your thoughts on wire ferrule crimpers

[laser3kw]

I am adding wire ferrule crimpers to my electrical tool supply. I am acquainted with them from past electrical designs in machinery cabinets. What is a good brand and do you prefer square crimp or hex (and why).
I have been cruising Ebay and have a feel for the cheap stuff and for the expensive stuff. This will be lightly used tool and I would like to see the range from 22ga to 7ga? Also, the automatic adjusting is a must.
thanks for looking

 

[rpcraft]

Greenlee Paladin, and Klein are all great brands with semi affordable price ranges. It is a little bit of a buy once and cry once scenario when it comes to ratcheting crimpers, but once you get over the sticker shock I doubt you'll have regrets once you own them, especially once you find your wiring stands the test of time. I'm just just speaking from the experience of a lifetime of discovering buying cheap tools is a quick path to busted knuckles, shorted wires, and being dissatisfied with the cheap amazon or chinesium tools..

 

[u2slow]

The current crimper they got us at work is a cheapy hex version. It works fine for the odd jobs and maintenance... we're not building panels. I'm used to seeing square crimp but I'm getting to like hex. When you're pushing the wire size limit for a terminal, it fits a little easier.

Very similar to this:
https://www.amazon.ca/Hexagonal-Compression-Self-adjusting-Zhushan-28-10AWG（0-08-6mm²）/dp/B089JWS1H6

 

[Sumboodie]

What are ferrules used for?

You mean **** connectors?

 

[u2slow]

What are ferrules used for?

You mean **** connectors?

Keeps all the wire strandings together so they land nicely on a screw terminal.

 

[LeeG]

I bit the bullet and got the Knipex ones.

 

[acer66]

I bit the bullet and got the Knipex ones.

Which model and how do you like it?

 

[laser3kw]

I bit the bullet and got the Knipex ones.

As suggested, I took a look at the Knipex 97 53 14 model, hex crimp. I seems to be in the ~$200-ish range.
The square crimp model seems to have a lot of Chinese knock offs, similar color combo and general appearances.
I also found Preciva hex crimp model that seems to have good reviews. Still looking for that balance of price and quality. I am not afraid to pay up for the right fit.

 

[LeeG]

I picked up the 97-53-04 model. I have only used them in one small project and they worked great. The bigger project I planned on using them for is on hold for a few months.

 

[timgunn1962]

I am an occasional user: on-site maintenance work mainly. I've used a pair of crimping pliers for years with different slots for each size. With the onset of codgerhood, it's getting harder to see the slots and pick the correct one. I was putting together a couple of VFD panels and control stations at home and needed some ferrules. It was as cheap to order a Preciva tool with an assortment of ferrules from Amazon with prime delivery as it was to go out and buy the 3 sizes of ferrule I needed locally. I was seriously impressed with the tool. It is a 6-sided one and saved so much frustration that it went straight into my site kit once I'd done. The 6-sided crimps are great for a lot of terminals, but I felt the square ones would be better with the cage-clamp terminals on circuit breakers, etc , particularly in the bigger sizes. I ordered a set of them as well. There were no 4-jaw Preciva listed on Amazon prime at the time, so I bought a tool only (no ferrules or case).
It seems just as good as the Preciva one. I'd be prepared to bet they all come off the same production line and, to be honest, the only reason I recognize the Preciva name is that it's on the case and I see it every time I use the ferrules, whether I use the 6-jaw tool from the case or the 4-jaw from my toolbag.
I do mainly mechanical stuff out on sites with a bit of instrumentation electrics, faultfinding, etc, at work, but we had an installation job the next week. I lent the crimpers to my colleague, an electrician. He tends to moan, continuously, about pretty much everything. Remarkably, he didn't moan about the crimpers at all. After the job was finished, he ordered a set of the Precivas, together with the 4-sided crimper on its own.
We are both agreed that a panel builder using them for production work, day-in, day-out, in a clean environment would probably benefit from Knipex or similar high-end tools. However, for occasional users on jobsites, where they are likely to get wet, dropped from a height or lost, long before a set of the "better" ones would wear out, the cheap ones are plenty good enough.

 

[laser3kw]

onset of codgerhood

Yup - I know what ya mean six - oh in 2022
My fingers don't bend any more as well as finger tip grip pressure is gone.
I use to design machines and we always used ferrules. It made panel assembly much easier, with way fewer frays that would crossover circuits. Now I will use them in my own personal projects for easy of insertion and confidence of connections.

 

[colintrax]

I got the Preciva kit on Amazon. For a Chinese tool it's high quality. I can't justify the cost of the high end models for a tool I only use a few times a year and don't NEED.
IIRC the Preciva kit even came with a thank you note and proper instructions.

 

[AdAstra]

As mentioned above, for cage terminal clamps that grip the wire with flat/rectangular jaws, the square type are ideal. For terminal blocks that have curved jaws, the hex are ideal. The trapezoidal shaped crimp dies are generally a compromise for non-encircling type crimpers with only 2 jaws. (This is abstract, all types can meet the standard for use on all terminal blocks.)

