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Crimping tool help 3

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itsmoked

itsmoked

Electrical
Feb 18, 2005
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I'm looking for a low force crimping tool for standard insulated barrel terminals. I just finished part one of a job (3 more to do) that required a cr@p load of 10AWG crimps. My hands hurt enough to bother my getting to sleep.

Does anyone know of a hand crimper that takes less force than the typical ones out there. I'd really like one that maybe takes a couple of squeezes instead of needing both hand and literally a knee to push against to put a pro crimp onto 10AWG. Hydraulic would be fine too but I bet those only start at 8AWG or larger. Or one with looong handles for more leverage. Or multiple compound advantage.. Something, anything better than this POS AMP crimper.

Keith Cress
kcress -
 
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I improvised a "forcifier" with a piece of aluminum tube a string and a plank. Crimping tool in a vice. Not exactly beautiful and not for mass production. But worked for me. Foot is mightier than hand.

Gunnar Englund
--------------------------------------
Half full - Half empty? I don't mind. It's what in it that counts.
 
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Why not go electric? Our guys use these in the shop and crimp 10awg all day long. They use Makita 18v lithium batteries.
They are a bit expensive if you only need them occasionally though.



Here is a Thomas and Betts battery operated crimper BAT22-6 on ebay for $300/450. Not a bad deal considering they go for 1500 to 2000. It needs the crimp die but I think it is the same as the manual hand crimper.
 
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You might want to give Greenlee a call and have the rep swing by and bring a few of their tools to try..
They had a hand tool that was very nice as well as this electric unit which makes it super easy for "field" applications..
We demo'd this and it was really nice.. I believe these guys are the ones that really make the tool though..


Note: I have yet to find a battery or electric crimping tool that can standup to repeated (production) use.. They all burn out the motors/control boards after as little as 1000 crimps and all required a "cool down" time after 10 minutes of continual use,etc...

We tried and have gone back to pneumatic/hydraulic tools for production crimping.. Panduit CT-600 is a great little pneumatic "finger crusher" :)

Ebay is your best bet.. We find used tools ALL the time there and "new" pricing is just crazy for a few jobs/occasional use..
 
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I have a pair of Channellock 909s.
Works great.
I use the indent or bare crimp on insulated terminals as well. It does a better job and if I need to I can repair the damaged insulation with heat shrink tubing.
T&B Have made a similar tool for 50 years or more. I believe the T&B number is WT112M

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter
 
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We have 4 of the Greenlee (same as T&B) crimpers at work. Greenlee beat the T&B price by about $100 or so but that Ebay price linked above is pretty good. This is about the best battery crimper I could find and it works very well in our plant because they are only used for some wire terminations on each product meaning they don't see really high volume use. I think pneumatic is the only way to get something to do high volume production. We found the Dewalt 12V batteries fit them.

I found the Greenlee or T&B matching dies they sell plain suck for insulated barrels. They mangle the insulation sleeve and the barrel too and leave the terminal bent. We use Panduit dies because they crimp the insulated barrels properly. They are directional so one side crimps the barrel and the other side squeezes down the plastic sleeve to act as a strain relief. If you compared the crimps side by side you'd be willing to spend the extra for the Panduit dies. I can get the P/N on Tuesday because it's a pain to find on the Panduit site. You do need to buy the 12mm version of the crimper to use Panduit dies. I know Greenlee sells it but I can't say if T&B sells it.

We have used those upright crimpers as linked at Newark but we found that everyone uses them standing on the battery and since they are hydraulic over DC motor the hydraulic pump seeps fluid into the motor and they start burning and eventually quit working. We still get a fair bit of usage but not enough for what you expect out of a $1000 tool ($3500 is a ridiculously high price for it). T&B told us they don't make that unit anymore so that might be the reason for the high price.

The other crimper we use at work is the Panduit CT-1550 hand crimper. We have a bunch of them and they are a very nice tool. They are built so you can set one handle on a bench or the electrical panel you are building or the door of an enclosure and press the other handle down. This eliminates having to squeeze the handles together unless you are working in a tight area without much slack in the wire. But, they are rather pricey, likely in the $300US range. The dies in these are the same as the dies we use in the Greelee battery crimpers. Any hand crimper you pick should be a controlled cycle tool which these are.
 
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Not sure if you can get Cembre's products over in your part of the world. Their larger stuff is first rate, perhaps worth a call to the rep if there is one in your area. Similar to the Greenlee / Klauke stuff.
 
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Thanks everyone for your recommendations! Most appreciated.

Thanks JG2828 for "electric" and mcgyvr for sharing your experiences.

I've used the Channel Lock on uninsulated crimps when I last did one... about 25 years ago. I strictly use insulated ones now just because of the applications I seem to be doing.

I love the thought of going electric but dang them buggers are pricey! There's a spectacular German one that uses a worm drive and it's short and clever and does a crimp in about 2 seconds. But it was $1400 bucks. I spent hours looking yesterday and never saw that Greenly one for $700 or I might have sprung for it.

I greatly appreciate the rundown LionelHutz.

I decided to go with the same old usual style only with much larger longer handles for more advantage. I started looking for a crimper that would do 8AWG figuring those would have to have more advantage than normal 18/12/10 crimpers. I did find some but they tended to be 10/8 and I almost did get those except I found enough 18/12/10 with long handles and time was crowding me 5:30AM rolled up so I went with these:
xcelite-ratcheting-crimper

Which has 12 inch handles.
Z-s-_-hcpEx__obzbfu.jpg


If they don't do it for me I will be getting the Greenlee and using the Panduit dies. Nice tip there Lionel!
If I'd seen the Panduit CT-1550 I'd have gotten it right off and hit the sack at a reasonable time. :)



Keith Cress
kcress -
 
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I didn't mention it but the Panduit CT1701 does down to #4 uninsulated lugs and it's the same frame as the CT-1550. It pretty much does require you to crimp on a bench when using it.

The flat side on the top of the crimper you pictures looks like it could be put on a bench to make crimping easier.

You should be able to hold those crimpers in your hand with bottom handle in your palm and when you're ready to apply the crimp force you just put the end of the other handle your fingers are holding against a solid surface and push.
 
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That style looks very like the Pressmaster types in the UK. They're popular with our techs because they are definitely easier to use than the conventional T&B / Amphenol style.
 
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Number 4! Wow. That definitely speaks to pretty easy for 10s.

What I'm typically doing is refurbishing big machines. Often I'm replacing all the piles of contactors and a bazillion buttons with new contactors, often in a different location, and perhaps a PLC and a touch screen. This often requires extending motor leads. On this job the existing motor leads stick out thru tight grommets 8 inches from the ground and are about 6 measly inches long. A really GREAT working height!
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I'm having to do twelve #10 crimps at that level on each machine. I've got three more to do. Hard to do bench style pressing. :/


Keith Cress
kcress -
 
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