Curious about crimps!

[Icantsolder]

I have read a lot of posts that suggest when crimping cable together, you should use a ratchet crimper and not the cheap cutter/stripper/crimper versions.
Is it really so hard to get a good joint with the cheap tool or does it just need a damn good squeeze on the butt.
If they are no good and you get the possibility of poor joints how can they be sold for this purpose?

I await your replies eagerly.

PS I have just read what I have written and I imagine there are a few of us out there who would like a damn good squeeze on the butt now and again

 

[supersparks]

a rachet crimper squeezes all the crimp body arround the wire and applys the perfect amount of pressure, for instance, it is possible to get rachet crimpers calibrated.

the cheep ones...same as anything, you pays your money

i would NEVER use a pair and thats from somone in the trade 8 years + a family of sparks, none use a rachet type!

hope that answers it!

 

[ebee]

I have read a lot of posts that suggest when crimping cable together, you should use a ratchet crimper and not the cheap cutter/stripper/crimper versions.
Is it really so hard to get a good joint with the cheap tool or does it just need a damn good squeeze on the butt.
If they are no good and you get the possibility of poor joints how can they be sold for this purpose?

I await your replies eagerly.

PS I have just read what I have written and I imagine there are a few of us out there who would like a damn good squeeze on the butt now and again

The best ones I have come accross are from the Scarborough/Filey although Devon/cornwall take some beating.
Skeggy/North lLics & Tynside also gud uns.
In fact Birmingham, Glasgow and Rhyl are also pretty Damn good.
Boil til pink then allow to cool ad thouysand Island or Salad cream and tomatoe sauce .

But whats this gotta do with wiring?

 

[slippyr4]

before i had a ratchet crimp, i used to add solder to the crimp after i'd non-ratchet crimped it. this was usually car electronics though. someone will probably shout me down for this.

 

[TheStirrer]

Non-ratchet crimpers are for use on 12V only i.e car radios etc not for 230V.If you use them on LV systems then one can only assume it's because one is financially unable ,or simply cannot be bothered, to obtain the correct ratchet type.

 

[plugwash]

hmm i can't see why voltage makes a great deal of difference here and car systems can be higher current than mains systems sometimes.

most people here wouldn't touch the simple squeeze crimpers because you never really know if you pressed hard enough or not with a ratchet crimper it doesn't release until the proper level of compression has been applied.

maybe solid VS stranded makes a difference too i think its harder to make a good crimp on solid cable.

 

[TheStirrer]

So you can't see the difference between using a non-ratchet crimping tool for crimping 12v car speaker wires together and using the same tool for 230V 10.5KW shower cables then??? What about not squeezing hard enough on the neutral connections for example, are you saying the affect would be the same if the speaker connections where not squeezed hard enough also,i.e crackling speakers???May I suggest you think about what you type before typing.

 

[slippyr4]

a cable for 10.5 KW is likely 6mm^2 or 10mm^2 . You crimp those? that doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

And your average blue crimp terminal ain't rated at 45 A.

I think you're pushing the point a little bit here.

 

[andy]

So you can't see the difference between using a non-ratchet crimping tool for crimping 12v car speaker wires together and using the same tool for 230V 10.5KW shower cables then??? What about not squeezing hard enough on the neutral connections for example, are you saying the affect would be the same if the speaker connections where not squeezed hard enough also,i.e crackling speakers???May I suggest you think about what you type before typing.

a 10KW shower should be done in 10mm. in which case, if you were to crimp the cable you'd be usin un-insulated ratchet crimps. in which case there isnt a squeeze-n-pray version

 

[plugwash]

So you can't see the difference between using a non-ratchet crimping tool for crimping 12v car speaker wires together. 230V 10.5KW shower cables then???

i was more thinking of car power wiring actually. A car battery can provide nontrivial current

low voltage only really helps you regarding danger from electric shock. dangers from bad connections are far more dependent on the current.

also you shouldn't be using the insulated crimps and the basic crimp tools on a 10.5KW shower cuircuit anyway thier current rating isn't high enough and i think you'd probablly have trouble getting 10mm cable into even the yellow size. crimping 10mm above requires use of bare metal crimps, a much larger tool and heatshrink sleeving to insulate.

 

[Steve]

A car amplifier setup running on 12 volts can draw anything up to 100 amps, sometimes more (though mine draws a lowly 60A - when its finally connected)

 

[plugwash]

yeah exactly the really big ones can and you wouldn't be using red/yellow/blue crimps for that either. However i'm sure you also get some with ratings the blue/yellow crimps would be suitable for. What i'm trying to say is its the current that matters when discussing risk from bad joints not the voltage

 

[TheStirrer]

yeah exactly the really big ones can and you wouldn't be using red/yellow/blue crimps for that either

What would you use 100a connector blocks.Are you also saying there is no fire risk from a poor phase joint???

 

[plugwash]

i'm saying there is a fire risk from a badly made joint in any system with nontrivial current basically regardless of voltage and that car wiring can involve currents just as high as and possiblly higher than mains work.

 

[pdcelec]

Why not use the correct tools for the job?.