Crimping tool test that I screwed up. (Read description.)

[@huijgenr]

0:28 “The Corona thing that happend in China”, how little did we know back then. On the positive side, we got hours of great Clive live streams 😁

[@bratecyo]

the indian stamp is spreading

[@SimplyDiagnostics]

Can't believe I found a 30min video on crimping tools so educational and enjoyable. Many thanks for sharing 👍

[@Miata822]

HA! All these years I have thought "I just suck at crimping. I'm sure the experienced guys are so much faster." I feel much better now. Thanks!

[@grahamrutherford8800]

Likewise, me to.

[@heyidiot]

Unfortunately, two diggerent things can be true at once.

[@KirstyTube]

It's like terminating CAT 5 or god forbid 6 :/ Better tools make it much easier but without practice it still makes you want to scream.

[@bdf2718]

A Hellerman Deutsch rep once showed me a crimping tool for use with the connectors on 132kV power lines. And a short length of wire (as thick as my wrist) with a connector crimped on. The crimp had been hacksawed at an angle to expose the stranded cable: the strands had fused together and the connector had fused to the cable. Compression welding. Done properly, crimps are *very* reliable.

[@Francois_Dupont]

what country is this? here we just use a bus-bar thing with screws and a plate that swisch the cable on both ends. when we "temporarly" slice a line we use cheap cable to turn around both ends and sometimes a bolt clamp. (sorry i dont know the propper english names). this is on the "medium" voltage cable on the top of telephone poles.

[@bdf2718]

@@Francois_Dupont Here in the UK we don't run 132kV lines on telephone poles.

[@Francois_Dupont]

@@bdf2718 its 20-55kv i think here. i dont remember.

[@bdf2718]

@@Francois_Dupont 10kV is typical around here for high voltage lines on telephone poles. I'm talking about this kind of thing: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anchor_tower_of_overhead_power_line.jpg

[@spvillano]

@@bdf2718 nobody runs 132kV on telephone poles, they'd arc to the pole and ground.

[@Pepsiaddicto]

I have an IWISS brand version of the one you said was garbage. If you'd asked me on the first day owning it, I'd have enthusiastically agreed with you, but after a few hours of learning the tool, I can now create great crimps on dupont connectors with a single squeeze very quickly. It's all about learning your tool and getting the hang of it.

[@wirdy1]

Ahh, crimping😊.... One of my old jobs in military aviation was PTT - Precision Termination Tools. Quite exacting standards, every techie & every tool/die was tested annually with 3 wires (6 crimps) samples sent away to a testing lab at MOD St Athan. Test results back were pass/fail- voltage drop & tensile strength of crimp. Gave confidence in tooling, techniques & to remove a defective tool from use. Kinda felt sorry for the poor person who had to sit there testing thousands of these samples each year!

[@BigKelvPark]

Get them samples off to Sealand! They stopped that for routine testing as no-one was failing as no PTT co-ordinator (me included) would send a shit sample off.

[@TropicalEncounter]

Its nice to see you struggle with making those connections. I was starting to think I was doing something wrong but it turns out my inability to crimp those consistently is normal :) Thanks!

[@dazultra2000]

I bought the simple iwiss tool about 6 months ago and it's made my life so much easier. I do a lot of crimps for drones and it handles everything from tiny 1mm pitch JST-SH up to molex micro-fit 3.0 with no drama at all. Love it

[@dstaron3162]

Now that I know what tool to get, where can I get the the connectors to crimp??? For drones specifically?

[@dazultra2000]

@@dstaron3162 ordered mine on eBay from China. Took about a week to come

[@JoesAutoElectric]

I believe in using the proper tools for the job and in automotive there are tons of different size terminals we use. I have purchased a number of the Iwiss open barrel tools with mixed results. I enjoyed this video a lot. It is honestly amazing how many different styles there are and how many tools you need for this type of work. Great video sir.

[@PeregrineBF]

A tip for crimping the female "DuPont" style connectors: Get a piece of straight male pin header, snap off a section 4 pins long. Push all 4 pins through so that one side has exactly 5mm sticking out. Superglue on the other side to keep them from sliding. When you want to crimp a female connector, slide it onto one of the middle pins of this guide (on the 5mm side) first. Then the side pins should touch the jaws, keeping the pin in position. When you strip the wire, strip 3mm off the end (Knipex 12 40 200 strippers have a length guide and work well, but are $90 so not likely paired with a cheap guideless crimper...). When you insert the wire into the connector for crimping, the ends will run into the pin guide, so you won't over-insert the wire. And the guide will position the connector correctly in the tool. Credit for this idea goes to www.instructables.com/Make-a-Good-Dupont-Pin-Crimp-EVERY-TIME/

[@bigclivedotcom]

That's a good trick for positioning those crimps.

[@SteveSummers]

Thanks Clive. If it can go wrong it will. Especially with the camera rolling.😁

[@cojones8518]

Especially if Peanut is around. :)

[@bigclivedotcom]

Yeah. I leave these disasters in so other people know that things go completely wrong for others too.

[@josephking6515]

@@bigclivedotcom Seems that all the really good Influencers do that too. 👍

[@wargamingrefugee9065]

I used to work at a John Deere dealership. The folks who designed the equipment just loved their crimp on terminals and large variety of connector bodies. They lived in a rarefied world in which equipment didn't vibrate, terminals lose tight contact with one another due to metal fatigue and/or wear, get left in the rain (also washed at the end of the day, then get parked in a shed to stay wet as long as possible), covered in mud or even worse -- dust, and subjected to a near infinite variety of operator randomness. The designers weren't fans of having much slack in the cable runs for mechanics to work with either. :-( The above mostly aside, I like the crimp on terminals because the crimps are air tight; it's rare to see corrosion where the terminal is squished around the conductor. My solution to the wide variety of terminals I'd see was to buy a ratcheting crimping tool with a variety of changeable crimping dies. It always worked without much fuss or bother. It wasn't inexpensive, but it saved a lot of frustration while working with the specialized (designed to lock into a connector body) terminals.

