Sending this message to Arild's email address bounced. So I'm posting it to the TWL. > Sometimes it works, but other times the crimp is less than perfect > and there is excess resistance in the connection. Hello Arild Thanks for the feedback. Can crimps be inspected visually (or otherwise) to see if they are OK? Using the Ancor "hammer-on", I try to get the crimp deep enough so that the two levers are touching, i.e. as far together as they can go. I can usually do this with the Ancor tinned crimp lugs, maybe they deform easier. Somewhere I have seen some aircraft standards (FAA?) for crimp connections. All I remember is that the inspector has to be able to see the end of the wire in the crimp connector. Phil Keys KJ7ET "Kathy K" Sundowner 30 Tug, hull #3 Port Hadlock, WA 98339 philm@keysfamily.org

> Phil Keys wrote > Can crimps be inspected visually (or otherwise) to see if they are OK? > > Using the Ancor "hammer-on", I try to get the crimp deep enough so that the two > levers are touching, i.e. as far together as they can go. I can usually do this > with the Ancor tinned crimp lugs, maybe they deform easier. > > Somewhere I have seen some aircraft standards (FAA?) for crimp connections. All > I remember is that the inspector has to be able to see the end of the wire in > the crimp connector. REPLY Yes there are standards. Too many in fact to readily digest. In a former life as QA manager for a government contractor this was one of my responsibilities. Mil Spec crimps require matching tools and brands of terminals. In other words you do not use an Amphenol crimper on a Amp connector. The crimp manufacturer's engineering department prepare the spec which define how much deformation is required to exert sufficient crushing force. This depends on the wall thickness of the barrel, the number and type of stranding and the excess air gap around the wire bundle prior to crimping. Mil spec crimped connectors have a small inspection hole past the crimp point so that a visual inspection can verify the strands extend past the crush point. You are right about the Ancor terminals deforming easier - they have thinner walls. Burndy terminals have a double walled barrel - thus more metal and the dies do not close as tight to produce a good crimp. but only on Burndy terminals. Use them on thin walled brand X and you get a loose joint. Don't blame the crimper. Its the mismatch of brands that is responsible. This is another reason why I like the Ancor crimpers. The screw adjustment allows me to fine tune the crushing distance to adjust for varying thickness crimp lugs. Something you can't do with the hammer blow application. But the end result depends on experience. Those of you who have the ratchet crimpers have a close look at the side of the tool. There is a little screw thing with a detented cam arrangement. This is the fine adjustment for compensating for wear of the dies and also for varying thicknesses of crimp barrels. One of the visual things to look for is whether or not the pin presses too far and causes the barrel wall to fracture or puncture. That indicates too much pressure. The type of die that swages the barrel down all around is harder to judge from a visual aspect. Only a pull test will determine if too little crush is applied. A pull test requires a calibrated tension meter to measure the tension applied to a fixed terminal while the wire is being pulled. If the wire pull sout befoer the required tension is applied the crush force is not sufficient. Not exactly convenient to do on limited numbers of crimps. Probably more than you wanted to know :-)) Cheers Arild

While we are on the subject of terminals and crimping, a very good source for terminals, including heat shrink ones, is www.terminaltown.com You will quickly go broke if buy these from West Marine. Also, if you watch e-bay carefully you can occasionally find heavy duty crimpers at reasonable prices. I bought a monster tool that handles eight through 2 gauge wire for about $150. Usual Disclaimers.... Best, Steve g Steve Dubnoff Nauticat 40 M/S, Pyxis, in Washington sdubnoff@circlesys.com

