Wire Crimping Tool Recommendation

[Donald O.]

Re: Wire Crimping Tool Recommendation

Bottom line, buy good terminals (AMP, Molex, T&B) and buy a good crimper. They will work every bit as good as a soldered joint (and I have nothing against soldering).

BTW, if you want more insurance, use double crimp terminals (all I use on the race cars). These have 2 crimps, 1 for the wire and a second crimp that goes around the insulation to lock the wire to the terminal.

That is what I use for my crimping. I am also a big believer in solder and heat shrink. Just depends on the location and how much time I have to affect the repairs.

DonO

[Bill H.]

Re: Wire Crimping Tool Recommendation

Some parts of the previous discussions are scary to say the least.

Curious, which parts?

[William C.]

Re: Wire Crimping Tool Recommendation

The discussions about hand crimping being acceptable under any circumstances without solder follow-up. For most of the larger gauge sizes we used crimp and solder approach as I described. NOTHING was hand crimped.

[Bill H.]

Re: Wire Crimping Tool Recommendation

The discussions about hand crimping being acceptable under any circumstances without solder follow-up. For most of the larger gauge sizes we used crimp and solder approach as I described. NOTHING was hand crimped.

OK, understood.

On the "crimp and sweat", our machines (in a factory) crimp up to 14 awg without solder. Millions of them. Without quality problems. ISO certified, with a Crimp Quality Monitor computer system checking every application.

[William C.]

Re: Wire Crimping Tool Recommendation

As did ours as crimp technology improved thru the years, (37 years at Packard Electric Division of GM/Delphi) Engineering, Quality Control, Mostly in the "heavy Manufacturing" areas, Terminal Make, Lead Preperation (terminal to wire application) later in life, Customer Satisfaction, Warranty and the like, then Component design, plastic & metal.

[Dick W.]

Re: Wire Crimping Tool Recommendation

I do solder wires occasionally (with heat shrink of course). I a correct crimp and a correct solder are equal in reliability.
Soldering like crimp requires a good tool. If your soldering gun or iron is old and not generating enough heat, you can end up with a cold solder joint (the solder didn't flow correctly). And a free hanging solder joint can work harden in a vibration application which is why you use heat shrink (which everyone here does). The heat shrink acts as a strain relief. It also keeps oxygen off the soldered joint.

The differences in heat shrink could drive you crazy too. Our Raychem heat shrink catalog was over an inch thick.

I do have a little bit of very high quality heat shrink in the shop. The inside of this heat shrink is coated with a heat activated glue, it will even stay sealed under water.

Anything outside the passenger compartment I use the shrink with the hot glue. Go one step further, use dielectric silicone on the connections to prevent corrosion

[Bruce D.]

Re: Wire Crimping Tool Recommendation

for what it is worth, I just did a wire splice/crimp under the dash and was also very upset about putting the normal crimp tool under the dash. Especially by the fact that mine had the crimp part in the middle of the tool. I finally thought to take a small pair of wire dykes (cutters) and grind off the blade on the tip so that it was flat and spaced the same as the crimp tool. this worked great and should work for others as well, even if not under the dash......

[William C.]

Re: Wire Crimping Tool Recommendation

If you use that method, make SURE you solder the crimp.

[William F.]

Re: Wire Crimping Tool Recommendation

Kevin,Can you tell who makes your tool? Does it have replaceable jaws for different tasks? Looks like one in SnapOn catalog-bet it costs more than you think, at least new/now.

[Scott G.]

Re: Wire Crimping Tool Recommendation

Bill, nice to see another wiring guy here. I have worked for one of Packard's competitors for 32 years. The first time I encounter crimp and sweat was when we got our first GM contract in the mid 80s. I was the project engineer and had previously only worked on Ford and Chrysler products. I am still working in the wiring industry. Modern terminal designs don't require crimp and sweat, when crimped to the proper specification they will form a long lasting gas tight seal on even the largest terminals. A crimp which forms a gas tight seal is a must for a good long lasting electrical performance.

I would solder any had applied terminal, even ratchet crimped terminations. The reason for this is every terminal/wire combination has an optimum crimped height and width. If you don't know the crimp specification, there is no way a ratchet crimper can duplicate the optimum crimp. A very small amount of solder added on the conductor crimp seam will wick into the crimp and seal the connection. Don't over do it, to much will wick down the wire and make it stiff. You will then risk breakage behind the insulation crimp.

Many years ago, I did some milli-volt drop testing on a family of terminals we were having trouble with. By adding a small amount of solder, the milli-volt reading dropped to acceptable levels and were much more consistent. In that particular case, the fault was with the terminal design. However, the same principle applies to connections not crimped to the optimal condition.

As did ours as crimp technology improved thru the years, (37 years at Packard Electric Division of GM/Delphi) Engineering, Quality Control, Mostly in the "heavy Manufacturing" areas, Terminal Make, Lead Preperation (terminal to wire application) later in life, Customer Satisfaction, Warranty and the like, then Component design, plastic & metal.