If you&#;ve ever looked into replacing your own car stereo, then you&#;ve probably run into the terms crimping and soldering. It&#;s necessary in order to electrically join the vehicle to the new stereo. Without the proper connections, the wires could short out, and potentially damage your brand new stereo. 

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Crimping and soldering are both methods of joining and terminating wires. Soldering is more labor-intensive but creates a better and more reliable connection. Crimping, on the other hand, was developed as an alternative to soldering as it provides a high-quality connection between a terminal and a wire at a lower cost. There are instances in which one is preferred over the other, but today we&#;ll be focusing on how to achieve a quality crimp.

We take crimping seriously because proper crimping is crucial when working in the cable and harness industry. Wire harnesses are needed to power medical, military, and transportation equipment. If these systems fail, it could cause fatal consequences. Poor crimping results in increased heat resistance and eventual connection failure. Could you imagine trying to figure out why medical equipment has failed only to realize that it&#;s due to a few faulty wire connections? How would you know the extent of these faulty connections? You&#;d have to start from scratch, wasting time and resources. That&#;s why we&#;ve compiled a few Crimping Tips to guide you in the right direction. 

Crimping Tip #1 Prep the Wires

Before crimping a wire, you must first select the correct wire gauge and strip a specific length of insulation from the wire. Both the insulation and wire must be cut perpendicular to the wire&#;s longitudinal axis. All the wire strands need to be approximately the same length and without any excessive amount of strand damage. Wire preparation is the first step towards a good crimp. Overlooking this step could cause unwanted complications later in the crimping process.

Crimping Tip #2 Skip the Pliers

Pliers are not crimpers. Crimpers are specially designed to deform the wire and insulation in certain locations with the proper force and join the wire and terminal together. Whether you opt for hand-held tools or fully automated systems, do not skimp on quality. Quality tools will ensure a secure electrical connection that won&#;t pull apart easily. Higher quality crimpers often have built-in features that won&#;t allow the crimper to re-open until a sufficient force has been applied. Fully automated systems will further guarantee proper crimping. Some automated crimping machines even strip the wire to the proper length increasing your efficiency.

Crimping Tip #3 Avoid Over-Crimping

Yes, over-crimping is possible. This happens most often when using hand-held tools. If this method of crimping is necessary, it&#;s best to use tools with self-locking features that release only until enough pressure is applied. When using automated crimping tools, over-crimping usually translates to inadequate crimp height. Over-crimping could cause excessive extrusions or flares on the bottom of the conductor crimp. It also reduces the circular area of the conductor and increases resistance. Adjusting the crimp height to the proper specifications should resolve the issue.

Crimping Tip #4 Visually Inspect the Crimp

Visually inspecting the crimped wire can usually help detect most defects. Defects to look for include: pierced insulation, absence of bell mouth, short or no conductor brush, insulation under the conductor crimp, and excessive or no cut-off tab. Using an eye loupe can aid in examining the small details of the crimp.

Crimping Tip #5 Test Wires Regularly

After all the necessary wire preparations and a smooth crimping process, the last step would be to test the crimped connection with a pull test. A pull test is a quick, destructive way to determine the mechanical properties of a crimp termination. The test confirms the proper amount of applied force during crimping. Testing at regular intervals and whenever there&#;s a change is tooling or supplies makes it easy to spot irregularities ahead of time.

Achieving a quality crimp takes skill and much practice. It requires great attention to detail and patience. Perfection is often unattainable; however, it is something to strive for.

Our electromechanical manufacturing division at Trimantec has assembled wire harnesses for use in medical and military equipment. Therefore, the wire connections our team makes need to be precise, secure, and reliable. We take wire crimping very seriously, and you should too.

Do you have your own tips for achieving a perfect crimp? Share your expertise with us in the comments below!

Crimping Tool: Buying Guide

In making connections with your wires and cables, it is a necessity to choose the correct terminal, wire types and size and connectors to be used. It is also important that you check if it is properly connected. In modern connections, simply attaching a stripped wire is not enough and this is where a Crimping Tool is used for.

Being a Crimping tool manufacturer, let me guide you to select the right tools:

What is a Crimping Tool?

A Crimping Tool is a device that helps in conjoining a metal connector and a wire or cable. It is used to crimp the connector deforming its barrel that secures your wire connection in a tighter grip of the copper wires.

