Crimping tool?

I need a crimping tool and I wondered if someone could recommend one, I've currently not got one and I've never bought or used one. Price would be my first concern, so £5 or $10. The second consideration is lots of different uses, I don't particular know what I want, so I have to buy one and hope it will do what I need.

Thanks.

Good crimping tools can cost hundreds of dollars. I found a nice one for about $60 at an online RC hobby shop.

I do not know of a good one for $10. I did not have much luck with the cheap one and used a needle nose pliers then soldered. Perhaps other people have better luck with them.

Find what you need it for first, then buy the tool suitable for that job - although at your suggested budget you're going to be restricted to only cheap general purpose ones.

I can't tell what kind of connectors you want to crimp. RG-6 coax? single wire 1/4" spade connectors? Inserted pins for a Molex connector? Give us a clue.

I did buy 2 lead acid batteries yesterday, they have a blade terminal that is about 5mm wide, so I could start crimping some female blade leads. I have tried to crimp with pliers in the past, but it wasn't so successful. I'm wondering if a cheap crimp tool will be any better than pliers...

You are talking about 3/8" and 1/4" "Quick-Connects". Look at the Klein #1005, if available in the UK. It does both insulated and non-insulated. It will last a lifetime. It is about US$30. E

I've used one of **broken link removed**, and found it excellent.

Andrew

cowana said:

I've used one of **broken link removed**, and found it excellent.

Andrew

Click to expand...

I have the same type Andrew, these are for insulated crimp terminals such as the red, blue & yellow ring, spade & lucars etc.

Non-insulated crimp terminals, such as these:
Google Image Result for https://www.smak.co.uk/icons/terminal.jpg
can be quickly crimped with needle-nose pliers with only a small amount of practice.
Simply close up the middle pair of 'tabs' so that they form a vee, then switch the pliers so that the top of the vee and the bottom of the terminal can be squeezed. Stop when the two tabs are almost flat, then switch the pliers around to crimp each tab into the wire strands. Crimp the sides together, then the top & bottom again. Repeat for the tabs for the insulation.

Sounds like a lot of work, but in reality it probably only takes 15 - 20 seconds max to do both sets of tabs.

It's great to have proper crimping pliers, but also handy to be able to do it manually should the need arise...

Regards.

I use one of these. It dimples the terminal in the same direction as the wire runs. It is far superior to the kind that crimp across the terminal (at right angles to the wire). Make sure that you dimple the side of the terminal without the split.