Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Insulated crimp terminal diameter issue, KNIPEX / Molex / TE / AMP
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iroc86:
I use KNIPEX Crimp System pliers for most of my crimping needs and ran into an unexpected issue with Molex Insulkrimp terminals. When crimping female quick disconnect (QD) terminals, the crimps are rather mediocre and the wire tends to pull out. Any other Insulkrimp terminal is very secure and reliable. Have any of you experienced this before?

It appears that the insulated sleeve on QD terminals has a slightly smaller outside diameter compared to everything else. I measured a ~.030" (0.8 mm) difference between a 14-16 AWG female QD and ring terminal. I'm not sure why Molex would mold a completely different insulation sleeve for just the QD stuff when the wire cavity geometry underneath is surely the same for the rings, spades, and splices.

Molex actually sells a completely different crimper just for Insulkrimp quick disconnect terminals. My KNIPEX crimper die matches their "everything else" crimper, which explains the poor performance on the QD stuff.

Short of buying a different crimper, do other manufacturers of insulated terminals use larger ODs on their quick disconnect crimp terminals? I've looked at 3M, Panduit, and TE, but they don't provide dimensions of the insulation sleeves in their engineering drawings. Maybe someone would be willing to measure the terminals in their junk bin? I only have Molex stuff here. For reference, the two diameters are .189/.206" (4.8/5.2 mm) for the female QD and .217/.235" (5.5/6.0 mm) for the ring.









nctnico:
I have given up looking at the color codes a long time ago. I make a test crimp and if I can pull the wire out then I use the smaller opening.
wraper:
Seem to be perfect match for red die. I don't have quick disconnect terminals where I'm right now but I don't remember any size difference with other connectors. Although I did not buy any Molex branded connectors of this type.
wraper:
Your connector probably use thin insulation, this is what I usually use.

iroc86:

--- Quote from: nctnico on February 16, 2020, 10:33:33 pm ---... I make a test crimp and if I can pull the wire out then I use the smaller opening.

--- End quote ---


--- Quote from: wraper on February 16, 2020, 11:04:43 pm ---Seem to be perfect match for red die. ...

--- End quote ---

I tend to make test crimps myself, and the red die does work fairly well on the blue terminals... but I have some red ones to crimp next and I can't go any smaller :P.

wraper, would you be able to measure the diameter of those terminals with the thicker insulation? I think I had a few of those in the past, but I was using a different crimper at the time.
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