do a half-baked job of it. (Maybe overcooked if its bad enough! )

Hex crimpers are generally only used (or available, even) for larger wire sizes like 12-10ga and up. The manual ones work well for standard battery or welding lead type cable, but not as well on high-flex or other specialized cable. That requires specialized crimpers like the Milwaukee Force Logic 600 (a tad pricey at around $3000, but they sure are nice to use!)

For smaller wire gauges I have found the ratcheting style crimper with interchangeable jaws to work really nicely. I have a cheap Chinese one from eBay that works great and is compatible with more reputable brands of jaw sets.

IMO heat shrink crimp connectors are the best option for wires less than 12ga. There are a lot of cheap ones on the market but I have found that the NSPA OptiSeal connectors are fabulous to use: with a properly set up crimper they have a solid bite on the wire, and the heat shrink material is thick, adhesive and clear so you can see your connection inside. Solder sleeves are ok, but a lot more fiddly to get right. For larger wires standard tinned copper lugs with adhesive lined heat shrink works great.

 

[jerryb]

I always asked the people at mouser, tti, and Te which crimper should I use for a certain terminal. Even doing that I still have crimpers I shouldn't have bought.
I would have saved a ton if I had never bought anything off ebay or amazon until I knew what I was doing.
I wouldn't even buy wire off amazon or ebay.
I admit though, I had a few of those klein open barrel. The dies will break if you do too many 12 gauge ring tongue.
I dislike the solder seals, but I have used them. Buy large and small soldering guns and practice.
No doubt I have wago connectors behind my stereo still today that were meant as temporary. (better than solder seals)

 

[dogdaysindurham]

I use a Molex battery lug crimper. I got mine from Waytek a few years ago for under a 100.

For smaller ring terminals I use a ratcheting crimper from Molex. The Avikrimp / Permaseal are really nice.

I have MC4 solar crimper now and Anderson Powerpole Crimper.

My favorite are the ideal wire strippers.

 

[e9999]

does anybody here have one of those generic 16 tons chinese hydraulic crimpers like I showed a pic of above (the Teal one - although they are often yellow), the ones with the slots for die retention - not the dies with a pin- ?
If so, would you be so kind as to tell me the width of the slots to slide the dies in? TIA

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Yeah, I have one. Got on Amazon for cheap, like $60 or so. Works great for larger gauges.

Are you thinking of making your own dies?

 

[e9999]

yes, custom sizes and also for flattening stuff. And also thinking I could maybe use the dies from my little 10 tons when that one dies or the pins break - if the size matches. The 16 tons would lend itself well to DIY dies, I think, unlike the littler 10 tons with that questionable die pin locator system.

 

[sdnative]

I have read in reviews (but no direct experience) that the dies used in the Chinese crimpers on Amazon are sized for metric lugs (mm2) not standard AWG. So the crimp may not be as good if you are using lugs sized for awg wire, even if it is the metric equivalent size (e.g. using a lug designed for 6mm2 wire on a lug designed for 10awg wire).

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I have read in reviews (but no direct experience) that the dies used in the Chinese crimpers on Amazon are sized for metric lugs (mm2) not standard AWG. So the crimp may not be as good if you are using lugs sized for awg wire, even if it is the metric equivalent size (e.g. using a lug designed for 6mm2 wire on a lug designed for 10awg wire).

That is correct. I tend to go on the smaller size on my crimps, but yeah, it's not exact with the stock dies.

 

[e9999]

I don't think it's a problem. The reduction in diameter is a subjective notion. You can go more or less under the nominal AWG diameter. Copper is soft, it'll move out of the way. When I crimp with these hex dies, if I think the bigger die is not crimping enough when closed, I'll just go to the next smaller one and crimp without fully closing that one. Not a big deal.
But, yes, I do want to make my own dies just for the heck of it, and then I can choose whatever crimped diameter I want.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I'll do my best to remember to measure it tomorrow. If I don't do it by Sunday, post up here to remind me and I'll get it done.

I like the idea of custom dies. Maybe a cable swaging set?

 

[AirheadNut]

I don't think it's a problem. The reduction in diameter is a subjective notion. You can go more or less under the nominal AWG diameter. Copper is soft, it'll move out of the way. When I crimp with these hex dies, if I think the bigger die is not crimping enough when closed, I'll just go to the next smaller one and crimp without fully closing that one. Not a big deal.
But, yes, I do want to make my own dies just for the heck of it, and then I can choose whatever crimped diameter I want.

^This. I’ve often used lugs one size smaller than the cable, they fit nice and tight and make a good, tight crimp.

 

[John McVicker]

^^^

Me too.

 

[e9999]

anybody knows if you can crimp the Weatherpaks conductor part well enough with a typical open barrel crimper like one designed for Powerpoles (not meaning the insulation crimp bit of course)? Looks like it should work.

 

[e9999]

there are lots of videos out there about crimping and quite a few showing cutouts. The latter are particularly interesting, I think.
If you're curious, here is one that shows fairly typical results I think, cutouts are at 19:10 :

the outcome is unsurprising and consistent with my belief that a good hex crimp with a hydraulic crimper gives good results (although I think his crimp was on the light side) and that soldering is not really needed, perhaps counterproductive, and -to me at least- more of a pain for large connectors like these. The results showed some gaps with the soldering-only approach IIRC, which is not great, although in this case likely not problematic. Obviously all of these depend on the skill of the operator, but I would say that soldering may be more difficult to do well for inexperienced DIYers than crimping. I have to say that the hammer crimp was not bad, maybe better than I would have expected but still not as good as the hydraulic crimping.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Agreed on the crimping methods. I used a hammer crimper for years and never had any issues. There was a similar thread a while back talking about this topic, which made me buy this hydro crimper, but by the time I went back to share I couldn't find it again. Figure the OP of that thread blocked me on the forum or something

Dies are 0.980" wide. This hyclat model is advertised as 10t on Amazon, which is where I got it. Let me know if you want/need other dimensions.

 

[e9999]

thanks, appreciate you taking the time. I do have one of those, though, so was wondering about the bigger 16 tons crimper with the die slots.