This helps in holding the copper wires and avoids it from fanning when you connect it to a connector or a terminal. It is also a great tool in making sure that your connection will have a 100% contact.

A Crimping Tool is also designed in different types that suits your need in wire connections. It is also available in different sizes that can accommodate the wire size and connectors needed to be crimped.

Other than that, different crimping tool with dies is also available that provides you different die set that corresponds to the cable groups you are using from the 0.25 mm wire gauge onwards.

TYPES OF CRIMPING TOOLS

The following are the types of crimping tool designed for their crimping purpose:

Ratchet Wire Crimper

A Ratchet wire crimping is a type of crimping tool that has a built-in ratchet. This feature helps to prevent the crimping tool jaws from opening back as you crimp your lugs or connectors and making crimping easier.

After crimping, the ratchet will release its lock when enough pressure was used. This allows you to identify whether you have crimped your connectors well or not.

This is a safer crimping process than your typical pliers which does not guarantee a properly crimped connection. Improper crimping will leave air spaces on your crimped wire that may cause erosion, or loose crimp of wire may cause wiring failures.

Ratchet Wire Crimper

How to Choose the Right Type of Ratchet Wire Crimper?

Ratchet Wire Crimpers are designed in different types.

Each wire crimpers varies in what crimping tool you should use based on its terminal types and tells you what proper crimp profile you should use. The following are also what you should consider in choosing the right crimping tool.

a.) Insulated terminal

b) non-insulated terminal

c.) flag terminal crimper

d.) open barrel crimper

In a simple explanation, this figure shows you what crimping profile is required each type of terminal is needed.

Crimp Profiles Reference Chart

It is also important that you learn both the wire gauge and crimp profile of each terminal you will use. This will easily let you know how to crimp your connection and what crimping tool to use.

This will greatly help you produce a safer and long-lasting connection.

Bootlace Crimper (Ferrule Crimper)

The Bootlace Crimper is also known as Ferrule Crimper. This is used in crimping ferrule terminal which is used in control units and switching cabinets that provides a higher contact reliability.

A Ferrule terminal requires a specialized tool and that is the Bootlace Crimper.

Bootlace Crimper

The crimping process of a ferrule is different from other terminals because it is done by crimping the metal tube than the insulation.It is also designed with one crimping station that can crimp a specific range of wire sizes.

For example, the smallest Bootlace crimper can crimp a wire from 0.25mm² up to 6mm².

Lug crimper

The Lug Crimping Tool is a crimping tool that can accommodate different types of lug from electrical and cable lug. It is a crimper that is used to crimp the lug&#;s barrel.

It can accommodate from 0.25 mm² up to mm².

Image 3. Ratchet Terminal Crimping Tool

A lug crimper is designed with one crimping terminal that can crimp a range of wire and terminal sizes. Some are also designed with multiple crimping terminals.

It is also important to note that there is a specific type of lugs that require single or multiple series of crimps to have the correct compaction and avoid connection failures.

Hydraulic Crimping Tool

The Hydraulic Crimping Tool is a crimping tool used for crimping larger types of wires and cables. This is available from yqk 70 up to yqk 300 wire size.

It is a heavy-duty wire crimper that provides connection no matter how big the connections you need to make. A hydraulic crimping tool has a crimping force from 6 tons up to 15 tons

It varies in sizes from:

• YQK-70,
• YQK- 120
• YQK-240
• YQK- 300

Hydraulic Crimper Tool

It is also designed in two types for industrial applications:

• Hand Hydraulic Crimper Tools

It is a type of Hydraulic Crimper Tools that is lightweight and easy to use. They usually range in sizes from 22 AWG up to 2 AWG wires and terminals.

This is an example of a Hand hydraulic Crimper Tool that can accommodate up to 300mm² and weighs 7.7kg.

Hand Hydraulic Crimper Tool

• Power Hydraulic Crimper Tools

This is a type of Hydraulic Crimper tool that is used with utility power cables. This image is an example of a battery powered Hydraulic Crimper Tool that can accommodate up to 300mm².

It is commonly used for crimping cable lugs and weighs 4.0 kg.