[@scod3908]

WarGamingRefugee , correctly done crimped terminals should be better than soldered. In an application with vibration or movement, wires should ideally have some kind of strain relief so that the vibrations/tugging etc isn’t transferred directly to the connections. In weatherproof connections this is usually incorporated into a rubber boot or heat shrink.

[@nicomedia62]

“Tomorrow world “ how can I forget, it was my favourite on Wednesday during the 80’s as far as remember. Good old days .

[@davesdigitaldomain]

I took your advice and purchased the IWISS brand ,saving me £18 and a lot of frustration with the other brands. Thank you for the quality video and very informative information.

[@rebsdioramas]

Clive, you forgot one of the most important things with the ratchet crimpers, they have the tension adjustment. If they crimp to hard you can lower the tension a little so it wont damage the wire or crimp. I personally hate crimping connectors especially the JST style ones, so fiddly and crimps come out pretty shit most of the time. Cant count the amount of wasted crimps.

[@werner.x]

JST needs the most precise crimping tool. Requiring some careful research regarding correct size. Cheap crimping pliers often work ok on larger terminals, but regularly fail on the smallest size. Really precise anvils only come with the real expensive crimping tools and then it has to be spot on the right size if it comes to tiny sizes. If it's next size, crimping doesn't hold. If it is the next smaller size, crimping squeezes the wire almost off, looks probably good, but fails under use.

[@thrice1888]

Thank you for the info, I didn’t know this

[@distancelab2010]

So glad it's not just me, who has issues with crimping hand tools. Thanks Clive for being human. 🙂

[@Savagetechie]

Somewhere in my workshop I have an AMP crimper that auto feeds the crimps so when making harnesses you just slot the wire in the hole, squeeze trigger then it automatically advances the strip, loads of different heads for it. Admittedly it cost about 10 times as much as the ones featured.

[@ShainAndrews]

Same. Purchased mine close to 20 years ago. Also have some Thomas & Betts ratchet crimpers and associate dies. Used to have a bench mount setup too.

[@auwy7828]

The cutter you mentioned at 20.11 is not a defect or damaged by someone trying to cut something hard. The small notch is there to prevent the cable from slipping out when the cutter jaws closing in to cut the cable, hence it's important to position the cable intended to cut beyond the notch closer to the hinge of the cutter.

[@FullMetalFox2]

Seriously, I don't regret buying an IWISS Crimp Tool, just the manual pressure, ability to get into tight spaces with the small tool and that you can see more while crimping has made it my go-to crimp tool.

[@mikehardy7060]

Really loved Tomorrow's World and watched it religiously every week! I have not yet got into these connectors yet as such. at the moment I generally buy ready made cables and connectors but as I need more and more I will be equipping myself appropriately. Very informative as always. Having watched your triumphs and failures, I can see myself seriously losing it for quite a while until I finally master them :)

[@jeremytoms5163]

Have to say this, I detest manual crimpers of all types. I've seen so many poor and dangerous crimps made by manual crimpers in both electronic and electrical fields over the years. Biggest problem is that you cannot guarantee the strength and electrical performance of every crimp. By using certified ratchet crimpers you can guarantee the terminations are correctly made. Built everything from PLC racks and controls up to 11kv power distribution systems over the years. In all cases the test certificate of the ratchet crimpers had to be listed in the OEM manuals as part of the warrenty. Lots of my crimpers came from RS with certification and when I worked for Klockner Moeller they had their own certified lab for testing and certifying torque wrenches, torque screwdrivers and crimpers etc. Working on cars as a hobby the amount of poorly made terminations carried out by mechanics etc, that I've found is shocking. Just because it runs at 12 volts doesn't mean that a pair of combi pliers can be used to crimp cables. Crimps fail due to arcing, from poorly made connections, heat caused by the arcing causes the insulation to melt and potentially catch fire. I get that decent ratchet crimpers can be expensive and manual crimpers are cheap, but when your project/car install has intermittent faults due to the integrity of the crimped connection that takes you hours to find, you realise that those cheap manual crimpers were a false economy.

[@ulwur]

In my early career I worked as a tech in a metrology lab, and we actually 'calibrated' crimping tools. Mostly asea combiflex/combitrol. Crimped 5 test wires with every tool, then used a pull test machine to check the crimp. Surprisingly often the tools were worn and wouldn't pass the test.

[@NaoPb]

You've convinced me. I'll be saving to buy some decent ratcher crimpers.

[@b0b5m1th]

@@ulwur we even went as far as doing a volt drop measurement as well.

[@LuluTheCorgi]

this gets used for 30cm wires using 5v and some shitty arduino clone. Not high voltage

[@K2teknik.]

@@LuluTheCorgi It doesn't matter, the crimp still have to be done correctly to ensure both the electrical and the mechanically connectivity.

[@kazzle101]

The technique I use is to keep a little part of the metal strip on the connector - instead of cutting the connector off the strip, cut the strip leaving a 6mm tab on the end of the connector, that way you can hold the connector by the strip while crimping, once crimped the tab easily breaks off by bending back and forth.

[@wirdy1]

That's a good tip, cheers.

