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Wire crimpers that work

ckessel

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One of the gems I gleaned at the SEMA show was some information about wire crimpers from American Autowire. I installed one of their harness packages on a customers 67 Camaro[ had to wear gloves so I wasn't contaminated] at my main place of employment. The Pertronix crimper worked somewhat ok on the terminals, better than the universal ones most commonly found, but still had a tendency to crush the terminal. I had to pre curl the tabs on the terminals to start the crimping otherwise they would get crushed from the get go. The Pertronix unit does work pretty good on other stuff, even plug wires but you need to pre curl the terminal a little so you don't crush it. The American Autowire rep told me they had specifically designed their unit for the terminals used in that period which covers our cars. He had an electrical background and was knowledgeable about the specific tools of the trade. Tyco makes one but is brutally expensive and out of my reach. The AA units I purchased from Summit. The yellow one is for individual crimps and the blue is for the terminals that have two wires side by side. Blue one may be for 14 and smaller, yellow 10-12 but have not verified yet. I did some crimps at work yesterday with the blue and am impressed. I did not have to curl the tabs and it did an awesome job without crushing. I found you need to do it in three stages with the large opening as the 1st stage on the inner tabs, 2nd stage is the smaller opening on the unit giving the 1st crimp the final and the 3rd stage crimping down the tabs on the insulation. Here are some photos.

IMG_0347.JPG IMG_0348.JPG IMG_0349.JPG IMG_0350.JPG IMG_0351.JPG IMG_0352.JPG
 
Nice. I must have about 20 different types.My old standby is a Stanley pair that is at least 30 years old and are my favorite.Cuts,strips,and crimps.The crimps hold tight too.
Thanks for sharing !
 
I have read more than once that crimping is better than soldering because vibration, etc. breaks soldered joints. Not saying I put much faith in that statement. Personally, I prefer solder joints.
 
If connectors are used that crip at the insulated portion of the wire there should be no vibration on the solder joint
 
I'm doing crimp first then solder.
Only problem with crimp first is keeping the insulator on on some connectors. Soldering with out crimping the wire connection allows the insulator to be pressed back into the connector.
 
Some general comments/observations. The "old reliable" pictured is the best crimper for insulated connectors. I've never heard of soldering insulated connectors.

For OEM non-insulated type connectors that the OP is referring to, the AAW crimpers work well. I have those as well as some Paladin ratcheting crimpers like your Pertronix. They work well on some terminals and not so great on others. For Packard 59 and 56 series which are what we use most commonly in replacement harnesses. The AAW crimpers work the best. I also crimp a lot of Metri-pack which are more modern connectors and the ratchet crimpers work well.

Crimp is preferred over solder by industry standards (not just my opinion), but that assumes the crimp is perfect. With all the variations in connectors and crimpers that is tougher than it sounds. I solder only in cases when I am not 100% comfortable with the crimp.

What do you do in Ramona? Electrical? Full builds? I'm originally from San Diego area. Havent been to Ramona in a long time.
 
I work at an auto repair shop here in town. My main task is working on the early 70's and older stuff. Currently I'm working on a 49 Ford F1 that I placed an 04 Explorer chassis under. Old rides, especially mopes, are my passion. I have been working on my 65 Coronet here at home too. I received some training back in 13 from Lazze Jannsen, Lazze Metal Dreams on Youtube, to learn how to form up sheetmetal for patch panels and custom stuff. I bought the equipment from him to do it here at home. Most of what I've been doing lately is mechanical/fabrication stuff. Doing the sheetmetal and sometimes the mechanical is a little tough as most of the people I run into that want it done assume I run a charity. Where I'm working at, the owner flagged me down as I was driving by while out schlepping supplies for a job I was working on at my home bizz.
 
Look at the DMC line used them in the air force (avionics), super crimpers
 
Will do. I'm sure my Pertronix unit is going to have its limits and I don't mind getting another crimper if its something that will be used fairly often. DMC is the brand?
 
When you said avionics, it reminded me that one of the sunday car gathering gents is involved with avionics. Will check with him. I did look on their site, DMC that is, and see they make quite a bit of stuff. Will just need to narrow down the choices.
 
Where can i buy a pair of "Old Reliable?" & how to do the crimp on metal connectors with them, i see theres a large & smaller dimple in these.
 
Where can i buy a pair of "Old Reliable?" & how to do the crimp on metal connectors with them, i see theres a large & smaller dimple in these.

Check out the Klein Tools 1005. They are good for crimping ring terminals and butt connectors. If you have the packard style where you have to fold over the tabs then you need the style that is mentioned by the OP.
 
I too crimp, solder and then heat shrink. I want the mechanical connection followed bu the solder.
 
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