You must be familiar with crimping if you want to connect cables and connectors.
In electronics projects or jewelry making, crimping tools are excellent for cold fusing wires together. We’ll show you how to use a crimping tool to create a long-lasting, reliable connection in this article.
But how do you crimp, and what kind of equipment do you need?
In this article, we’ll discuss what crimping is and the tools you’ll need to do the job.
Table of Contents
What is A Crimping Tool?
A wide range of tools known as “crimp tools” are used to join materials or components by pressing them together to form a seal or crimp. Connectors are frequently attached to the ends of electrical cables using crimping equipment.
Many crimping tools have several uses, including compression in addition to bending, cutting, stripping, and other related operations. They are created to function with a specific cable, wire, pipe sizes, or gauges, and some types function with many.
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Categories of Crimping Tool
There are different crimp tool types available, and each has particular benefits and drawbacks. A manually operated crimp tool will probably be sufficient for smaller crimping needs where precision is important. But there are also hydraulic and electrical models available if more strength is needed.
- Benchtop – These models are larger, higher capacity variants made to be mounted on workbenches to carry out more difficult crimping tasks. Some are powered by electric motors and others by hand
- Hydraulic – Because hydraulic fluid provides the compression power for hydraulic crimp tools, using them is incredibly easy. They deliver maximum power for demanding repair, maintenance, and industrial applications
- Pneumatic – In crimping applications, compressed air-based tools can deliver significant force, providing strength for demanding tasks. Similarly, to hydraulic tools, pneumatic models use air pressure for the same purpose, and they are available in both manual and workbench models
- Handheld – Smaller items are typically crimped with manually operated crimping tools because they are typically lightweight and portable. They have clamps that have a ridge and a notch on opposite sides, giving them the appearance of traditional pliers. Crimping pinches the wire and connector into the notch, compressing them together
- Electrical – The use of battery-operated crimp tools makes it easier to apply the necessary crimping pressure because they give portable models more battery power. Different models of electrical crimping too, are available to meet varying requirements, some with ratchets and ergonomic fittings.
Types of Crimping Tool
- Tool for crimping bootlaces
Intended to crimp bootlace ferrules or crimps, which are metal tubes fastened to a colored insulating collar.
They can handle a variety of common wire sizes and are frequently used in screw terminals to prevent the splitting of several core wires.
- Tool for precisely crimping thin cables
Traditional hand crimping tools might cause issues because there isn’t much room for error when working with tiny cables.
Use a crimping tool with a ratchet mechanism, like this one, to control the crimp and eliminate human error from the operation, resulting in consistently effective crimps even with smaller cables.
- Tool for crimping QM and IP68 connectors
These devices are made to crimp IP68 and QM connectors, which are perfect for compact transmission systems and connections to mains control leads.
This tool is a flexible option because it can handle QM connections with wire sizes up to 24 AWG and IP68 connectors with wire sizes up to 28 AWG.
- Tool for coaxial cable crimping
It is challenging to crimp coaxial cable because it has an inner conductor cable surrounded by a conducting shield, which is used to transmit high-frequency data like broadband internet.
Choose a crimping tool that is appropriate for your cable type because they often come in several categories depending on the coaxial cable impedance (measured in Ohms).
- Splice connections’ crimping tool
In contrast to a general crimping tool, a specific tool is required if you want to crimp splices between gel-filled or butt splice connectors.
How to Use A Crimping Tool
To start crimping, you will need the following:
- Wire
- Connector
- Wire Stripper
- Crimping Tool
Here are the steps:
- To make room for the crimp connector to fit onto the end of your wire, strip the insulation off of it. A wire stripper can be used for this.
- To make the wire’s end firmer and enable a better connection, twist it.
- Connector in place, hold it firmly with the crimping tool.
- Apply firm pressure after inserting the wire into the crimping connector. You probably won’t need to squeeze as firmly if you’re using a ratchet crimping tool because it will release automatically once the crimp is made.
- By separating the connector and wire, you can check to see if a crimp is bad by taking it apart. It’s always preferable for a crimp to fail before installation than after.
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What Purposes Do Crimping Tools Serve?
Crimping tools occur in a variety of forms and sizes and are applied in a variety of contexts, but they all serve the same basic purpose: forming a solid and dependable bond.
Crimping tools are frequently used by electricians, technicians, and engineers to install or replace cables and wires. These devices make it possible to precisely fasten the wiring heads to connectors or terminals, creating a perfect electrical union.
Electrical crimps are mechanically stronger because they don’t need solder. To prevent the metals inside each circuit from potentially hazardous corrosion, they must nevertheless be gas-tight — impervious to oxygen or moisture. To control the flow of electricity and eliminate electromagnetic interference, electricians also use crimp tools to attach ferrite beads to wiring. Ceramic and iron alloy are combined to create ferrite. In electrical insulation, pure ceramic beads are also crucial.