Power Hydraulic Crimper Tool

One of the main concerns of Hydraulic Crimper Tools is its weight and crimping capability. Since it accommodates larger sizes of wire, a simple hand pressure grip to crimp the terminals won&#;t be enough and requires users with more cost and workload.

But, the current design update will ensure to provide you with a lightweight crimping tool that is more durable and allows you to crimp faster.

Why do you need to Use a Crimping Tool?

A properly crimped terminal is one of the most overlooked parts of the connection process. Some use pliers or improper tools in crimping their terminals because of various excuses.

One of the most common Crimping tool replacement is a plier, vises, hammer, or flat rocks. Even if it is possible to crimp your terminals with these tools, it doesn&#;t provide you with a proper crimp.

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This also doesn&#;t ensure your wire connection&#;s durability and contact to power source compatibility. Improper tools for crimping might over crimped your terminals or have a loose connection.

There is a high possibility that due to improper crimping, it won&#;t guarantee your safety and your product. It may cause electrical failure and wire corrosion that will definitely cost you more for regular replacement and rework.

In order to produce a safe and long-lasting connection, choosing the right terminal and right crimping tool is essential.

How to choose a proper crimping tool for your use?

In making wire connections which are depending on your needs, multiple Crimping Tools are available for you to buy and use. The following are the things that you need to know about choosing the right crimping tool:

1. Identify your wire size

In making electrical connections, it is always important to know what size of wire you are going to use. This is one of the most important parts not just in connecting your wires but also what you need to consider before buying your crimping tool.

A single crimping tool is not designed to universally crimp all types of connectors and each crimping tool can only accommodate a certain range of wire sizes. That is why it is important that you need to know the wire sizes you usually use to properly provide you with the right crimping tool that you need.

2. Select a proper terminal

Crimping tools are designed to crimp your wires to a terminal. Each terminal is also designed with various purposes and design.

When buying your crimping tool, don&#;t forget to take note what terminal you&#;re going to use.

There are commonly 5 types of terminals:

1. Ring Terminals
2. Fork Terminals,
3. Disconnects
4. Spade
5. Lug

Each requires a specific crimping profile.

Identifying what terminal you&#;re going to use beforehand will definitely help you choose the right crimping tool.

3. Volume

The amount of connection that needs to be done differs from one person to another. Some are just used for house appliances and simple projects or repairs.

Others are certified electricians that have their own shops. That is why it is important to consider this because each type of Crimping tool has various designs for the users&#; convenience and purpose. There are crimping tools designed to simply crimp your connectors while there are also those who have a 2-in-1 or 3-in-1 feature.

Some crimping tools have multiple crimping terminals or a single terminal.

It is also available as a crimping tool with a cutter or with a wire stripper.

4. Warranty and Certification

In every product that you are going to buy, the warranty and certification are one of the things you should always check. Some crimping tool needs to use a terminal from the same brand, so it is important to look at the products&#; warranty guidelines.

This will ensure you that any defected crimping tool may ensure you that it&#;s still possible to be replaced and fixed from the producers.

The certification of the quality of the crimping tool should also be checked whether it complies with electrical certification departments like SAE or MIL to ensure your safety as the user and the assurance of quality of the product provided.

How to Properly Crimp the Wire to the Connection or Lug?

In having a successful wire connection, these are the key points that to consider how to crimp your connection:

1.) Know what wire size and terminal you are going to use. This will be your vital information on what type of crimping profile needs to be done and what crimping tool you&#;re going to use.

2.) Select the necessary crimping tool to what you need.

3.) Strip the wire with the right length. The stripped insulation should be done in moderation to the size of the terminal you are going to use.

4.) Twist the strands of the wire together. This is to make your wire insertions easier to a terminal and avoids fanning of wire strands that cause a connection failure.

5.) Insert the stripped wire to the terminal. Make sure that it is properly connected, and all wire strands are inside the terminal and properly reaching the metal part of the terminal.

6.) Crimp the insulated part of the terminal. Make sure that the terminal is being crimped on the crimping terminal based on its size and crimping profile. Squeeze the crimping tool hard enough to crimp the terminal. It makes a cracking sound to let you know if you are properly crimping the terminal.

7.) Check if the terminal is properly crimped. You can test it by trying to pull the wire and connector apart. If it came to lose it means that it isn&#;t properly crimped.

