How To Properly Crimp Electrical Connectors?

If you deal with electronics all day, you will have to use crimp connectors often. If you’ve worked with substandard tools, you know the pain of not being time efficient or having to redo crimps that failed.

Wires refer to a flexible, cylindrical piece of metal that can vary in size from just a few millimeters in diameter to several centimeters. Wire and crimping terminal lugs can refer to either a mechanical or electrical application.

In this Article you will find a proper way for crimping your crimp terminals:

What is a Crimp?

Crimping in electronics means to join two pieces of metal together by deforming one or both of them to hold the other. The deformity is called the crimp.

How to Crimp an Electrical Connector Terminals?

This type of device comes in many different shapes and sizes depending on the size of the wire and screw. Several types of crimping terminal lugs include ring, spade, hook, bullet crimp connectors, and etc.

Electronic circuits process signals and produce outputs, but they almost often need to be connected to external power sources, and components, inputs or outputs.

Connections are done with the use of crimping terminal lugs, and they come in many different types, shapes, sizes and ratings.

An electrical connector is a device for joining electrical circuits together using a mechanical tool. It may be temporary or serve as a permanent electrical joint between two wires. There are hundreds of types of electrical wire connectors. These connectors may join two lengths of wire together or connect a wire to an electrical wire terminals.

So, what are the tools that you would need?

Tools you would need to prepare your wires first for crimp terminals.

• Manual Wire Stripper

A simple manual wire stripper is a pair of opposing blades much like scissors. There are several notches of varying size. This allows you to match the notch size to the wire size, which is very important for not damaging the wires when you connect the electrical crimp connectors .

There are various stripper available in the market that may have additional features that include a locking mechanism, have an ergonomic handle, and the ability to cut screws.

• Pro Wire Stripper 

• Self-Adjusting Wire Stripper

It is important to strip the wires to the electrical crimp connectors correctly. If you are not yet an expert, there are also self-adjusting wire strippers that automatically strip wire by placing a wire in the middle of the teeth and then you just squeeze the handle. Then the connection of the wire and the electrical crimp connectors be done.

These can be used with various sizes wire and perfectly strips the wires every time.

Depending on the electrical crimp connectors, other self-adjusting wire strippers may have additional features including to cut or crimp insulated/non-insulated wires like below:

• DIFVAN DF-1 102 Wire Stripper, Self-Adjusting, 8-Inch (2078300)
• DIFVAN DF-1 102 10-22 AWG Wire Stripper, Wire Crimper And Multi-Function Hand Tool，

Here are the tools that you will need to crimp terminal connectors

Here are the tools that you will need to crimp connectors:

 To crimp connectors onto a wire, you would need a  special tool for the crimp pin. There are several different styles of crimp tools available depending on the crimp pin.

You would need to properly crimp the crimp connectors to avoid the wires from the possibility of damaging in the future. Below are two types of crimp tools you can choose from:

1. Ratchet Crimp Toolfor crimping connectors and terminals

This style of crimp tool has a wide jaw to cover more surface area on the crimp connector. The best crimper has a built-in ratchet.

As you squeeze the handles together, it will ratchet and prevent the jaws from opening back up. When enough pressure has been applied, the ratchet will disengage and release the crimped part. This ensures enough pressure has been applied during the cable crimp terminals.

Here are some Ratchet type Crimp Tools:

• DIFVAN 560-Piece Professional Quick Interchangeable Ratchet Crimping Tool Set
• DIFVAN DF-0374 Ratcheting Wire Terminal Crimper Tool forInsulated Terminals
• Ratchet Crimping Manual Tool for 15A 30A 45A crimp Connectors

1. Manual Crimp Toolfor crimp connector

Manual crimping tools can achieve nearly the same results, although it requires you to be much more careful.

This style of crimper is generally less sturdy compared to the latter tool. Attention must be given while crimping to ensure the jaws are lined up properly on the crimp connector.

Misalignment will cause a less than desirable crimp connection. Over time, wear and tear from normal usage can also cause the jaws to become separated and not close fully. Generally, squeezing it as hard as possible will be sufficient.

Some wire strippers can be used with quick disconnects. The tool can also be used to cut wire and strip wires/cables. While the self-adjusting wire stripper is a bit harder to work with than a ratchet, it has the ability to strip, cut, and crimp a quick disconnect.

• DIFVAN DF-1700 Contour Crimp Controlled Cycle Tool

Is Crimping a Quick Disconnect Terminal Connector easy?

Yes! In fact, there are only 3 steps that you would need to note!

There is a chance for a crimp terminal connection to come loose with solid core wire because the wire will not conform to the terminal as well. If you must use solid core wire, it is advisable to solder the wire in place after you crimp it.

1. First, the correct size wire must be chosenfor the crimp terminal size, or vice versa. It depends on your needs. Once you select them, next, strip the wires.

The amount of exposed wire should be equal to the length of the metal barrel on the connector, usually around 0.25 inch or so.

You may refer to the tools for stripping wires mentioned above. If the stripped wire fits up into the metal portion of the barrel with little or no free space, the crimp connector is the right size.

2. The wire should then be inserted until the insulation on the wire touches the end of the barrel. Insert the wire and terminal into the crimper.

To use the crimping tool, the color of the crimp terminal’s insulation needs to be matched with the same color on the crimping tool. So, if the crimp terminal’s insulation is red, use the spot marked by the red dot on the crimpers.