Another thing to be careful of is that most ferrules available are actually designed for metric wire, and relabeled by the vendor, so may be slightly off for AWG wire, which can leave excess material hanging off the corners after the crimp in some cases, especially in the hex/square self adjusting type. (The trapezoid type inherently has provision for the excess ferrule material to flash out in the corners.) Some ferrule vendors sell "true AWG" sized ferrules that I'd recommend when using AWG wire.

The Knipex/Rennsteig self-adjusting ones are very nice, you could make an eBay saved search for them .

 

[JBH]

Wezag and Pressmaster (rebranded by a bunch of companies - basically if you see a private label crimper made in Germany it's Wezag, and if you see a private label crimper made in Sweden it's Pressmaster) make fantastic ones. I really like the Wezag ones, personally. Their self-adjusting octo-crimp one with a locator (rebranded by Gedore, Wiha, lots of others) is excellent, as is their self-adjusting square one (I've seen tons of rebrands; mine is Wiha).

I've never used a Knipex/Rennsteig one but I assume they're on par with Wezag and Pressmaster.

 

[laser3kw]

just an update:
I went ahead and bought the Perciva hex crimp kit with 1900 assorted ferrules off an Ebay seller for $45 shipped.
It came in a nice zipper folding case, tool on one side, plastic container with dividers and ferrules on the other side. Very nice looking. Tool seems to be well made. I will have a chance to use them in an upcoming project.

 

[ste6168]

I got a cheap one on Amazon, looks like Knipex from afar, same colors and all. I don't use it very often, I mainly bought it for marine audio installs (remote and speaker wires to amp). For the price, it does a great job and helps to clean up the install rather than bare wire. The crimp doesn't come out 'perfectly' square on the bigger (8AWG) wires, but certainly not worth $200 some bucks to upgrade to the Knipex version, for me.

This is the kit I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G15SRTP/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[paulsomlo]

Can anyone offer opinions on these different styles?

https://www.knipex.com/products/cri...liers-wire-ferruleswith-lateral-access/975304

https://www.alliedelec.com/product/tempo-communications/pa1360/70199541/

https://www.knipex.com/products/cri...pliers-wire-ferruleswith-front-loading/975308

https://www.knipex.com/products/cri...liers-wire-ferruleswith-mandrel-crimp/9771180

https://www.knipex.com/products/cri...liers-wire-ferruleswith-front-loading/9781180

 

[AdAstra]

The two self-adjusting ones will be infinitely more convenient than finding the right opening every time. There is a variant of the front-loading one that has a switch to do even bigger ferrules. Choose the one that seems more ergonomic for your use case.

The Tempo ones seem overpriced for what they are. (That is a rebranding of the Paladin 1300/8000 family of crimpers/dies, if you already have stuff in that ecosystem... they are adequate but I think I’d pay like max $20 for that one, it does not feel premium in any way, with pretty high hand force on larger terminals. The PA8000 frame feels better, although is bigger and heavier.)

The latter two Knipex aren’t controlled cycle (ratcheting) and should be avoided.

If I couldn’t spring for one of the nice Euro self adjusting, I think I’d rather have a well-rated copy than any other style.

 

[paulsomlo]

What about this style? https://www.automation24.biz/crimping-tool-weidmueller-pz-6-roto-9014350000. Does one size fits all in the trapezoidal style work well?

I'd like to know more about trapezoidal vs. hex. vs. square - or does it even matter?

Use is occasional, but tired of the frustration of wayward strands and would rather not buy a cheap tool.

 

[AdAstra]

Weidmueller makes top tier stuff but that particular one seems pretty limited for the price. The wire size range is quite low compared to other styles. My thoughts on the various shapes is a few posts above. I haven’t played w the knockoffs, but if you aren’t using them for hundreds of cycles a day in critical applications I bet they’ll be fine. The end sleeve ferrule is inherently often less than gas-tight (since the wall is so thin it can’t contain the copper’s spring-back tendency), so my thought is precision is less important compared to other crimps.

 

[infinite97]

I picked up the 97-53-04 model. I have only used them in one small project and they worked great. The bigger project I planned on using them for is on hold for a few months.

I’ve had these for ~10 years. No complaints.

 

[paulsomlo]

Weidmueller makes top tier stuff but that particular one seems pretty limited for the price. The wire size range is quite low compared to other styles.

It's 26 awg to 10 awg.

 

[AdAstra]

It's 26 awg to 10 awg.

Yeah, that covers many applications, but not as big a range compared to 28 to 5 for the first Knipex you posted. And I don’t think I’d go out of my way to get a trapezoidal crimp.

That said I think any ferrules and crimpers are better than not using them!

 

[Jlarson]

I think we use the 97-53-08 Knipex the most. We also use a lot of Pressmaster MCT tools, I know we have one with dies in it for #6-4 ferrules, I think we have one for #2-0 too for doing cord terms on equipment.