Ferrule Crimping tool

A Ferrule Crimping tool almost has the same the process to connect the wire and the terminal, but the crimping process of a ferrule terminal is quite different.

Instead of crimping it at the terminal end, the ferrule is crimped at its metal part.It is important to know this to avoid crimping errors.

Reminders in Using Crimping Tools:

1. Knowing the size of the terminal and the wire is one of commonly overlooked in wiring connections. It is important to know what terminal fits a specific size of a wire to avoid loose or too tight connection. Ignoring it may cause wiring failures.
2. Selecting the proper crimping tool provides you with a proper connection. A crimping tool is not universally designed to crimp all types of terminals. Each terminal has their own crimping profile and not all sizes of wires can be accommodated by a single crimping tool.
3. In stripping your wire there are various key points that should be considered:

a.) Do not over the strip.

b.) Do not strapless.

In stripping your wires make sure it&#;s just enough to the length of the terminal till it reaches the end of the barrel.

Too much stripped insulation

This is an example of what an overly stripped wire looks like.

It is more than what is needed.

Even though this is not necessarily a harmful connection, it still exposes too much of its wire strands.

It is recommended in this situation that wire should be trimmed.

A good length of a stripped wire

The image rather shows a correct way of striping your wire&#;s insulation.

It is just the right amount needed in by your terminal and will certainly provide you with a better connection.

4. In twisting your wire strands, it doesn&#;t necessarily mean that you have to twist it tightly. Just enough to make the strands join together and avoid it from fanning so that it won&#;t be hard to insert it inside the terminal.
5. Crimping tools are designed with color-coded crimping terminal that tells you what types and how large a certain connector it can accommodate. Commonly, it has 3 to 4 crimping terminals, so make sure to check them before crimping.
6. Never forget to double check your crimped wire if it is properly crimped. Testing the crimp&#;s grip before connecting it to a power output will help in making sure of the safety features and durability of the connection and avoid connection failure.
7. Do not test it with your finger or any other objects. Every crimping tool no matter how small or big is not recommended to be tested by just using your finger or any other materials other than a terminal. This is to avoid any injuries and to avoid breaking your crimping tool.

Other Popular Crimping Tools:

1. Crimping Tool with Dies

The Crimping Tool may come in two designs: the die-less crimping tool and a crimping tool with die.

These die crimpers are available as with built-in dies or interchangeable dies. It requires individual sets of dies for each connector/wire size.

It is a tool that makes your construction a little less complicated because it is designed either as with color-coded dies or size identification indent.

Crimping Dies

2. Crimping Tool with Cutter

A Crimping tool with Cutter is designed to cut and crimp wires from 10 up to 22 a.w.g. It is designed for crimping both insulated and non-insulated solderless connectors and terminals.

Its design features help you to crimp on tight places. The advantage of this tool is, it&#;s easy to carry and handle.

 Crimping Tool with Cutter

3. Crimping Tool Set

The Crimping Tool Set is your one-stop best buy from multiple crimping tools. This set may come in as a Ratchet Crimping tool with interchangeable dies that can accommodate different terminals.

Each die is either color-coded or has a size identification indent to easily help you identify which crimping terminal can accommodate a certain wire size. The set also includes a screwdriver and an easy store-away tool bag or toolbox to keep your materials organized and safe.

Crimping Tool Set

4. Crimping Tool Jaws

The Crimping Tool Jaws is a type of Crimping Tool with interchangeable jaws. Each interchangeable jaw has built-in dies that can be easily removed and connected using a screwdriver.

This enables you to have more option and possibility in crimping different wire sizes and terminal types. It is an adaptable crimping tool that can accommodate your crimping needs.

Crimping Tool Jaws

It varies in types:

• Kearney Style Jaw
• W-style jaw
• U-style Jaw

These interchangeable jaws may be used to crimp the following:

• Insulated terminals
• Non-insulated terminals
• Open barrel terminals
• Small Cord end terminal
• Large Cord end terminal
• Cable Connector

In summary, a correct Crimping tool can produce a high-quality crimp and will ensure safety and secure connection.

Crimping tools have several types. To better illustrate, it uses the same general principles as a pair of pliers or scissors. It squeezes a deformable metal sleeve around a wire in order to make a permanent electrical connection.

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