Crimper Shoot Out / Load Test Results

[jfmid]

Re: Load Testing Crimp Terminals

Hello MaineSail,
You mention the AMP for yellow only. Could you elaborate on that a bit??? What do you use for other sizes/colors? Is this the only crimper you have faith in or is it just for this particular connector. This is new to me and I am looking to get a crimper and wonder I should be looking for.
Great work as always. Thanks so much for sharing with us.
John

 

[Maine Sail]

Hello MaineSail,
You mention the AMP for yellow only. Could you elaborate on that a bit??? What do you use for other sizes/colors? Is this the only crimper you have faith in or is it just for this particular connector. This is new to me and I am looking to get a crimper and wonder I should be looking for.
Great work as always. Thanks so much for sharing with us.
John

The crimp tools I use are the AMP T-Head for red & blue and the AMP yellow tool. These are aerospace/aircraft grade tools that carry industry certifications. They are OBSCENELY priced but my buddy who is a Big Whig at Bombardier / Lear Jet set me up with a re-builder/re-calibrator and I got them both used and re-built & calibrated and certified for a very good price. If I am to put my name on electrical work these are the tools I use. Overkill? Probably but I sleep well and I do enjoy finely crafted tools....

The other ratcheting tools all held over 80 pounds of force including the $15.00 Harbor Freight tool. This exceeds the ABYC recommendation of 35 pounds for 12GA wire by double. I do however think that 35 pounds for 12GA is not a suitable crimp standard but it is what it is and even the cheapest double crimp ratcheting tool bested this standard.

The Ancor ratcheting crimper held a very respectable 126 pounds and the AMP held 192 on video but held over 200 pounds on one particular try before the wire failed. I have a photo of it holding steady at a 189 pound static load not just a quick pull until fail. None of the other tools even come close the the AMP tools but that should be expected as you do often get what you pay for. The difference is that the AMP tools crimp in a Guillotine fashion with the dies coming straight down like a forge press and not at an angle like a scissor as the cheaper ratcheting tools do. The AMP's also do not allow the terminal to squish wider as they are narrower and more properly swage the fitting compressing the entire terminal smaller not just squishing it and allowing it to squish out to the sides. Real "technical" description huh..

Interestingly enough my tests have shown that these crimpers perform exactly as they are priced... Low to high but that is likely just luck of the draw..

Performance wise the best of the non AMP double ratcheting tools is the Ancor product then the Pro's Kit which is a very good value doing both single crimps for heat shrink and double crimps when you order the proper dies and then the HFT tool at $15.00.

The cut, strip crimp tools are flat out dangerous in my opinion. They lack the proper leverage to even hit the minimum ABYC requirement for pull out force.

BTW the Pro's Kit tool is not any better ergonomically and has a tough pull usually requiring two hands when compared to the Ancor which can often be done with one hand. Still the Pro's Kit is an exceptional value. It cost me under $50.00 delivered, with the dies to do both double crimps and single.

This crimp head means business:

This is the red/blue tool:

 

[jfmid]

Re: Load Testing Crimp Terminals

Thanks so much for the clarifications and your time.

 

[jibes138]

Testing Method

A few years back a quality engineer told me we were lax on a pull test requirement for each crimp wire on final assemblies. I investigated a method similar to yours as a way to inspect. What I did instead was make some calibrated weights that the wire end terminal could slide into and then the worker just had to lift the weight and if it didn't come apart it was good. The test lasts about 5 seconds instead of minutes a piece.
Just another way to skin a cat. In your case you would need a set of weightlifter weights to pick up with the wires they are crimped so good.
A set of weights is probably less costly than a load cell and mete

 

[jfmid]

Re: Load Testing Crimp Terminals

MaineSail you weren't kidding about the insane prices.
Dakota Electronics, Inc. / Crimptools.com lists the AMP 59239-4 for $230.00 which includes $45.00 calibration and the AMP 59275 for $440.00 (same for calibration)
Way outside my budget.
Good to know though and worth considering if I was going way out blue water sailing. One doesn't want failures at 35,000 ft nor 3 - 300 miles offshore. I'm in a bay with no current plans to venture offshore and the worst I face is a humbling call to SeaTow.
I'll stick with the Ancor for $65 on Ebay

 

[Maine Sail]

Just wanted to let you know I changed the original post from photos to video and removed any posts that would have been confusing because they referenced the original post and testing methodology.

Should be a lot more self explanatory with video.

 

[Ross]

Depending on what you are connecting it maybe a moot point about crimp strength. many attachment points will break under the loads that are being used here.

 

[catsailor]

Depending on what you are connecting it maybe a moot point about crimp strength. many attachment points will break under the loads that are being used here.

I think the point is that strength is an indicator of how well the metals have fused under pressure, and thus strength should be an indicator of a low resistance connection and resistance to corrosion (no path for air and water to enter). Those secondary traits are not easy to measure.

 

[Maine Sail]

I think the point is that strength is an indicator of how well the metals have fused under pressure, and thus strength should be an indicator of a low resistance connection and resistance to corrosion (no path for air and water to enter). Those secondary traits are not easy to measure.

BINGO!! I should have been more clear about that. The engineers I spoke with at AMP explained to me that there is a direct correlation to pull out force required and the resulting quality of the electrical connection. A high pull out correlates to a better electrical connection and as Catsailor said less opportunity for water to migrate up through the fitting and into the wire. Of course if you use heat shrink crimps no need to worry about that..