As Arild said crimping is tricky business. In actual fact the only way to really tell if a crimper is working properly is to section a few crimps...and after that they don't work very well anymore. I recommend a pull test. Even without a calibrated pull it gets rid of the really bad ones. Don't pull hard enough to break strands. For many appications, particularly on lighter stuff a little solder in the barrel makes things better. Note that you don't want solder wicking up the strands or you will create other problems. So you need a reasonable heat sink to localize the heating. This procedure is easy on some crimps but virtually impossible on others. Jim > -----Original Message----- > From: trawler-world-list-admin@lists.samurai.com > [mailto:trawler-world-list-admin@lists.samurai.com]On Behalf Of Arild > Jensen > Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2002 10:03 AM > To: trawler-world-list@lists.samurai.com > Cc: Phil Keys > Subject: TWL: RE: ratchet crimper > > > > Phil Keys wrote > > Can crimps be inspected visually (or otherwise) to see if they are OK? > > > > Using the Ancor "hammer-on", I try to get the crimp deep enough > so that the two > > levers are touching, i.e. as far together as they can go. I can > usually do this > > with the Ancor tinned crimp lugs, maybe they deform easier. > > > > Somewhere I have seen some aircraft standards (FAA?) for crimp > connections. All > > I remember is that the inspector has to be able to see the end > of the wire in > > the crimp connector. > > REPLY > Yes there are standards. Too many in fact to readily digest. > In a former life as QA manager for a government contractor this > was one of > my responsibilities. Mil Spec crimps require matching tools and > brands of > terminals. > In other words you do not use an Amphenol crimper on a Amp connector. > > The crimp manufacturer's engineering department prepare the spec which > define how much deformation is required to exert sufficient > crushing force. > This depends on the wall thickness of the barrel, the number and type of > stranding and the excess air gap around the wire bundle prior to > crimping. > Mil spec crimped connectors have a small inspection hole past the > crimp point > so that a visual inspection can verify the strands extend past > the crush point. > > You are right about the Ancor terminals deforming easier - they > have thinner > walls. > > Burndy terminals have a double walled barrel - thus more metal > and the dies > do not close as tight to produce a good crimp. but only on Burndy > terminals. > Use them on thin walled brand X and you get a loose joint. > Don't blame the > crimper. Its the mismatch of brands that is responsible. > > This is another reason why I like the Ancor crimpers. The screw > adjustment > allows me to fine tune the crushing distance to adjust for > varying thickness > crimp lugs. Something you can't do with the hammer blow application. > But the end result depends on experience. > > Those of you who have the ratchet crimpers have a close look at > the side of > the tool. There is a little screw thing with a detented cam arrangement. > This is the fine adjustment for compensating for wear of the dies > and also for > varying thicknesses of crimp barrels. > > One of the visual things to look for is whether or not the pin > presses too far > and causes the barrel wall to fracture or puncture. That > indicates too much > pressure. The type of die that swages the barrel down all around > is harder to > judge from a visual aspect. Only a pull test will determine if > too little crush is > applied. > > A pull test requires a calibrated tension meter to measure the > tension applied > to a fixed terminal while the wire is being pulled. If the wire > pull sout befoer the > required tension is applied the crush force is not sufficient. > Not exactly convenient to do on limited numbers of crimps. > > Probably more than you wanted to know :-)) > > Cheers > > Arild > _______________________________________________ > http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/trawler-world-list >

I use clamp terminals on all my heavy duty wire ends. I use these for both battery and welding cable. They appear to be bronze and no tool other than a box wrench and large Channel Locks to hold the clamp while tightning. Periodically I check for tightness and they are always tight. They are great for joining two or more smaller wires into the heavy cable or into smaller clamps. They appear to have more meat than the crimps and you do not have to worry about hidden corrosion. They have worked for me for the last 20 years. I haven't seen anyone seen any one discuss these clamp terminals. What am I doing wrong??? . Captain Al Pilvinis "M/V Driftwood"--Prairie 47 2630 N.E. 41st Street Lighthouse Point, Fl 33064-8064 Voice 954-941-2556 Fax 954 788-2666 Email yourcaptain@earthlink.net Website http://home.earthlink.net/~yourcaptain

<<A pull test requires a calibrated tension meter to measure the tension applied to a fixed terminal while the wire is being pulled.>> Or, just grasp the terminal firmly and give the wire a firm tug. Sometimes the wire slips right out, indicating an unsatisfactory crimp. It's not a mil-spec test, but it's better than nothing. Mark Richter, Winnie the Pooh __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs http://www.hotjobs.com

>>>>A pull test requires a calibrated tension meter to measure the tension applied to a fixed terminal while the wire is being pulled.<<<< Or of course you could just hang a weight from the terminal. Regards, Robert Bryett mailto:rbryett@mail.com