Can someone recommend a good open barrel crimper?
- Thread starter jgelack
- Start date
Nutria
Well-known member
What about something like this? Open barrel dies are included, and lots of specialty dies are available. Works great. This one is currently unavailable, but there are a bunch of others like this.
blazemaster83
Well-known member
I use one of these almost daily. Works down to 6ga and the head swivels so you can get in some tight spaces.
Firebrick43
Well-known member
You didn't include price or exactly which open barrel connectors you are crimping, it matters alot. Open barrel is vague and covers possible 100's of iterations.
In my personal tool armoury I have several AMP crimpers for different connectors. They do an excellent job on the specific connector they are designed for especially small sized such as D SUB connectors or DuPont connectors.
In the "one crimp" for 16-10 gauge wires in open barrel connectors found say on japanese motorcycles and such, I can only recommend a pressmaster MCT frame with the MCT4300-3146 Dies. I have seen no other multi size crimpers do a good job like the pressmaster.
At work(cant provide own tools and their cheap) I have the astro 9477 shown in post 2. They are actually ok crimpers for the most part, but not for the open barrel. Some times they work barely acceptable, some times they fail, and you never know until you have performed that crimp and the next one will be different. Its not hard to see why, the finish of the dies is sandblasted? and they were possibly cast so they lack the refinement in detail that the AMP and Pressmaster have.
The only "cheap" method of crimping open barrel connectors I have seen is the Engineer PA-09 crimpers, but you have to crimp the wire and insulation in two separate steps.
In my personal tool armoury I have several AMP crimpers for different connectors. They do an excellent job on the specific connector they are designed for especially small sized such as D SUB connectors or DuPont connectors.
In the "one crimp" for 16-10 gauge wires in open barrel connectors found say on japanese motorcycles and such, I can only recommend a pressmaster MCT frame with the MCT4300-3146 Dies. I have seen no other multi size crimpers do a good job like the pressmaster.
At work(cant provide own tools and their cheap) I have the astro 9477 shown in post 2. They are actually ok crimpers for the most part, but not for the open barrel. Some times they work barely acceptable, some times they fail, and you never know until you have performed that crimp and the next one will be different. Its not hard to see why, the finish of the dies is sandblasted? and they were possibly cast so they lack the refinement in detail that the AMP and Pressmaster have.
The only "cheap" method of crimping open barrel connectors I have seen is the Engineer PA-09 crimpers, but you have to crimp the wire and insulation in two separate steps.
Those are ferrule crimpers blazemaster, not open barrel crimpers.
Thanks for your reply. I'm new to crimping open barrel type connectors, I didn't realize there were so many variations. I'm trying to repair the electrical connector for an oxygen sensor on a friends 2004 Dodge Stratus. Two wires broke at the connector, and I was planning on just crimping on two new connectors and repinning it.
I bought this kit to do a motorcycle rewire, very pleased .
vintageconnections.com
Kits - Vintage Connections
Vintage Connections - Wiring supplies for vintage motorcycles. OEM Style Japanese Motorcycle Wiring Terminals and Connectors for Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Honda Motorcycles. Bullet terminals, spade terminals, nylon connectors, wires, tubing, shrink wrap, specialty tape, and more.
vintageconnections.com
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Firebrick43
Well-known member
For repairs like that I would buy the Engineer PA-09 as it covers alot, just have to crimp twice.
Its been a long time but if I remember correctly it should be a metripack 150 or similar style. Using crimpers like longhair showed would be fine for packard 56 style terminals but not the smaller proprietary type connectors.
That looks like the tool I'm looking for. Thank you for all your help! And thanks to everyone for your replies!
Like others have mentioned, it really depends upon what sizes of crimps you are working with. I have this one for automotive harness work, mostly Sumitomo terminals on Hondas: https://www.corsa-technic.com/item.php?item_id=695
You do have to squeeze it pretty hard but it does yield good results and the parallel jaw action is really nice for an even crimp. The padding on the handles is a little cheap feeling at first but it works 100% better than the hard handle ones. There are a few different versions for different terminal sizes on corsa technic and they also sell a ton of wiring/harness supplies. The other models with interchangeable dies will probably be a little nicer still but they are also a larger investment, so it really depends upon how much work you will be doing. I have found that this model does great for light use.