​

 

[paulsomlo]

I ended up with these Knipex ferrule crimpers - I was lusting after the square or hex crimpers, but couldn't justify the cost, given my usage. These were $40 from FB Marketplace and local:

 

[SRSemenza]

Just a note for those thinking about the Knipex ...................... the hex ones are excellent! I ordered them from amazon . de at a significant savings.


Seth

 

[silkman]

As suggested, I took a look at the Knipex 97 53 14 model, hex crimp. I seems to be in the ~$200-ish range.
The square crimp model seems to have a lot of Chinese knock offs, similar color combo and general appearances.
I also found Preciva hex crimp model that seems to have good reviews. Still looking for that balance of price and quality. I am not afraid to pay up for the right fit.

The one you posted is overkill.
In Europe we have this style, about 35eur, a bit cheaper if you get the blue and red handles. Not sure if it works with AWG as sizes are a bit different but for home installations you cant go upwards of 10mm2 wire and this covers up to 16mm2.

 

[paulsomlo]

So, now that I have a ferrule crimper, I need ferrules - where's a good place to buy quality ferrules in small quantities without excessive shipping charges?

 

[PCustoms]

I got a cheap one on Amazon, looks like Knipex from afar, same colors and all. I don't use it very often, I mainly bought it for marine audio installs (remote and speaker wires to amp). For the price, it does a great job and helps to clean up the install rather than bare wire. The crimp doesn't come out 'perfectly' square on the bigger (8AWG) wires, but certainly not worth $200 some bucks to upgrade to the Knipex version, for me.

This is the kit I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08G15SRTP/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Huh?

 

[ste6168]

I wasn't acailable to help them write the ad.

 

[laser3kw]

So, now that I have a ferrule crimper, I need ferrules - where's a good place to buy quality ferrules in small quantities without excessive shipping charges?

I got mine as part of my Ebay kit. There are plent on assortment lits on Ebay. Most of them will be suitable for causal use.

 

[Vicks]

I got mine as part of my Ebay kit. There are plent on assortment lits on Ebay. Most of them will be suitable for causal use.

we'd greatly appreciate if you would not be so causal about using the word "casual" and please use all of your acailable pronunciation skills too while referring to plenty of assortment kits ! LoL

 

[laser3kw]

we'd greatly appreciate if you would not be so causal about using the word "casual" and please use all of your acailable pronunciation skills too while referring to plenty of assortment kits ! LoL

Doh!
Wow! I real hacked that to death! I think my meds had kicked in.
let's try again:
.
"I got mine as part of my Ebay kit. There are plenty of assortment kits on Ebay. Most of them will be suitable for casual use."
.
Thanks for the critique.
That number of errors must be a personal best (worst?) for me

 

[pizza]

Wezag and Pressmaster (rebranded by a bunch of companies - basically if you see a private label crimper made in Germany it's Wezag, and if you see a private label crimper made in Sweden it's Pressmaster) make fantastic ones. I really like the Wezag ones, personally. Their self-adjusting octo-crimp one with a locator (rebranded by Gedore, Wiha, lots of others) is excellent, as is their self-adjusting square one (I've seen tons of rebrands; mine is Wiha).

I've never used a Knipex/Rennsteig one but I assume they're on par with Wezag and Pressmaster.

this was helpful, thanks.

i had a look around, and i'm tempted to get the wiha rebrand of the Wezag AE Move.

WEZAG-Private Label Tools-AE MOVE

Crimping tool for the application of wire end ferrules

www.wezag.de

Crimp tool automatic

Product description Crimping wire-end sleeves on hard to access cables is usually very challenging in practice. The automatic crimping pliers with…

www.wiha.com

wiha 45223 / 4010995452230

i'm not seeing any downsides on paper. it seems like the best square profile ferrule crimper. it's got a rotating head and has a better capacity (28–5awg, twin: 2x8awg) than the knipex twistor 16 (97 53 18) (26–6awg, twin: 2x10awg) made by rennsteig. about $160 shipped from amzn de.

 

[pizza]

if i'm bothering to get a nice crimper, i don't see the point in cheaping out on the consumables.
T&B/ABB supposedly makes really nice ones, but i don't see an option to buy an assortment pack.

this looks promising:

https://www.ferrulesdirect.com/collections/wire-ferrule-kits/products/sk2208td

 

[KnurledNut]

Weidmuller PZ10 hex crimper here.

 

[Git]

I bought a fairly inexpensive Haisstronica kit from Amazon and for what I am using it for, it has worked out very well

 

[Hannahranga]

Have people noticed much of a difference between more expensive ferrules and the cheap ones? I've not

 

[PCustoms]

Have people noticed much of a difference between more expensive ferrules and the cheap ones? I've not

The coating, temper and gage of the metal are frequently subpar/compromised on cheaper fittings.

The insulation is usually cheap.

I've had some split or crimp weird.