Crimping Connectors - Collin’s Lab Notes  

These type of connectors do best when you do not twist the wires. Big Clive explains why in a recent video of his.

Good to see these types of tutorials still being produced.

I finally found a crimper I like, it has two dies next to each other, a larger side and smaller side - once I clearly wrote “front” and “wire” on the opposing sides because I’m slow, I get perfect crimps every time. I had bought like 4 sets of crimpers, including one like these, and had just decided that crimping cannot be done by hand and I’d been tricked. Now mine are as good as factory. Practice also has a lot to do with it, and using tweezers to place the metal bit just right in the die is crucial, the tab that sticks out the back abuts the face of the front die Anyway, takes a tiny bit longer to place the connector right, but it’s much faster overall, doing both steps at once. Advancing the die two clicks makes it so the insulation even stops at the right depth

I needed this tutorial.

Alright damnit! That’s it! I’m subscribing!!!🤯

I was using those exact same crimping pliers, jaws and connector. I searced youtube for a tutorial and finally got it but this would've been spot on.

There is a blog post out there by Matt Millman discussing common crimped connector terminals, and it has tons of great photos of what you should be looking for in a crimp that's up to standards. We use a ton of JST-SM wire to wire connectors, so much so that we have a pair of the official JST crimpers. Those things are amazingly good, but super expensive.

I learned the hard way its better soldering the wire to these things when working with high frequency applications!

Wow!!! You have nooo idea how helpful this is thank you!!!!!!

Wait, I thought you weren't supposed to twist wires before crimping on a connector!

hi collin, we love you

This is something I wanna learn. Thanks

My favorite terminal crimper is the DTT-16-00 TE gun. For this specific terminal youd have to use a different clamp and die block but its so nice.

Great tutorial - I have the same Engineer crimping tool (PA-20) and it is fantastic. Sometimes the terminals get a bit stuck but it's very easy to free them, and it's not expensive for what it does (compared to the official JST or Molex tools).

Ive been wanting THIS for a verry long time now..

I Use a crimping Tool Designed to only crimp once it Has a "step" in it and Works Like a Charm and on top saves time 👍

how do you get it inside the plastic connector?

Thanks for the tip. Saved me a headache.

Seemingly simple, yet when I do it its always horrible, but I did not realize you had to do it twice. I thought maybe I got the wrong crimp heads, good to know I was doing it wrong. (ok its still really simple)

More connector crimping machines here!

Love you Collin..

Thank you for this

How to sever multiple strands in one go: twist the wires before crimping

i like the engineer universal crimping pliers, the amount of times i saw a civil engineer pick up a pair of pliers just for the pair to spontaneously burst into flames... at least 5 times a day, they always pick the pliers made specifically for Geotehnical engineers by accident. So many singed hands, it even happened to me once or twice. happily with these brand spanking new universal engineer pliers, sudden combustion is a thing of the past.

Thank you so much.

Looks so tidy :D

A good crimp has some defining characteristics: 1) The conductor is fully captured by the forward tabs. 2) The individual strands are tightly compressed such that their cross-section forms a tessellated hexagon pattern. 3) The insulation tabs are compressed _around_ the insulation and not _into_ it.

ok, question: Why crimp, when I could solder the wire to the connector? Serious question, wanting to learn a thing

Super

Select crimping pliers / pin as per manufacturers recommendation

Can i replace with jst sm connecter?

Thanks u save my day

You DO NOT twist conductors when using that style of crimp. Twisting them does more harm than good when the crimp wings fold in and secure around the conductors; often sheering several conductors.

Is it possible to use pliers instead of crimping

Donde las venden ?

I usually use 1.6 for both the inner and outer tabs, is this not correct?

That’s how I do it.

What is the name of these connectors?

What’s the name of that crimping tool?

😳 shoot, need me a pair of them crimpers then, I've been using flush cutters 😁 (same result)

Should u tin the wire before crimping?

I think the insulation requires a soft squeeze not a strong one.

Should NEVER twist the conductors when crimping. * EDIT to satisfy pendants: You should neither twist or untwist the conductors, especially for "open barrel" (winged) crimps like the JST-XH shown in this video. Just strip the insulation, tidy up the strands so none are displaced or crossing, then crimp.

In the end I'd solder just to be 100% sure.

The insulation isn't through the strain relief thoughh, the insulation will wriggle right out of the strain relief if done like this.

Boy! Your hands are quite shaky. Can see that in the video.

Don’t twist the wire, when you do that, it will cut the wire core when crimping it

I'm sure there are crimpers that crimp both. Or am I wrong here?🤔

Okay now to remove that crimper....!?

Sleeve not grimping propely

If you are not using the proper tool for the job. 😂

Yes, but dont twist the wire!!!! I would get fired if i would break such safety rules

Very bad