wire crimping tool?

[phil-b]

Can anyone recommend a reasonable wire crimping tool for heat shrink ring terminals?

I’m not a perfectionist, and I don’t plan on crimping thousands of terminals, but I don’t want to waste money on something that will break after making twenty really bad crimps either!!

[beerman57]

Years ago I got tired of iffy crimps with normal wire pliers, bought Blue Point PWC-29 pliers (made in USA) and have been happy with my crimps since.

[fisherman6]

I have a pair of Southwire crimpers I bought at Lowes that work for most sizes of wire that I use. I like them a lot and I’ll never crimp enough terminals to wear them out. At $25 they are not from the bargain bin, but then I don’t get frustrated when the crimps don’t work right half the time either. I’m sure they are available from other place too but I have been happy with the Southwire products. http://www.lowes.com/pd/Southwire-Crimper/50083082 Klein Tools seem to be pretty good too.

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[PugetSoundBoater]

Just bought a new one at NAPA for $49 . I normally try to buy my electrical tools at an electric supply store,where eletrical contractors shop. Just don’t buy a cheap one.

"Some people want to know how a watch works, others just want to know what time it is"
Robbie Robertson

[frankr]

Call me opinionated, but my opinion is the one that I bought 40 years ago is/was the best. And it wasn’t expensive either. What I do not like are the ones that merely smash the terminal socket. This one has a little projection that deforms the socket with an indent that makes it strong and doesn’t turn loose. I guess the maker said this is only for uninsulated terminals, but I’ve been using it on insulated ones for 40 years, and it works for me. Hint: The terminals’ socket has a split along one side. Apply the tool so the little projection pokes at the side opposite the seam for a secure crimp.

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[beerman57]

The one from lowes looks just like the blue point pliers.

[PugetSoundBoater]

X2 on Frank’s post. The projection side on the jaws goes opposite 180 degrees of the split in the connector for best results

"Some people want to know how a watch works, others just want to know what time it is"
Robbie Robertson

[The Boat House]

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• This reply was modified 5 years, 12 months ago by The Boat House.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by The Boat House.

[Mumbles]

These cheapo blue wire strippers seem to work pretty good crimping heat shrinks with the ‘one size fits all’ slot while the older yellow ones will also do uninsulated terminals or small lug style terminals.

[phil-b]

Here’s a tool, reccomended (and sold) by a purist/professional that owns many more expensive tools:
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/purc … crimp_tool

Here’s his essay on connectors/crimping:
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/wire_termination

This link:
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/687571-post3.html
Has some picturs of heat-shrink terminals that were "dimpled" and then shrunk..
They reccomend a similar (identical) tool:
http://www.sailorssolutions.com/index.a … Item=WP042

But it bugs me to drop $50 on a tool I’ll use once every few blue moons….

Here’s a promising one I found that has interchangeable dies, including ones that I might also use every few blue moons (coax and RJ connectors):
http://www.markertek.com/product/pal-13 … -terminals

But I’m not 100% certain this die (or any of the ones they make) are the right ones for the FTZ or 3M heat shrink terminals….

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