[@TheRainHarvester]

I was so frustrated with the crimper, i made a video long ago so i wouldn't forget some special tips i figured out. It's on my channel. Others left a bunch of helpful comments there too!

[@SidecarBob]

This was interesting enough when I first saw it that I remembered it 2 years later when I found myself in need of small crimpers. After checking eBay and Amazon and finding their best deals a lot more than when you bought yours googled IWS-2020M and found a listing on Aliexpress that led me to search there, sign up and order an IWS-2020M and an FSA -0626 for less than $1 more than the listing you showed (not bad with the rampant inflation lately). They came yesterday in just under 2 weeks so I'll probably use Ali again. I haven't used them yet but they look very nice (no ding in the cutting part). Thanks again for making videos like this.

[@nickbird7742]

Really Clive "get your tool out and find a stripper " then you go and screw it up. Enough said. Keep it up Clive

[@paulbaker8734]

Ooh Matron!

[@jamesplotkin4674]

Ladyboi strippers only, please.

[@jeremys8360]

James Plotkin I think you’ve spent too much time in Thailand

[@nickbird7742]

@@jeremys8360 never been mate. Does Great Yarmouth count ??

[@ErikBongers]

When I crimp a cable that needs a given length, per individual wire, I provide me with 1 cm extra length and 0.1 mg of Valium.

[@spvillano]

I don't bother with extra length, I just keep the cable stretcher handy. ;)

[@garyhoffmann1615]

That's what she said.

[@chrispapademetrious408]

My projects involve terminal crimping maybe a few times a year, usually with a different terminal type than the last project. I feel like I figure all this stuff out every time - which die to use (I have an Astro 9477), which way the terminal is oriented in the die, whether the terminal barrel seam goes up or down... It is maddening! I would *love* to see you make more videos where you figure this stuff out and share your experiences. I really appreciated that you tested the strength of your test connections, because many of us hobbyists have small kits with limited pieces and don't want to waste them experimenting.

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

Clive, you are OUR preferred tool!

[@johnmullinex6146]

I used molex or Amp most of the time at work. We had to use a micrometer every morning to make sure the tool was crimping within specifications. They had a crimping tool for every pin you could imagine. I would have loved to have their collection. So many of the pins started coming in on reels. Then they had Amp machines with a different head for each pin. I sure miss working there. I could make any cable including ribbon cable with connector and strain reliefs. Keep up the great work. I love your videos.

[@dhaen]

The force needed for these small crimps does require a ratchet tool. In fact a non ratchet crimper gives you a much better "feel". I have used a Molex MT.1919 tool with just A and B positions for 30 years. They probably went out of production before the Internet since I can't find any reference. I work in 2 locations, so I'll be taking Clive's recommendation and order an IWS-2820 as a second crimper. I've found the Molex and JYK crimps and housings are not entirely interchangeable due to a slight difference in the barb position, so keep them separate. Another finding is that the JYK housings, already slightly off-white to begin with, yellow over time whilst the Molex don't, but this does not affect functionality. Thank you for the review Clive, very informative and useful.

[@Dream.of.Endless]

Back when i was a student in electronic engineering (fun times), we crimped a bit with a pair of pliers just to hold them and applied a bit of solder into it to seal the deal. It worked, simple, effective, good connection, and of course not very much standard, but hey, we were students, and i don't recall anyone ever telling us at that time that we were doing it wrong. The only downside, too much solder and the connector wouldn't fit in.

[@Incognitus-Umbra]

I still have my Paladin crimper that i used back in the 1980s to make Token Ring connections, you really do have to get a feel for them

[@zodak9999b]

I still have my West German made Paladin PA1645 from that same era, used to wire several radio station studios. I like that it needs that little extra "oomph" to release it, so that it'll stay closed when you're done.

[@Mrflash222006]

I have a set of AMP for Bnc plugs as well as IDC crimpers for scsi and ide ribbon cables, I may even still have my IDC sub D crimpers

[@whatworkedforme]

I found this interesting if only to discover that you can release a crimp with the little lever!!! I never knew that and I had actually fitted one in my crimper at the wrong angle ( to try it out) and it was my last good one! There it was 'stuck in the groove' waiting to be destroyed whilst I'm watching your video and you 'just happened to say' how you could release it! I like your style Clive..

[@gregorythomas333]

"You have to...when you get your tool...and before each use...you have to really get a feel for this" I picked up the Iwiss SN28B and have been very happy with it...thank you Clive :)

[@mm7wabanamateurradiowomble30]

Have tried many crimp tools over the years but have always ended up going back to the Kompress Crimpstar TIPO-HP2 (0.25 to 1.6mm) which has been the most reliable crimp tool in my collection for 20+ years. It was a gift many years ago from an electrical engineer friend who was fed up seeing me pfaffing with a crap crimp tool.

[@roberthorwat6747]

I saw the Engineer PA 09 on the thumbnail to this video and I wondered what you would have to say about it as I bought one after getting a refund on the truly awful one Screwfix sell. Very glad to note your comments match my experience! Yes it does a good job but it isn't exactly my favourite tool, that honour goes to my Irwin Vise Grip self adjusting 8" wire stripper. Massive time saver.

[@miniwarrior7]

I'm so happy I got the iwiss SN2820 months ago at random for some dupont style crimps and you've gone through 8 other styles and still highly recommend them.

[@RJ9mech]

In aviation, we use many types of crimp terminals for various wiring terminations. These are typically ratcheting crimpers, many of which require periodic calibration. This was a fun video to see!

