I don't believe a single pair of crimpers work for every application. I have weatherpack... deutsch... insulated connector... non insulated connector... battery lug crimper...
Not one works well on the application. By far my favorite is the Klein crimper...
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because I mainly use non insulated type connectors and always use the dual wall shrink tube.
A couple comments and a couple questions. Like always, I half know what I’m talking about
Like any old fart with dirty hands, I’ve got nine or 10 of these things at least. These three are my favorites.
The top/yellow pair are by far my go-to. I have no idea who made them, but they’re pretty high-quality. One feature I really like, is that you can tighten the nut at the pivot point. Cutting jaw on the tip rarely fails to cut anything that will fit in it, the bolt cutters do an excellent job, and the strippers do a 95% job. My experience with “one size“ crimpers is that it is more a matter experience/technique and applying the right pressure when holding the whatever in the right place, than the actual tool itself. I bought these new 20 30 40 years ago.
When I’m doing a lot of electrical work, with all different sizes and styles of wire, like the Road Ranger or Missing Linc, I like the pair in the middle for crimping. If you look on the user side of the pivot, there are a half dozen different size crimp diameter cut outs. They alternate from side to side.
I have peined (sp?) over the rivet several times to tighten them up. The front cut off jaws and the bolt cutters work, but not very well, and the strippers are worn and don’t line up anymore. In this thing’s defense, I found it underneath a spare tire in the trunk of a car, where it no doubt sat for more than a dozen years, rusted into the wheel well. I never pass up any tool, and it’s my favorite for crimping different size wires in one project, especially if I’m laying on my back under a car or such. The black handle is a piece of vacuum tube and friction tape for those times when I stripping something hot. Again, I have no idea who made these.
What I don’t like about these first two, is that it’s really easy to chop your finger with the strippers if you’re not careful. As I get older, and more wobbly, and my hands shake more, that’s a consideration.
The third set, like your Kline pliers, are very high-quality. But if you look at mine close, they actually have two different size crimpers in the jaws. I bought these new in the late 80s, but I rarely use them. Unfortunately, the two crimp sizes seem to be about a half size off for anything I want to do. Maker’s mark:
Here’s a comment/question: I love the PVC crimp connectors. And I love the concept of the heat shrink crimps, but the metal in them seems to be like tinfoil compared to the metal gauge inside the PVC crimps. Does anybody know if anybody makes a crimp with the heavier gauge of the PVC, but they’re made with the built-in heat shrink?
And one last comment. Years ago, the guys who worked for me on the cooking and packaging lines at Frito-Lay, working with electrical stuff that was exposed to water, would dip the wires in clear polyurethane before they put them in the crimp and crimped them. It didn’t seem to ever affect the conductivity, but really worked fantastic for controlling corrosion, and they held the wire in more securely. For clarity, the food processing equipment and the packaging equipment was cleaned with pressure washers and caustic chemicals regularly.
I have done the same thing with silicone seal on occasion, and then ran silicone up-and-down over the finished crimp connection, when I made a connection I was concerned with for corrosion. But that’s a pain to do on a regular basis.
A few more last comments on preparing the wire to be crimped. First, after stripping my wire, I always twist it before I slide it in the crimp. If not, if a strand or two move, it can slide out fairly easily. Once twisted, it has to partially twist out.
Second, I have found that the thinner the wire diameter with stranded wire, the higher the probability you’ll have a problem. Most times when I am using a thinner wire, I will strip it twice as long as I need it, and fold it over double and then use a slightly larger crimp. It doesn’t need to be twisted as the loop provides the same extra grip.
Finally, when I’m working with really teeny tiny stranded wires, like a lot of the LED wires these days: I will strip them maybe 30% more than I need to. Then I separate the strands and fold them back over the insulation. Then I use a crimp that will slide over that snuggly. Then, when you crimp it, the strands are making connections on all sides, and the insulation provides a little pressure from within to keep the wires in contact. I have found this technique to be worth it’s weight in gold working on the LED strobe wires and such. The flex on the wire at the crimp point is buffered by the insulated wire, not just counting on the strands.
I welcome any comments and thoughts, since when I do things like the road ranger with the CB, radios and lights in strobes and such, 95% if it works like a plan, and the 5% is the devil to track down.