Crimping 6mm T+E

[Outspoken]

Jason has hit the nail on the head, the quality of the crimp as well as the crimper is key to a decent connection.

SWA crimp terminals are the best quality for the insulated type, in fact even their CT crimps are likely the best quality on the market.

Crimpers, you get what you pay for, it never ceases to amaze me when you see sparks that have spent £30-£40 on a set of decent VDE rated sidecutters or pliers, normally both, and yet object to spending decent money on a decent crimper and get a cheap £10 jobby from B&Q or Maplin.

I use one of THESE for crimping up to 6mm² insulated connectors/terminals and one of THESE for the uninsulated crimps

People often make the mistake of using the ones designed for one type of terminal for both types, and this is always creates a bad termination.

 

[MDJ]

use a pair of pliers haha

 

[Outspoken]

use a pair of pliers haha

Don't forget to bang them hard with the 2Ib club hammer to be sure of a firm crimp though..

 

[ipf]

Use the incisors to cut and the molars to crimp, personally

 

[Knobhead]

I just looked at the spec for the first set of crimpers OS put up.
No specific conductor sizes given for a coloured crimp size, so how much do you crimp a 1.5 compared to a 1mm. Both go in a red crimp.

DW, calibrating a set of crimpers, don’t make me laugh!

 

[ipf]

Get my teeth calibrated every 6 months, it's all about the pain threshold.

 

[Geordie Spark]

Solder and heat shrink and be done with it !!!!

 

[sjm]

Thanks for all the replies guys.
Looks like I'd better get some SWA crimps and a better pair of crimping pliers.

 

[Engineer54]

Think i've said this a few times on here when crimping matters come up,. ...I don't like and never have liked the PVC Butt crimps, the heat shrink pre-insulated butt crimps are not too bad, but i still prefer bare crimping with 2 layers of heat shrink tube cover. One to cover the actual bare metal joint and an overall cover. As everyone has stated it's all very much down to the quality of both the crimps and crimping tool being used as to whether your finished crimp joint is going to be any good or not!!

As for calibrating crimp pliers, Yes it can be done, but only with those crimping tools that have the facility, and they normally come in at around £100+ or more and will be the type, say manufactures and the MOD use. Though maybe now day's the throw away philosophy has taken over!! lol!!

 

[Darkwood]

Hammer and cold chisel works fine for me.... no calibration needed just a good aim ;
)