[@guyconnell2250]

You're supposed to use the round die for the triangular insulation tangs like on the Dupont. The W die will do exactly what you are experiencing. JAE MX-1900 terminals are the same way. The Engineer PA-24 actually has two round dies in addition to the appropriate size W dies.

[@Mister_Brown]

the parallel jaw iwiss 3220m is easily my favorite crimper. it works on all the stupid small crimps you find in modern tvs and laptops at the expense of being tedious on dupont and unusable on older molex style power connectors. i've bought several of those iwiss 3220m's for work and home and a travel bag and every one at every price point has been at least serviceable if not perfect. every classic die crimper i've ever bought on ebay (apart from some used molex dedicated $$$ tools) needed finishing before it worked properly, often they would work fine if not for the paint the chinese love to use on the dies instead of chemically blueing them. a light filing to correct the geometry tends to turn a $5 crimper into a useful tool it's almost like buying chinese lockpicks or chinese tweezers, they ship a tool that is finished just enough to be technically usable and if you need more precision or surface finish it's up to you to put in the effort

[@gvii]

Thank you.I ad a heck of a time trying to find the right crimpers. I use JST plugs all the time and had bought a couple setd of crimps that said they were for the type and size of pins I had. Long story short, they weren't. Since then, I've been scared to buy another set for fear they were incorrectly labeled as well. Just ordered a one of the Iwiss ones just now. Thank you, this video was a huge help.

[@olegvelichko1659]

Here from the “grape bunch lights” video. Hoping this is the one where everything goes wrong... love this channel. Bigclive binge watcher here...

[@rimmersbryggeri]

The SN 28b is actually for uninsulated spade terminals and simular stuff and they do thouse pretty well. Especially the one with the jaw style of the blue one.

[@smjones4238]

Went through the whole thing 30 years ago. No internet, things happened kinda slow and jerky. Same Molex connectors. Were the inputs, outputs and control points for a bidirectional intercom amplifier. Ended up mailing several of the teensy little parts to our main electronic supplier out of Chicago and they sent me the tool. $75 US in about 1988. Tool handle was TRW Cinch with a set of Molex jaws to fit two different sizes of female connectors. They were nice enough to send a bag of each size, 20 bits per bag. The whole episode took about 100 days to accomplish, Thank goodness I was being anal and did all of this well before I needed to do all of the coming changes. Just to illustrate some differences between 1988 and 2020. Customer service was king. Now, not so much. This was in a 800+ bed detention facility in the Denver, Co. USA area. Michael in Colorado (retired)

[@jedblow]

A good presentation of various low priced crimps. Logically if you are in the business of crimping lugs and pins frequently then you buy the top of the line tools. But for intermittent use the less expensive will suffice. I own both a five hundred dollar crimping tool and a twenty dollar tool and you can tell the difference when using them. One does prefect crimps every time with no fumbling and the other does take more time with the need to double check your work.

[@MnPaul1]

I work in an electrical panel shop and deal with this on a daily basis. The best crimper for a Molex pin is the Molex tool. The Molex tool has a holder for the pin. You put the pin in and partially close the crimper. There is a stop for the wire and you catch the insulation on the insulation tab. Be aware that some pins have three tabs and the third one is to support the wire. The third tab does not get crimped. It is there only to support the wire. If you do a lot of stripping for these pins, you want a Weidmuller Stripax Mini Duro. Someone in the UK has them on sale for 25 GBP on ebay(a steal).

[@dashcamandy2242]

I have a ratcheting crimper set with two sets of jaws (one set of jaws, still unused, works for the size range you're using here), and I've used it many times for car stereo and alarm/remote starter installations (6 & 8 gauge wire, using butt terminals and quick-disconnect terminals primarily). At first, I balked at the expense - $45 at the time - but then I remembered the really cheap $20 stripper-crimper-and-screw-cutter tools I had been using for years, and how every one had become bent with only crimping use (quite a few Chinesium ones, and even a 1980s Crapsman), and how much hand strength it took to squeeze those suckers... And I decided, "why not?" Turned out to be one of the best tools I have ever owned. Even though I don't use it very often, when I do use it, I love how it makes consistent, good-quality crimps (on both stranded AND solid-core copper) with far less effort. My only gripe is that most of the time, I don't open my hand far enough to reset the mechanism. 18:25 - The crimpers I have are similar to those. The serrated wheel at the pivot point with +/- on it sets your maximum limit. Because I'm disorganized, I often have to resort to Vise Grips sometimes to crimp those types of terminals, and if I do it properly, it does a fairly good crimp. Most tools like these are shipped with a very light spritz of oil to prevent rust during distribution.

[@eduardomeller6926]

I have a crimping tool with the 28B jaw. I spent a lot of time trying to make it work with Dupont connectors. Finally I adjusted the screw that controls the pressure on the tool and then it worked very well. The adjustment has to be very precise. If the screw is out of the correct position, it will not work properly.

