Crimp Tool Recommendations

[laika]

Actually 2 separate questions.
1. I'm not very happy with my maplin ratchet crimp tool. It's ok for blues and yellows but not so good for reds so I'm thinking of a new one. Wouldn't mind spending up to £100 if I could get a good one with interchangeable dies so I could crimp other types of connector (e.g. BNC, but ideally also stuff like RJ45, MC4, whatever...). The RS website has too many to choose from. Any specific recommendations?

2. I had always thought that heavy duty crimpers (ie for battery cable, not what I was asking about in the previous quesiton) were hugely expensive, but there seem to be a number of hydraulic heavy duty crimp tools on ebay for about £50. Anyone know if they're any cop?

 

[David2452]

First thing is to dump the horrid blue, red & yellow pre insulated crimps and start using open barrels with seperate insulators, then for DIY use one of these is as good as anything. http://www.nfauto.co.uk/crimping_tool.htm

Good hydraulic crimpers for large gauges are matched to wall thickness of lugs and are expensive but the cheap ebay ones are usable with a bit of ingenuity, e.g. using 35mm2 lugs with their 40mm dies etc, with a little experimentation they can be quite good. But unless one applies calibrated industrial pull tests one never really knows.

 

[VicMallows]

Back in the 70s when I worked for the major computer manufacturer (in Havant) all crimps had to be made with the precise, correct, and very expensive tools. The QC guys would regularly take crimps to the lab for testing. They were superb crimps and I doubt if any ever failed. All of those gorgeous computers have gone to the grave long ago.

My boat, 1984, wired by me, has nothing more sophisticated than cheap barrel crimps pressed on with a cheap (non-ratcheted) crimper. It is still very much in service and nothing electrical has failed.

 

[jamie N]

Top crimp tool for me is a Mole grip. Any size, any pressure.

 

[Richard10002]

I have a hydraulic crimper off eBay. About £40 I think, a couple of years ago. Works great, but I tend to use the dies a size or two smaller than the wire and lug.

I think the largest I've crimped is 35mm2. It has dies up to 70mm. When I needed some 95mm wire and lugs crimping, I took it to a local auto electrical place.

 

[nigelmercier]

Nothing wrong with YBR crimps, providing you fill the space up and test it. F crimps make a more robust join, but the blades themselves are pathetic.

I'm thinking of one of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271234189370

 

[daveyw]

Here's one.

http://www.argos.co.uk/m/static/Pro...3008060|Hair+crimpers+and+wavers|33010387.htm



!

 

[prv]

I'm thinking of one of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271234189370

Got one. Very happy with it. Rewired one boat with it and will be doing another this winter

(I've also used it to bodge some Talurit type copper sleeves on stainless wire. Wouldn't trust it for rigging, but probably ok for my purposes.)

Pete

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I use Draper's so called Expert Series crimping tools for insulated and coaxial terminals, No 6 on page 207 for ratchet crimping of insulated terminals and No 8 on page 208 for ratchet crimping of Coaxial terminals. http://www.drapertools.com/en/catalogue/Pagesource/p207-209.pdf
Both worked well for me when repairing electrical stuff on an old yacht. I am planning on using heat shrink adhesive crimps and I need another crimping tool. With this in mind, I noticed this multiple hammer/anvil ratchet crimping tool but I have no idea if it's a good tool or not: -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Crimping-...d=100005&prg=1048&rk=4&rkt=5&sd=271234189370&

Not knowing what an F crimp is I looked it up. For those who are curious here is a guide to what a good F type crimp should look like http://tooling.te.com/pdf/US_crimpposter.pdf

 

[David2452]

Nothing wrong with YBR crimps, providing you fill the space up and test it. F crimps make a more robust join, but the blades themselves are pathetic.

The reason I hate RBY terminals is that although a simple pull test can be carried out, it is impossible to inspect the crimp both during application and during service inspections. The number of the things I have to replace during service is legion and it is difficult to check on cursory examination so takes longer to find those with frayed strands, corrosion where inappropriate conductors have been used etc. F type or open barrel are more secure, easier to inspect and with transparent PVC covers easier to inspect during service and diagnosis. Blades are dependent on quality of manufacture just like every other product. During electrical refits or upgrades I hardly use a blade nowadays as nearly all the kit I use is fitted with the more secure ring terminals which are a preferred standard in 0400 standard and BMEA code of practise and used on nearly all Blue Sea Systems kit.

 

[neil1967]

For larger cable crimps I have a small hammer crimper, which I have successfully used on cables up to 70mm cross section. I think it was about £20-30 and if you are only doing occasional work I think it is more than adequate. I can't remember the supplier, but google will throw up a few.