 

[heart of gold]

Mainsail, thanks for the demo. I am a long time land based electrician and it never really occurred to me that the quality of crimp from the various tools could be so vast. Of course I threw the el cheapo automotive type our years ago and instead carry the more expensive heavy duty high leverage plier type and thought they were the cats meow until this test of yours. It would be interesting to see what the pull test on those would be...I couldn't see them in your quiver. Bye the bye, I've already ordered some Greenlee ratcheting type. Now to rewire the boat....

 

[xyzzy]

Did you measure any difference between the good and bad Harbor Freight crimpers?

One thing I've done is to crimp a second time, positioning the crimper slightly closer to the end of the terminal so that the crimped area is extends along more of its length. I wonder if that helps any? Maybe it makes the connection work.

 

[sionnach]

Hi MaineSail - great post on the various fittings and crimp tools.

I know you have said that the heat shrink is the best fitting and the double crimp a good second best.
How do you feel a double crimp that then has the Ancor adhesive lined shrink tubing would do?
thank you.
--
T

 

[Maine Sail]

Hi MaineSail - great post on the various fittings and crimp tools.

I know you have said that the heat shrink is the best fitting and the double crimp a good second best.
How do you feel a double crimp that then has the Ancor adhesive lined shrink tubing would do?
thank you.
--
T

For butt splices this can work ok but I generally try to avoid the use of splices when I can.

I have mostly found it to be a tedious and futile effort for spades, rings and safety spades. Firstly you need a heat shrink to fit over the pre-insulated terminal, this means using a larger diameter than is ideal. Second you are then asking it to shrink down over this and create a good seal over the fork or ring end. This is a very difficult task and a lot to ask of a tubing of that diameter.

The pre-made fittings use a much higher quality adhesive heat shrink than you can buy and the ring or fork end is already factory pre-sealed. With the FTZ terminals I use, sold as "Crimp n Seal", I have had less than a 1% failure rate from the factory where the shrink left a gap at the ring or fork. My failure rate shrinking them over an insulated terminal is significantly higher as they never like to seal right at the business end. If it does not seal what's the point..

Sailors Solutions sells the FTZ terminals I use. Sailors Solutions

If you search, and are willing to buy larger quantities, you can often get them for under .40 ea...


They seal very nicely:

 

[sionnach]

Thanks for the advice - are these the ones you are referring to?

http://www.sailorssolutions.com/index.asp?page=ProductDetails&Item=WP006

Thanks again!

 

[Todd Smith]

I have some sort of ratcheting crimper. It has not markings on it, but seems well made enough.

But I needs some different dies for it, should I be able to use the pro-kit's dies or are they unique to manufacturer ?

Thanks
Todd Smith

 

[Maine Sail]

I have some sort of ratcheting crimper. It has not markings on it, but seems well made enough.

But I needs some different dies for it, should I be able to use the pro-kit's dies or are they unique to manufacturer ?

Thanks
Todd Smith

Dies are usually specific to a particular frame and while many companies sub out the construction of their crimp tools they are still all built to a spec. The big problem is this spec is often made up in some back room in China.... You may get lucky but why risk it when the Pro's Kit frame is $25.00..

 

[erict]

Another very helpful article!

Maine Sail, do these crimper results generally hold true for insulated single crimpers as well?

I have the Ancor ratcheting crimpers for insulated connectors and they have worked very well on Ancor ALT connectors. However, there are two issues with them.

1. I will switch to Crimp 'N Seal connectors so the crimper brand won't match the connector brand.

2. I want to use the 8 awg Crimp 'N Seal connectors. The Ancor tool goes to 12-10 and the FTZ heavy duty tool (which I'm considering) starts at 6 awg.

Pro's Kit has a die for their ratcheting frame that crimps insulated 22-18, 16-14, 12-10 AND 8. Assuming that tool does a decent job, it along with the FTZ heavy duty crimper would cover all my needs.

What do you recommend?

 

[Maine Sail]

What do you recommend?

Honestly I avoid 8 AWG wire and prefer to just go to six if 8 GA is really necessary. It is an odd ball size and no one makes the proper tools for it at a reasonable price.

Just finishing a complete re-wire on a 31 footer and a partial re-wire on a 34 footer and used exactly no 8 AWG wire. Used lots of 2/0, 1/0, 2 GA, 6 GA, 12/2, 14/2, 10/2 but no 8 GA.

As for the Pro's Kit the more I play with it the less I am impressed for heat shrink crimps with the single crimp dies. The tool is awkward and the dies are poorly sized when compared to the Ancor single crimp tool. I keep coming back to my Anchor single ratcheting crimp tool but mostly use my AMP tools..

 

[Jim Seamans]

Hey Mainesail, How do you sneak all these tools pass you wife??? Mine would have me strung up in the back yard....

Very nice demo...

 

[erict]

Thanks, Maine Sail.

I had planned to borrow a friend's lug crimper but it turns out he has the Ancor one (http://www.amazon.com/Ancor-702040-Electrical-Professional-Crimper/dp/B000NI3EW0). So I will take the plunge and buy my own. I plan to use FTZ Power Lugs since they are available at Fisheries for a good price.

Two questions for you:
1. FTZ Correct Crimp or QuickCable Hex Crimp?
2. Ratcheting type or not?

The QuickCable crimper costs a little more but on a $200 tool it's not enough of a difference to matter.