[@clutteredchicagogarage2720]

This is a good video. I have crimped dupont-style connectors a couple dozen times. I recently started building a DIY RC car with my daughter. I hadn't used a crimper in years. I have a PA-09 engineer crimper, but I was absolutely crushing and distorting my crimps after the first couple tries. I think I'm just out of practice. I did get it to work OK after a couple tries. I had to crimp some connectors onto a 6-wire cable for another project. I bought some 6-slot micro-fit molex connectors for this. I tried to use an SN-28B crimper from a cheaper brand (not iwiss) for these, and I was absolutely mangling the pins after my first couple tries. I think I was just using the wrong tool. I didn't really realize how much variation there is in the sizing of the ratcheting-style crimper dies and how critical it is to not mangle anything past the wings that are supposed to hold the conductor wire itself. I determined that I absolutely hate Micro-fit 3.0 Molex, and I'm going to use dupont-style connectors instead for this particular application. Iwiss makes an SN-28B. These are supposedly for dupont style connectors. I think this is why you weren't having good luck using them on those JYK connectors. The SN-28B jaws are probably too wide for those. In any case, My cheap set of SN-28Bs didn't come with instructions like those IWiss crimpers. I'm going to indeed measure the width between the 2 sets of wings on my connectors with digital calipers and also by eyeballing them in different positions in my various crimpers. It makes sense to me that you want a size that matches the width between the wings when parallel. I think I knew this when I last used these kinds of crimpers for electronic connectors a few years ago, but I forgot this detail. Thanks for pointing this out. I think this will prevent me from mangling connectors as my daughter and I try to finish building our DIY RC car next week.

[@diogor420]

0:32 "Oh that was the Covid thing that "was" happening in China..." - Interesting

[@jacksonpascoe789]

I was about to say the same thing

[@Heizenberg32]

Yeah, I vaguely remember that thing. I wonder whatever became of it?

[@diogor420]

@@Heizenberg32 😂😂😂

[@dumdidumdumification]

Aged like fine milk

[@tookitogo]

23:25 the offset insulation crimps on the “DuPont” terminals are actually not supposed to be crimped into the wire (creating the pretzel- or B-like cross section formed by the Golden Arches), but rather are for a *circular* die that wraps them _around_ the insulation, with the offset tips forming a continuous collar around the insulation, but without cutting into it. I know the Molex tooling actually creates that circular crimp, but I’ve never seen anything I could afford that does this.

[@Curt_Sampson]

The Preciva PR-3254 does this in its innermost slot (as well as being deep enough to crimp the full "dupont" connector), and is fairly cheap, as decent crimpers go, at around $40. www.amazon.com/dp/B07R1H3Z8X/ It still took me probably a couple of hundred crimps to figure out how to work the thing reliably, but at this point I'm very pleased with it. Using a die designed for dupont pins helps a lot. A few of things I learned on my own that are not in the video or I felt were under-emphasised: 1. Getting the wire to the right depth (insulation through the insulation barrel but not extending into the wire barrel) is one of the trickiest yet most critical parts. It helps to hold the wire with your dominant hand when inserting it. 2. For dupont female connectors, it's also important that the bare wire not extend more than a smidgen beyond the wire barrel, because otherwise it will interfere with the male pin entering the female connector. You need to strip very little insulation off the end of the wire, less than feels right when you're just looking at it. 3. After the crimp is done, hold the pin tightly and give the wire a good hard tug to test the crimp. Don't be shy about how much force you use; a good crimp will resist a lot of force. And of course, do this _before_ you put the connector into the shroud, since they can be a pain to get out again. I also find that my crimps, at least with this tool, work best when I squeeze it _really_ hard, two-handed even. I check the results under a magnifying glass regularly and have never seen a wire or insulation damaged this way, but I have had plenty where the pin came off when given a decent pull.

[@tookitogo]

@@Curt_Sampson Hi! Thanks for the detailed reply! In the 9 months since my original comment, the situation has indeed changed. Preciva has a few models, and a few others have shown up on aliexpress as well. None work as well as the OEM tool (or one very similar), though. Back in May, I started a forum thread on this topic, and it’s got lots of details on some of the options that have come out: www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/affordable-crimp-tools-for-small-connectors-(dupont-etc-)/ As far as your numbered tips: yep, absolutely correct on all points! I’m now working at a vocational training center, and have done a couple of crimping workshops with groups of electronics apprentices. Indeed, they’re often surprised at how little one needs to strip for some connector types. (JST in general, and Molex KK 254 and its clones (KF2510, etc) for example.) Getting the insertion depth right is indeed tricky on basic tools. It takes practice to get a “feel” for just where the insulation should hang up to be in the right spot. I sooooo prefer using an expensive crimper (esp. the kind that are Wezag CS10 based) that have an insulation stop blade inside - those get it right every time.

[@Curt_Sampson]

@@tookitogo I should note that the Preciva PR-3254 that I suggested is not new; I bought mine on Feb. 2, 2020, before this video came out. Oddly enough, the tool now seems to be less available than it was back then; it disappeared from amazon.co.jp about six months ago and I see it now only on amazon.com. It also mystifies me why no other tool has that same "dupont" jaw (longer and without the "M" curve on the insulation tabs); aside from that the tool seems decent enough but nothing special. Thanks for your link to the EEVblog forum topic; I'll have a read through it, though I'm not actually looking for a new crimping tool at the moment. While the PR-3254 is certainly far from perfect, I suspect that I'm not going to find anything better for under $100 or even more.

[@Curt_Sampson]

Well, I just checked out that forum thread and in the very first post you link to the SN-4228B / TZ-4228B (www.aliexpress.com/item/4000497324950.html) which appears to have the exact same dupont crimping jaw that the PR-3254 has, and at an even more reasonable price. And there's a lot of other good stuff in that thread.

[@tookitogo]

@@Curt_Sampson Thanks for the update! The preciva and the 4228B aren’t exactly the same: the latter has 4 positions in the die, not 3. But the illustrations are clearly from the same source, making it quite likely they’re made by the same company and rebadged as needed.

[@douglasheld]

Crimping is my nemesis. Thank you for the guidance here. Just seeing the IWISS product instructions 14:00 is super helpful. I can understand what went wrong with my crimps rotating and getting mangled up.