If the crimper does not have color markings, use the gauge markings on the side.

3. The wire terminal connectorsshould be sitting horizontally with the barrel side up when you crimp them.

The tool is then held perpendicular to the wire terminal connectors  and placed over the barrel, nearest to the crimping connectors and terminal’s top part. To finish the crimp, the tool is squeezed with enough force.

Don’t worry because in general, it is almost impossible to ‘over crimp’ a connection.

After you complete crimping, the wire and crimping terminal lugs should still hold together after trying to pull them apart with great force. If the connection can be pulled apart, the crimp was not done correctly.

It is better to have the crimp fail now, versus after it has been installed in its application.

It is important to note that If the wire does not fit in the barrel, or has become excessively loose, it may be because you used the wrong size and type of either wire or crimping terminal lugs .

If needed, you could add a solder joint between the wire and crimping terminal lugs. However, wires that are crimped properly will create a gas tight, cold joint and should not need solder.

You should note that adding solder will add stress to the joint due to mechanical vibrations and thermal cycling causing joint failure.

Soldering can also increase resistance at the joint. For low power applications, users should not notice a significant difference.

Why do you need to properly crimp wires and terminal connectors?

A poor crimp leaves air pockets between the wire and crimp connector. It allows air pockets where moisture can collect.

These moisture causes corrosion, corrosion causes resistance, and resistance causes heat, that may ultimately lead to breakage.

Can you crimp two wires with a crimp terminals?

Depending on the application, two wires can be crimped together in a single crimp connector.

You’ll need to ensure that the combined wire diameter is able to fit in the crimp connection and the crimp connector is able to handle the AMP needed for your wire installation.

There are hundreds of types of electrical connectors available in the market. Depending on the design, the crimp terminal connector can be designed in a way to fit into a plastic housing.

Instead of a barrel crimping down on a wire, the crimp terminal connector may include two crimp tabs to crimp over wire and its insulation.

The additional crimp tabs for insulation provide strain relief. The crimp pin may also have a locking tab and terminal stop when the pin is inserted in a plastic housing.

The process is a bit more tedious since you are working with smaller pins. Depending on your level of experience, this can be time consuming. However, users can create custom wire lengths and cables for a project.

Here’s how to crimp a terminals:

• First, cut and strip a piece of wire. Make sure to match the wire gauge with the crimp pin’s specifications. After removing the crimp pin from its metal strip, align the wire strands to the conducting tab of crimp terminal connectorand the insulator to the insulator tab to check if the wire meets the crimp pin’s specifications.
• If the wire is stripped enough, insert the crimp pin into one of the crimp tool’s jaw. You may need to bend the insulator’s tabs inward to fit. We’ll use the bigger jaw.
• Make sure to take note grooves of the crimp tool when inserting the crimp pin into the die. If you observe closely, there are two semi cylindrical grooves cut on one side of the jaw while the other has one groove.

The side that has two grooves will be used to crimp the tabs of the crimp terminal connector. Additionally, half of the die is recessed for the insulator tab.

• Insert the crimp pin correctly because if you don’t, the ratchet crimp tool will not sufficiently crimp the tabs. As a result, the wire may not fully conduct with the pin and the pin will be damaged.

The crimp tool can also get stuck in one position. If the crimp tool is stuck, you will need to flip the safety release pin just above the handle.

Close the ratchet crimp tool to hold the crimp pin in place and insert the stripped wire. You may need to adjust the crimp pin of the crimp terminal connector so that its insulator tab is flush with the die.

• When ready, slowly squeeze the handles with enough force and more to continue crimping the tabsof crimp terminal connector. If something is not right and you are using a ratchet crimp tool, flip the safety release pin just above the handle.

Continue squeezing the handle until the ratchet releases automatically to finish the crimp.

• Carefully, remove the crimped pin out of the crimp tool. Observe the crimped tabs. You should see something similar to crimped pins below.

If necessary, you may need to re-insert the pin back into the jaws to sufficiently crimp the tabs of crimp connectors. The crimp pin on the far left was partially crimped and needed to be placed in the smaller jaw for a proper crimp.

Common Mishaps When Crimping Wires to a crimp terminals

Here is a list of common mistakes when crimping quick disconnects and crimp pins:

1. Wrong size crimp connectorfor the wire or wrong size wire for the connector. When stripping a wire, be cautious not to strip too much insulation off.
2. It is also worth mentioning that, while not necessarily harmful, the wire should not be protruding too far past the barrel.

If this happens, trimming the wire is recommended. The excess bare wire should be trimmed off or covered in insulation tape to avoid being exposed to contact.

3. Pliers are not crimpers! Neither are hammers, vises, or needle nose pliers. A good crimper when used correctly will make a cold weld between the wire and the barrel of the crimp connector.

If you were to cut a well-executed crimp connector in half you would see a solid form of wire and connector. Using the wrong tool will not achieve a good crimp.

FINAL TIP: Use the right tool to crimp wires and cable crimp terminals correctly

Using the wrong tool will not help you achieve the right crimp. Pliers are not crimpers. Neither are hammers, vises, needle nose pliers and other tools.

Eventually, having to strip and crimp wires numerous times, you would also have to invest in tools that will make your tasks easier. Having the right tools can help you achieve efficiency and quality of work output. Crimping the cable crimp terminals to the wires is to secure them onto the wire when you begin installation.

You may seek assistance from professionals regarding which tools it is best to work with if needed.