Previously I did have one of the cheap ratcheting types that came with a box of equally cheap terminals (something like the photo Longhair posted). I found that it was not worth the low price, the terminals were extremely flimsy and the crimping action was poor. Often times, I would be stuck in a situation where it either wouldn't have a die size that produced enough pressure for a particular terminal (that was sold with it!) or I had to basically crush a terminal to get the ratcheting mechanism to release. It was frustrating and the hard handles were painful on the hands.
If you are doing much wiring work, I would also highly recommend a wire stripper of this type: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BC39YFQ/?tag=atomicindus08-20
It is magic and makes work so much easier. I have a probably 50's vintage Ideal one I inherited and it works great!
You do have to squeeze it pretty hard but it does yield good results and the parallel jaw action is really nice for an even crimp. The padding on the handles is a little cheap feeling at first but it works 100% better than the hard handle ones. There are a few different versions for different terminal sizes on corsa technic and they also sell a ton of wiring/harness supplies. The other models with interchangeable dies will probably be a little nicer still but they are also a larger investment, so it really depends upon how much work you will be doing. I have found that this model does great for light use.
Previously I did have one of the cheap ratcheting types that came with a box of equally cheap terminals (something like the photo Longhair posted). I found that it was not worth the low price, the terminals were extremely flimsy and the crimping action was poor. Often times, I would be stuck in a situation where it either wouldn't have a die size that produced enough pressure for a particular terminal (that was sold with it!) or I had to basically crush a terminal to get the ratcheting mechanism to release. It was frustrating and the hard handles were painful on the hands.
If you are doing much wiring work, I would also highly recommend a wire stripper of this type: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BC39YFQ/?tag=atomicindus08-20
It is magic and makes work so much easier. I have a probably 50's vintage Ideal one I inherited and it works great!
There are other tools similar to the Engineer but more flexible.
Quoting myself from another thread:
For OE-level reliability, each open barrel contact needs to be paired with the intended wire and insulation size and a specific crimp die geometry in a controlled-cycle (ratcheting and bottoming die) tool.
There are two crimps, one for the wire and one for the insulation to provide strain relief, and both need to have the right geometry. Generic dies for these sort of contacts that combine the two crimps in one action will often get one or the other wrong for that particular contact/wire combo, resulting in over/undercrimping and bad reliability.
For low-volume field repairs on unknown contacts and various wire, you will be better off making the two crimps separately with more control (takes some practice). A tool like the Hozan P-707 allows you to do this and has a wide variety of cavities to best suit the particular application. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005SUHPSW/?tag=atomicindus08-20
This has a great overview of these types of contacts, showing the fancy factory tooling as well as alternatives: http://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/
Quoting myself from another thread:
For OE-level reliability, each open barrel contact needs to be paired with the intended wire and insulation size and a specific crimp die geometry in a controlled-cycle (ratcheting and bottoming die) tool.
There are two crimps, one for the wire and one for the insulation to provide strain relief, and both need to have the right geometry. Generic dies for these sort of contacts that combine the two crimps in one action will often get one or the other wrong for that particular contact/wire combo, resulting in over/undercrimping and bad reliability.
For low-volume field repairs on unknown contacts and various wire, you will be better off making the two crimps separately with more control (takes some practice). A tool like the Hozan P-707 allows you to do this and has a wide variety of cavities to best suit the particular application. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005SUHPSW/?tag=atomicindus08-20
This has a great overview of these types of contacts, showing the fancy factory tooling as well as alternatives: http://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/
I have a few things from Tool Aid. Been happy with their Deutsch crimpers. They were reasonable and are holding up well
Deutsch Terminals Service Kit | Tool Aid
A complete six piece kit to crimp and release the Deutsch terminals found throughout the industry on trucks, construction equipment, motorcycles, race cars, agricultural and marine equipment, heavy duty vehicles and other vehicles and equipment subject to excessive vibration and wherever an...
toolaid.com