[@michaeljarcher]

Great video, found myself needing to re-crimp a video-door system power line, which was wired by a moron and duck taped together. I purchased a SN-01BM before seeing this video and pleased it worked perfectly, best 3quid I've spend in a while. And another tool for my collection. Domestically the connectors are known as XH2.54 at least here in China.

[@diamondfailer11]

Clive, I really appreciate you explaining the JST-XH type crimps. They're the ones I like best and get for cheap at my favorite electronics supplier. I was going crazy trying to find a compatible tool, didn't even know its proper name. Thank you so much!!

[@muzikman2008]

I always twisted the conductors...not any more. I learned something today.

[@auwy7828]

The first 2 crimping tools you mentioned are not in the correct setting, you can change the crimping pressure by adjusting the dial. Remove the screw holding the dial and turn the dial CW or CCW to find the correct setting without over or under crimped. Chances are both crimping tools are usable and not crap as you mentioned.

[@Leif_YT]

I'm using the last iWiss one since a year or a bit longer and so far it did a very good job. JST (GH, PH, XH etc) , Dupont - no problems at all. I think i noticed it the first time in a video from Andreas Spiess who compared it to the Engineer. For Dupont i've also sometimes seen recommendations for the HT-213, but never tried it myself. The results in videos looked very good, but it's less versatile with other connectors.

[@theonlybilge]

This will very useful for me in the future. Now I just need to figure out what crimping is.

[@whitehoose]

I have two crimp tools A shiny new engineer pa-20 (different crimp sizes 1.6,1.9,2.0 &2.3 because at the time it was £10 cheaper than the 02!). It does the same job, I wouldn't swap it. Also have my old GPO switchboard cord fixer which is almost as good. When I was a young apprentice I went on a two day switchboard course on how to change and fix the cords on switchboards. involved whipping the end of cloth covered cable with waxed linen thread and crimping eyelets to the wires. The "official" blurb said: Strip 1/8" of wire and close the wings on the crimp to hold it in place with the end of the tool before gripping with the plier to close the crimp in the former ... The more insulation you leave the better the grip, you only need a short (but good) electrical contact. The main failure point over time is the strain of use and plastic gives more grip than wire to make a tight stable connection. Those cords were given a hard life the supervisors kept a record of who fixed what - and if they didn't last you were moved on. I was there 18 months and moved because I got a van. At 18 It was the best job in the world - Once a week I got to sit all day chatting up the GPO operators fixing their cords - It was like being a kid in a sweet factory!

[@Servo421]

I have a AMP 90005 crimper. Had it for 30 years, still going strong

[@worawatli8952]

11:00 That happened to me so often at my old workplace, it wasn't my tool, and it annoyed the hell out of me, I had to plied it off EVERY time and I had to do hundreds of connections, but it was such a time crunch I never thought about getting a new tool. Seeing you demonstrate that brought myself to that dark time. rofl

[@d.l.harrington4080]

I can tell you more about crimping tools and solderless connector then you even want to know. For a couple of years I worked in a lab that did "Mil-Spec" testing of terminals and connectors. Mil-Spec is Military Specification. They had to pass that in order to be use on government contract jobs. With Mil-Spec crimpers, you can neither over or under crimp as the Mil-Spec tool was designed that way. We had both hand and automatic crimpers for all sizes of wire and terminals from 0000 to 28 gage wire. Insulated and uninsulated. In all cases, the crimp was stronger then the wire.

[@bgable7707]

Awesome, Love your style. I've always said, the best way to test anything(software) is in production, ie, live. With your demonstrations of the various tools, I realized I was actually right on with the "minor" issues I was having. I purchased this budget pair and they work similarly to one of your preferred ones. FUTC from Aliexpress ~ 6-7 US $ ("Professional" Multi-tool pliers Crimping Pliers wire stripper) Keep up the great work!

[@klazzera]

today i got the pad-11 from engineer, it is fire. terminals don't get stuck at all, very good die quality, perfect curling action.

[@Ender06]

One thing I like to do when preparing the terminals for crimping is to cut the strip of terminals leaving little tabs at the back of the pin. So you can insert the wire into the pin visually (no jaws are in the way), and hold on to both by pinching the tab of metal at the back and the wire. Then you can put the wire/pin combo into the jaws and crimp it in one go.

[@dennisfahey2379]

The Dupont's insulation tabs cross past eachother and should wrap around the insulation - side to side and around. The wire connection does the arches and penetrates the center. I'm fortunate enough to have picked up the real Dupont and Molex supplied crimpers which work phenomenally well. They are clearly made for production volume use. Very soft springs reduce fatigue and the tooling is spot on of course. I'm sure I've done thousands of connectors by now.

[@ottodesco4089]

Man, where was this video when i needed it??!! Still very informative. Thanks

[@Nf6xNet]

I think this was a fantastic depiction of the difficulty of making good crimps when you can't afford the exact matching tool and dies for the specific terminal that you're trying to crimp. Like you said, those things can easily cost many hundreds of pounds or dollars or Aussie dollaridoos, and that's just for a hand crimper... once you get into production line tools, they can cost thousands!

[@electronicsNmore]

Thanks for another great video!

[@godfreypoon5148]

Big Clive: I am *not* impressed with your tool. Manufacturer: **disappointed face** ... zips up

[@jeremys8360]

Big Clive: I am impressed with your tool. Manufacturer: *face glows* unzips pants

[@johnjordan3126]

I have (3) sets of iWiss connector crimpers for JST to Anderson Powerpole, and a set of their hex ferrule crimpers. I tried another brand that didn't last the evening (the weak metal streched), got a replacement that made a mess of the connectors, then replaced them with an iWiss model that has worked perfectly. I could certainly spend a lot more but these have worked well for me (DIY hobbyist).

