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Welcome to the crimping page. I will be adding more info and pics here as I have time. Most of this info is applicable to all crimpers, but specific crimper info will be added.

Crimping takes a bit of trial and error and lots of practice. The dieset size you choose depends on wire size and terminal type. Do some tests and record which dies work for which size wire etc. You can tell if the crimp is too tight or too loose, look at the dent on back of terminal. It should be well dented but not damaged. If it's not crimped enough, the dent is very shallow and wire will pull out of terminal. You should not be able to pull the wires out.

You need to practise to get excellent crimps. Record everything that produces a good crimp for later recall because you won't remember all the variations possible and you don't want to have to test and figure out how to crimp again.

Terminal Basics:

Most open barrel terminals have two set of tabs that are bent and formed around the wire. The smaller tabs are bent around the wire strands, while the larger tabs are bent around the insulation. On sealed types the insulation tabs also hold the seal in place.

terminal-tabs2

Terminal sizing is based on the width of the male terminal’s insertion tab. The female opening as shown above will be slightly larger. Size is usually shown in thousandths of an inch. The above terminal is a .250” size.

Below pic shows both sides of some .250 terminals with an Eastern Beaver crimp.

single-crimp

 

CRIMPING BASICS - insert terminal in crimper, insert stripped wire, squeeze crimper handles - see pics on this page for terminal insertion positioning. Strip wire wider than the wire crimp tabs, test, adjust until 1-3 mm of wire sticks out the far side of the crimp. With all the crimpers I sell, crimping is easy once you select the right dies for your wire and terminal sizes. If your crimp squeezes the material too much use larger dies. If the wire pulls out use smaller dies. A good crimp will not allow the wires to pull out, it will not deform the terminal, a good dent will appear on the backside of the crimp area. This dent will help you to judge consistency but will vary with material and sizes.

Once you have crimped the wire strands you can bend over or crimp the insulation crimp tabs onto the wire insulation. The insulation crimp doesn’t have to be tight, it should be only enough to keep the wire from moving.

Sealed types - on sealed types you have to put the seal on the wire before stripping the wire or crimping the terminal on. Once the seal is on, then strip the wire and crimp the wire strands onto the wire crimp tabs. After the wire strands are crimped, slide the seal into place the gently crimp or bend the seal crimp tabs over the seal to hold it in place.

Here is a sealed terminal inserted in the P-706 crimper ready for wire insertion. Please note, the flare section is exaggerated here, testing will tell if too much or too little is sticking out to get the perfect flare where the wire is inserted. Notice the terminal’s tabs for the seal are offset for the larger diameter of the seal. The seal will be crimped in last. That is the easy part and you could easily bend the seal crimp tabs with pliers enough to hold the seal in position.

p706-flare

 


CRIMPERS

HOZAN P-706

I would suggest for 16 AWG wire using the 2.4L dies for sealed type terminals. The P-706 is designed primarily for sealed types but will do some unsealed. For 18 gauge wire, try the 2.0H dies.

For most crimping you'll squeeze the crimper all the way with a strong squeeze. For some crimping you'll want  to backoff the pressure a bit, only testing will tell you what dies to use and how much pressure to use.

Start by inserting a terminal on the terminal's smaller wire strand tabs. The larger tabs on the terminal end is for the wire insulation and seal. Do the wire strand crimp first, then slide the seal into position and crimp the seal in place lightly using the 4.0 round dies.

The Hozan P706 is designed for sealed connector types but will do some unsealed. It has a large choice of diesizes, but the dies are narrower than would be optimum for unsealed terminals. It might not do a decent job on bullets, they are made of thick, stiff material, they're tough to crimp well. The Hero FHR-07 crimps bullets very well.

 


HOZAN P-707

This crimper has lots of different dieset choices and they all do a great job. Just pick the right set by testing. This crimper doesn’t really have the proper dies for most seals but you can easily bend seal crimp tabs over them using needlenose pliers. It’s primarily a crimper for non-sealed types. Because it does such an incredible job on sealed types I highly recommend it as an all around workshop crimper.

This crimper is very popular because people find it very useful to get excellent professional crimping results with a wide range of wire sizes and terminal types. I highly recommend it.

 

p707-closeup

Below is a chart to get you started finding the right dies for your wire. At the top are sizes of conductor (wire strands) and below that are wire insulation sizes. You must test some crimps on the wire and terminals you are using to ensure a good crimp. A good crimp will not pull off the wire.

p707-chart


HERO FRH-07

The Hero FRH07 is designed for unsealed connector types. It will do some sealed types too. But it doesn't have nearly the number of choices in dieset sizes as the Hozan P706 or P707 do. But, with testing and a partial squeeze you can do in between sizes on all of the crimpers I sell.

It's hard for me to say for sure that any crimper will work well for the particular wire and terminal you want to crimp. As you can see by the picture online with the Hero FRH-07, with some testing I was able to crimp almost anything except the larger battery ring terminals, which are extremely thick material. Keep in mind that I have extensive experience crimping so it was easy for me to figure out the pressure required and the right dies to use, etc.

But if I couldn't crimp it, that means I couldn't crimp it well enough to stand up on its own, what I'd call a 'good crimp', as shown in the pictures. If you can't get a prefect crimp, you can solder afterwards. Just don't distort or crack the metal of the terminal, crimp it enough to hold for the soldering. And don't solder with a seal in place, slide it back away from any heat, then install it later when the solder has cooled.

HEROFRH-07-CRIMPS_1607

The picture above showing all the crimps I got from the Hero FRH-07 has exploded its sales for me. I intend to do the same for all my crimpers. But, it's a lot of work. I know it's hard to choose a crimper, and I know they're expensive, and I will try and explain what each crimper's about online, but for those who want to startoff with one crimper for a current project, the choice is not always so easy.

 


HERO BL-255

This is the only crimper to get for those thick and stiff brass battery terminals. It is very versatile though and can do splice crimping as well as most .250” terminals on larger wires. It will not do wires smaller than 16 AWG. It can crimp large wires up to 10 AWG or 6 sqmm.

Here is the BL-255 crimping a battery terminal. Note here, the dies all have beveled edges. That means you line up the edge of the terminal crimp tabs with the crimper die edges, the flared amount is built right into the crimper’s bevel edges. Great for consistently excellent crimping.

bl255-flare


NOTE: Crimpers are precision tools and you should never force them or squeeze them too hard. Varying crimp strength can allow you to do more sizes and varieties of terminals and wires. That means crimpers without a ratcheting feature can be more versatile but require more ‘feel’ for consistency.

The BL-255 does have a ratcheting feature and it’s useful for some things. It has a release feature, and it can be used with the ratcheting disabled for more versatility.

I want you, my customer to really get your money's worth with everything you buy from me. Please know that although good crimping is a matter of trial and error, with these excellent crimpers it’s not that hard to get professional results. Whereas, with many crimpers you’ll find for sale, you’ll never get a good crimp.

All the crimpers I sell are the best that I have found - for amateur non-production work, at reasonable cost to the DIYer.  Crimping is a skilled craft and something anyone can learn if they have the right tools.