Neil

 

[laika]

Thanks all. I'd considered the hammer crimpers for batteries but if (as seems to be peoples' experience) the hydraulic ones are ok, I'll seriously consider getting one of those: Less hassle in the end than having to find someone to (sometimes poorly) crimp the heavy stuff for me. Not considering mole grips etc. for the lighter work: I have a lot to do and it justifies a reasonable quality tool. Still fancy the idea of one with changeable dies though. Seems more "way of the womble" than a separate tool for each type of crimp. I was looking at the knipex crimp system but although the pliers are almost within budget on their own, the dies are more expensive than a perfectly good complete tool with non-interchangeable dies, so that's a non-starter.

The Toni and Guy solution is interesting but again, I think the modular Nicky Clarke approach is more attractive (straighteners and crimpers in one tool).

BTW, thanks for the suggestion of the crimps with separate clear boots: not so easy to come by in the chandlers but I'll investigate a bulk buy from RS.

 

[Gordonmc]

I bought one of the ebay hydraulic crimpers for a complete boat refit a couple of years ago.
They work well... using the right die for the right connector for the right cable.
I went through two pairs of ratchet crimpers. For reasons that escape me the little adjuster, looks like a star cam on the side, became loose. I agree with the comment about naked crimps. I ended up using heat-shrink on all terminals, whether plastic coated or not.

 

[nigelmercier]

I'm thinking of one of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271234189370

Got one. Very happy with it.

Thanks Pete, just ordered one.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Thanks Pete, just ordered one.

This tool I notice has Hexagonal dies, can it be used with both "Tube Terminals" and "Ring Crimp Terminals"? I just wish to understand as the tube type look like the tube is drawn i.e. no seam, but the ring crimp has the seam, which I assume is folded in and therefore requires a different crimping die, or can both be compressed with a hexagonal die. Thanks, BlowingOldBoots

 

[prv]

This tool I notice has Hexagonal dies, can it be used with both "Tube Terminals" and "Ring Crimp Terminals"? I just wish to understand as the tube type look like the tube is drawn i.e. no seam, but the ring crimp has the seam, which I assume is folded in and therefore requires a different crimping die, or can both be compressed with a hexagonal die. Thanks, BlowingOldBoots

Hmm, don't know. I've only used mine with terminals that look to have been made of tube, with the end flattened and then a hole drilled. Made very smart looking crimps on there; I sawed a test one in half and it looked like a solid block of metal. With some neatly-cut heatshrink over the top they looked factory-fit.

Pete

 

[David2452]

but the ring crimp has the seam, which I assume is folded in and therefore requires a different crimping die, or can both be compressed with a hexagonal die. Thanks, BlowingOldBoots

Those are called brazed copper sheet terminals. Normally used where the terminal stud hole needs to be larger than a drawn solid copper tube terminal can accommodate as theirs is obviously dictated by the flattened section of the tube. This is rarely needed on a boat as the stud sizes even on batteries are say 8 - 10mm, occasionally 12mm which are easily accomodated by a solid drawn tube lug of the size dictated by the battery cables. As smaller gauge conductors are easily covered by stronger open barrel types there is really no need to ever use one. However, to answer your question they will work with indent or hex crimps.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Hmm, don't know. I've only used mine with terminals that look to have been made of tube, with the end flattened and then a hole drilled. Made very smart looking crimps on there; I sawed a test one in half and it looked like a solid block of metal. With some neatly-cut heatshrink over the top they looked factory-fit.

Pete

Thanks Pete, I got to the bottom of it, the tube ones are crimped with the hexagonal die as you confirm, there are also brazed lugs made from sheet and formed into a tube and this is the seam I was looking at, they too are crimped with the hexagonal dies. Once I learned that they are called 'lugs' then I started finding the information. There is quite a plethora of crimp methods and materials with many different names as well. It now looks to me that this style of crimping is a good idea if investing time and effort in a rewire. Some of the guides on line, show exactly what you describe, a near solid bar of copper in the cross section of the crimp.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Those are called brazed copper sheet terminals. ....

Confirmed what I found, thanks, our posts crossed.

 

[VicMallows]

I still can't help feeling we get a little bit too obsessed with electrical connections on our boats. If your house is over-say- ten years old I bet if you check every power socket-outlet you will find at least one wire which just 'falls' out with no persuasion. Do you loose sleep about that? ..... but potentially far more dangerous if it happens to be the socket you plug that 3kW device into.