[@fredflintstone1]

glad to see someone else not get on with JST and dupont connections Molex crimps so easy to use

[@CatCow97]

And these issues with crimping are why I have finally stopped being cheap and surf eBay waiting for a cheap used crimper of the model that the connector OEM specifies to be used. Getting the proper crimper makes a big difference, but I certainly don't blame people for not wanting to spend $300-500 for a crimper that they may not use very often and may only be applicable to one or two crimp connectors they use. Hence my eBay used shopping preference where if you have patience you can pick up crimpers for 1/4 or 1/2 the price of a brand new one, although you do run the risk of getting something worn out that may not work properly anymore.

[@100SteveB]

I make a lot of connections whilst building rc planes and multi-rotors. I have a pair of those Iwiss crimps and i love them. I make a lot of JST PH and JST XH connections, and the Iwiss does a great job every time. Took me a while to learn how to get the best out of them, but once you get used to them you cannot beat them. Before i got them i wanted to get the Engineer branded ones that you have, but could not afford the silly price they wanted for them, so when i spotted the Iwiss ones on Banggood i ordered them straight away. I have not regretted it. They crimp just about every i need in my rc hobby.

[@Asyss_Complex]

Which SWISS crimper? The manual one?

[@100SteveB]

@@Asyss_Complex Iwiss - 21:13

[@UserUser-ww2nj]

Your mentioning "Tomorrows World " brought back some fond memories , including C.D's . Big fanfare about how indestructible they were , years later and we all now know that a single scratch can render them bin worthy . I used to be glued to every episode , i think Raymond Baxter was my favorite presenter because he had a great sense of humor when things went wrong

[@throbscottle6023]

Me too. Thursday night was TW and DW night, if I remember correctly.

[@DUB-sential]

I admire your honesty to show things going wrong alas people will give up when acquiring their tools and not having instant gratification at the ease of use and blame China.

[@vincefletcher1547]

Brilliant Clive Brought back many Great memory's

[@PaulSteMarie]

You need a set of the Greenlee/Paladin CrimpAlls. Very rugged, and you can get all sorts of dies. I have two sets of the handles and a variety of different dies. About $70 for the base tool and maybe $20-$30/pair for additional dies. Previously, I had bought a set of the PowerWerx crimpers for Anderson PowerPoles for about $40 and 4-5 extra die sets, but the crimpers weren't rigid enough for good quality nylon-insulated connectors.

[@Slikx666]

I bought a set of cheapy Chinese crimpers for a job, they worked well. Then I needed to work with some other connecters so I bought another cheapy Chinese crimpers, but this time they had 4 different interchangeable heads. They are lovely. They live in their own pouch and are ready for action, if I can find them.

[@markfergerson2145]

"*if I can find them*" (sigh) I feel ya.

[@TheToillMainn]

This video is way better because you screwed up multiple of those crimps. It really shows which tools are easier to use.

[@Europhile]

You are brave to make a video requiring this amount of fiddly maneouvering. I've learned a lot. Thank you.

[@Gary-Seven-and-Isis-in-1968]

As you were saying "Of all the tools I've tested" They've been testing you Clive.😂 What an excellent upload.. Something to perhaps cover in a future video is the Crimps themselves. It is a nightmare finding a decent tool to use on insulated crimps. But the crimps also vary in my opinion and the ferrule which is crushed against the wire must be of suitable thickness to remain crushed and in cheapo Chinese crimps this is not the case. Always buy good crimps from RS or Farnell, they will not be be cheap but they will work. Chinese Crimps will nearly always fail the pull test. You cannot crimp tin foil.🤔

[@markkayser426]

For RJ45 connectors only use the Ideal 30-696. 10 out of 10 times the connections work just right. Tried others and there is nothing like finding out you need to take another ride in the cherry picker because you have a bad connection. There is a reason that if you asked 10 different low voltage guys what they are using around here, they will pull out this one. Also, the others from Ideal are garbage, only use this model.

[@wtmayhew]

I have made quite a few terminations with the iWiss tool for DuPont connectors. The comments section above regarding DuPont terminations are congruent with my experience. It took a few practice runs before I was able to master the art of proper crimping. The object lesson is that it is usually worth paying extra to get a top quality crimp tool. A Tyco/Amp tool for RJ45s is $100+ US, but is is rare to make a bad crimp and the tool is more productive than a $30 US crimp tool. The expensive Tyco tool paid for itself probably the first week I used it.

[@fmc1192]

Hi Clive, I have and still use a genuine Molex tool with the latch and stop for the connector. Still produces perfect results but, as you say very expensive, cost about £130 and that was over 30 years ago.

[@DirtyRobot]

On the high end ratchet crimp tools, you normally buy a kit with a few dies that can be swapped out. They also have an adjustment sprocket to set the pressure that the catch releases the ratchet. I have two nice ratchets that I use. One has dies for RJ and BNC the other is for the DP/JST style of termination.

[@Roy_Tellason]

I have two ratchet-type crimping tools. One is marked with a number but I have no idea who made it so the availability of alternate dies for it is an open question. It does BNC connectors quite well, though, and came in handy when I wanted to make some patch cords a while back. The other tool I picked up at a hamfest for only about $2 but I have yet to find out what it's good for. :-) I've also used more specialized crimping tools to do Anderson Powerpole connectors (used for some DC power distribution around here) and coax cable into PL-259 connectors, which still need the center conductor soldered. I'm looking for something that has a wide range of uses, even if it means that I have to change the dies to do it. Covering stuff that's as small as what you are showing here on up to bigger stuff. Speaking of bigger stuff, I have some connectors that won't be handled by any of these tools. Very large, they'd be suitable for things like connecting to a large lead-acid battery or similar power distribution. For that I hear that a "hydraulic crimper" is the way to go. I''m still researching that and the above and haven't arrived at any satisfactory choices just yet.

