Which Crimpers for Duet 2

[rjenkinsgb]

I use a tool I got from Amazon along with some assorted connectors.
It's a decent fit on many types, and works reasonably well.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07QNPZDTW/

However; for small contacts such as these, I do not consider any tool other than the connector manufacturers own exact type to be a valid "crimp" - ie. guaranteeing sufficient force in the correct areas to slightly extrude the metal and form a gas-tight connection.

I always solder them after fitting to the wire, by heating the back of the contact until a small amount of solder will flow in to the wire connection area.

ps. Any non-compound action tool, such as those PA-09 etc., cannot possibly give enough force to form a valid crimp, and you must also solder the wire if you want long term reliability.

[hayseed_byte]

@rjenkinsgb said in Which Crimpers for Duet 2:

you must also solder the wire if you want long term reliability.

I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree with that completely.

[zapta]

@airscapes said in Which Crimpers for Duet 2:

So what crimper tool do I freaking need

This one

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019ARWWFY

It's a ratchet style crimper with good quality jaws that will give you more consistent results than that non ratchet tools such as Engineer and the likes.

[Rushmere3D]

@stephen6309 said in Which Crimpers for Duet 2:

@arnold_r_clark I use two different ones, depending on the wire/crimp size:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G98DLB8 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078WNZ9FW

I crimp the wire then the strain relief.

Another vote for these, been rewiring a printer this weekend with this very tool, works fantastic.

[A Former User]

This post is deleted!

[mendenmh]

@zapta I'll vote with this crimper, too. I expected a fairly cheaply built tool, considering its price. I was very surprised that it is heavily constructed, with non-wobbly joints and very well fitting jaws. I now use it not only for work on my printer, but I take it into my real job for crimping there. It is better than most of the ones we have in a drawer.
The one thing it lacks is the little blade that drops into a slot in the connector that helps align the connector at exactly the right point. This is a feature of high-end, commercial crimpers. If I were crimping all day, every day, that would make work faster. However, for my purposes, I just look very closely at where the connecter is in the crimping jaw, make sure it is right, and crimp. I probably only have a few percent rate of bad crimps where the connector gets bent by the jaws due to not being seated correctly. These crimps are physically obviously bad, so it is easy to redo. I have had zero cases where the tool has made an apparently good crimp which was loose. I always torture connecters after crimping to make sure they don't pull apart.

[zapta]

@mendenmh said in Which Crimpers for Duet 2:

I was very surprised that it is heavily constructed, with non-wobbly joints and very well fitting jaws.

They claim that the jaws are made using EDM ('wire electrode') process which explains the their accuracy.

https://iwiss.com/products/sn-01bm-d-sub-terminal-crimping-tool-awg28-20/

[airscapes]

Wow, wish I could get this many replies to my firmware post..

[zapta]

@airscapes said in Which Crimpers for Duet 2:

Wow, wish I could get this many replies to my firmware post..

Try posting your firmware questions in a crimpers forum.

[rjenkinsgb]

@hayseed_byte said in Which Crimpers for Duet 2:

I'm going to have to go ahead and disagree with that completely.

That is of course your right.

I'm just working from near 50 years of designing and repairing industrial control systems, and seeing a significant number of poor connections and long-term failures with that general type of small crimp.

The fact is that if you can ever pull a wire out after crimping without it ripping strands, it's not truly crimped and can fail eventually.

https://smcontact.eu/good-crimp-connection/

Anyway, each to their own it's only information!

[Th0mpy]

Just to add my toys here. I use this one and it's great even for the small crimp on the 1LC toolboard: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IWD9XT6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Highly recommend.

[Phaedrux]

@airscapes said in Which Crimpers for Duet 2:

Wow, wish I could get this many replies to my firmware post..

which post is that?

[zapta]

@rjenkinsgb said in Which Crimpers for Duet 2:

I do not consider any tool other than the connector manufacturers own exact type to be a valid "crimp"

Those tools tend to be very expensive and non practical for most makers.

E.g.

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0638118200/1869996?s=N4IgTCBcDaIGwGYAcBGFSwAZMgLoF8g

Good engineering is about finding a good compromise between conflicting goals.

[hayseed_byte]

@rjenkinsgb said in Which Crimpers for Duet 2:

That is of course your right.
I'm just working from near 50 years of designing and repairing industrial control systems, and seeing a significant number of poor connections and long-term failures with that general type of small crimp.
The fact is that if you can ever pull a wire out after crimping without it ripping strands, it's not truly crimped and can fail eventually.
https://smcontact.eu/good-crimp-connection/
Anyway, each to their own it's only information!

You're telling me that you repair industrial control systems in the field by using the wrong crimpers and adding a dab of solder to a crimped connection?

[rjenkinsgb]

@hayseed_byte said in Which Crimpers for Duet 2:

and adding a dab of solder to a crimped connection
Your wording, not mine!

I never use small crimp connectors in anything we produce, and for a repair, if no equivalent solder connector is available, then properly soldering a wire to a crimp insert is infinitely better than leaving it as a crimp alone, when the correct manufacturers tooling is not available.

There is no quality or reliability problem with soldered joints as long as they are not under mechanical stress.

Small crimp connectors exist because they are faster and cheaper in mass production than soldering.

Soldering is technically better, for small wires:-
https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1288669

If you want to only crimp, then the only way to be 100% sure of it being reliable is to buy something like this for each different make and series of connector - which is ludicrously impractical for servicing multiple different makes of equipment.

For Molex alone, there are around FIFTY different specific crimp tools for different connector and pin/insert types.

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/crimp-tools/6634246

As I said before, how you do them is your choice, it's only information, no compulsion.
I'm done.

[hayseed_byte]

@rjenkinsgb

@rjenkinsgb said in Which Crimpers for Duet 2:

Soldering is technically better, for small wires:-
https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1288669

That conference in your link seems to be talking about crimp connectors that were faulty because they were made out of the wrong material.

The connector representing the 2005 (good) lot showed
excellent bonding along the pin-crimp sleeve interface.

It does mention that soldering to solder lugs is better than crimping a pin improperly. It doesn't mention soldering a crimped connection.

I'm just trying to learn. I'm not an engineer. I don't work in aerospace or nuclear security so I'm not invited to conferences like you linked there. I have a mere fifteen years experience in industrial maintenance, nothing like your fifty years. But what I've seen is trying to solder a crimped connection leads to solder wicking up the wire making it stiff and causing to it break. It also damages the insulation and I think the bottom set of "wings" of the Molex KK pins are meant to hold the insulation to provide some strain relief. But I could be wrong.

[zapta]

Are there tools that crimp and solder in one press? If not, it's a business opportunity.

[iff7378]

@zapta Yes kind of - some connectors are ultrasonic welded.

Most definitely not something available to the hobbyist nor necessary for a 3D printer.

Pretty cool process nonetheless:

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/ultrasonic-welding.htm