[@dhpbear2]

5:43 - Looks like they didn't allow for the thickness of the *crimp itself* when they designed these, especially the one with the blue handle.

[@user-ss8fk8ox8f]

I always used Amp crimping tools, Harrisburg PA.They were the greatest crimpers around! Where did they go? I made a lot of rs232c cables!

[@fredgenius]

Thanks, very enlightening - you dint mention the adjustment wheel that some of the ratchet tools have... I bought a cheap ratchet crimp tool (Weirli SN-28B), mainly for Dupont and JST XH 2.5 pins - dint have much success with it, mangled most or dint crimp hard enough and the wire pulled out easily. So I threw it (metaphorically) into a dark corner and now I solder the wires in and fold the strain relief tabs with pliers. 25% success rate with the crimp tool, 99% with the solder method.

[@frankwebb7507]

The type of crimp terminals you are using are referred to as "F Crimp" (not to be confused with F type coaxial connectors). The best manufacturers of crimp tools for F crimp terminals are Sargent in the USA, AMP USA, HERO Japan & IWISS China. For the casual user that may be crimping a wide range of of ratios of outside diameter to centre conductor diameter cables the worst type of F crimp tool is the one that simultaneously crimps the centre conductor and the insulation, for the casual user it's always best to crimp the centre conductor first and test it for retention and then crimp the insulation. Most of the diecast carbon steel crimping jaws from China that dual crimp the centre conductor & the insulation simultaneously are out of spec in several ways and quite often result in an unsatisfactory crimp and a deformed terminal. Sargent in the USA make a lot of the tooling that is sold under the Delphi name. Delphi taking over Packard-Hughes also formerly the Packard Electrical Division of GM. AMP (Aircraft & Marine Products USA) are credited with developing the first F crimp terminal back in the early 1950's. Sargent, Hero & IWISS make a range of tools that only make one crimp connection per operation, IWISS make the biggest readily available F crimp tooling up to 35 square mm in cross section. Checkout the IWISS IWS 5100A and the IWISS IWS 8200A on the Aliexpress WEB site. Similarly checkout the Sargent tools (www.sargenttools.com/ToolsByTrade/Weather_Pack_Two_Cavity_Crimp_Tool/) #3181 CT - Weather-Pack Unsealed 20-10 AWG Two Cavity Crimp Tool. The Hero BL-255 (hem.co.jp/products/3772) is another magnificent tool and renowned in the automotive industry.

[@psoon04286]

We folks in the aviation electronics trade are pretty spoilt by the plethora of ‘aviation Mil spec’ connector tools from companies like Daniels, AMP, Buchanan, Raychem, Amphenol etc. I remember first encountering molex style connectors a few decades back when we were installing emergency lights along the floors to light up the aisle in a smoke filled cabin. The molex pins and sockets looked so much inferior to the ones we typically see used on the rest of the aircraft systems and the crimpers, like you so accurately observed, require lots of practice and a sharp eye to get right. And, yes, we too with our fancy tools do screw-up once in a while🤪

[@kajyakuzonik9130]

Thank you for this video! I have spent days trying to figure out how to use these crimps (had two different ones) for both KK and Molex (and some other I can't remember), even from multiple "manufacturers") with mostly awful results. The occasional time the crimping was Ok, it was still more or less non-repeatable. Also experimented with different wire types, sizes etc. Now I know that it wasn't simply me sucking - It was that the tools suck more!

[@ponemark]

Spent some time and money on crimping tools and found only a few any use. Very helpful thanks Clive like them blue ones to join my collection.

[@isoguy.]

Saw a clip from tomorrow's world with Raymond Baxter where he used his own Rolls Royce to demonstrate a car ramp that rotated a car on its side to make working on it much easier. Great crimping vid 👍👍👍👍👍

[@NathanCroucher]

26:56 Ive used up about 40 of those JST-XH with the same tool and the exact same result. Come at it from all angles trying to get the perfect second crimp and no luck. These tools have to be machined perfectly, and even the connectors themselves. If ones out of spec then its all mud.

[@kioanakos]

There are some crimpers that look almost identical to the first 2 crappy crimpers in the video, but they work perfectly on dupont terminals. Those good crimpers come with EDM machined precision dies which bend perfectly the connector and do not crash it.

[@chuckthetekkie]

This is really funny. On Dec 16 I ordered that exact crimper you recommended, the IWISS 2820. Seems I made a good choice. I was going to buy the PA-09 Crimpers at first, then decided on the IWISS 2820. Only now did I watch this video. Seems you have psychic powers and got me to buy the ones you like without me having to watch this video first.

[@someguy2741]

I have bought IWISS branded ratcheting crimpers for the small molex type connections and also one for the wire crimps that hold the wires nicely for inserting into screw terminals. They work quite well and are reasonably priced.

[@leosthrivwithautism]

Big Clive I love your videos sir. Just sending a quick hello from the US!

[@mhathaway8711]

blade micrometers help to measure crimp dimensions for setting the tension wheels to prevent over/under crimping. recommended crimp dimensions can be obtained from most mfgs. you should not have to pull test with even average crimpers if set right and repeatable.