Affordable crimp tools for small connectors (Dupont, etc.)

[tooki]

I’m not sure what you think you mean by “IWISS-style” — IWISS is an above-average low-cost tool maker which makes tons and tons of different crimp tools, some of which are decidedly better for DuPont contacts than what you’ve shown. (They have some with the proper circular insulation crimp.)

I was just using them as a generic reference because they and their infinite third-party clones seem to be everywhere, so when I refer to an SN-28B I'm assuming most people will know what I'm referring to compared to, say, an HT-anything.

Sure, but then just say SN-28B. It’s almost certainly been around for longer than IWISS has, and it’s only in the last few years that IWISS has become a common brand.

The SN-style tool handle is a clone of designs from Knipex/Rennsteig, Pressmaster, and other European tool makers. (It’s not clear who exactly originated it, but they’ve been known for decades as “European-style” from the Asian tool cloners, and at minimum, old Pressmaster tools look like them.)

Years ago, I came across some old catalog or datasheet that suggested the origins of the -28 and -48 styles (with some major terminal manufacturer), but I didn’t save it and haven’t come across it again, sadly.

[throbscottle]

Another crimp tool report, this one is a Haisstronica (Wenzhou Haishan) quick-change one:

https://haisstronica.com/products/quick-change-jaws-crimping-tool-for-open-barrel-terminals-awg-20-10
...
A downside is that the dies use a weird locking lug that's compatible with no other tool or dies in existence and these are the only dies you can get, so if the seven styles it comes with don't fit you're out of luck.  Having said that they do cover all the common crimp types, it's just if you need to get oddballs that you're SOL.

Those jaws look the same as the ones that came with my second Precivia tool - also a kit with click-in jaws, marked with H and a number. I wonder if they are made in the same place?

[5U4GB]

Those jaws look the same as the ones that came with my second Precivia tool - also a kit with click-in jaws, marked with H and a number. I wonder if they are made in the same place?

Do you have a name or link for it?  Would be interesting to see if they're interchangeable, but their web page for crimp tools doesn't show anything like that.

I also noticed, while looking on Temu North, that they seem to have modified the design of their ferrule crimper, they all look like this now with the recessed dies.  Even the AI-slop images are showing the new style:

[5U4GB]

Found it on Temu North, it looks like they have a much wider range on there than on their web site, or the web site never gets updated with new products.  The dies do look very much like the Haisstronica ones, but the tool is different, and it's missing the seventh, alleged-DuPont, die.

[throbscottle]

The version I got is no longer available. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CRDRG6MP?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
It might be because I have cheap terminals, but it doesn't seem to crimp quite tight enough, especially the insulated heat-shrink ones. I might end up filing the jaws a little bit. Which would make me sad but, you know...

[5U4GB]

Haven't tried those yet but I checked it against some Iwiss ones and it was about the same or better.  Main reason for getting it was that I could replace a pile of other ones in a drawer with a single tool, it's much easier with easily-identified quick-change dies than rummaging through a stack of identical-looking tools looking for the one that does X.

[Renate]

I was just using them as a generic reference because they and their infinite third-party clones seem to be everywhere...

I've mostly used JST XH with the occasional non-critical Dupont, but I should be concentrating on JST PH or smaller.
I had a TU 190-08 which worked ok but it got left on another continent.
I bought a YEFYM YE-013BR which appears to be a knock-off of an IWISS IWS 3220M.
I've never been 100% happy with any crimper (including a long history with BNC double crimp).

Now that we're in the 21st century and any decent crimper is using EDM dies, why can't they get it 100% correct?

I kind of like the "monkey wrench" style (F) more than the "pliers" style (X).

If I had to do this all day I'd buy the manufacturer's crimper.

[tooki]

The version I got is no longer available. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CRDRG6MP?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
It might be because I have cheap terminals, but it doesn't seem to crimp quite tight enough, especially the insulated heat-shrink ones. I might end up filing the jaws a little bit. Which would make me sad but, you know...

While off-topic for this thread, I’ll note that the problem might be with the terminals, not the tool. In my experience, cheap Chinese terminals and ferrules are often made of the wrong alloy and/or improperly annealed to undo the work-hardening from the shaping process. The result is a metal that springs back a bit after crimping, making for a loose crimp. So I would definitely try some high-quality terminals first, before blaming (or modifying!) the tool.

[Psi]

While off-topic for this thread, I’ll note that the problem might be with the terminals, not the tool. In my experience, cheap Chinese terminals and ferrules are often made of the wrong alloy and/or improperly annealed to undo the work-hardening from the shaping process. The result is a metal that springs back a bit after crimping, making for a loose crimp. So I would definitely try some high-quality terminals first, before blaming (or modifying!) the tool.

Very true, I've come across terminals that were made of a thinner metal than the real ones.

[tooki]

Now that we're in the 21st century and any decent crimper is using EDM dies, why can't they get it 100% correct?

Why? Because they’re cheap bastards.

In all fairness, the Lidl crimper uses die-cast dies and they work well.

I've mostly used JST XH with the occasional non-critical Dupont, but I should be concentrating on JST PH or smaller.
I had a TU 190-08 which worked ok but it got left on another continent.
I bought a YEFYM YE-013BR which appears to be a knock-off of an IWISS IWS 3220M.
I've never been 100% happy with any crimper (including a long history with BNC double crimp).
…
If I had to do this all day I'd buy the manufacturer's crimper.

Indeed, they’re just so much better.

Speaking of BNC crimpers, I just bought my first coax crimper for at home, and I just waited and waited until I could get a Rolls-Royce crimper for cheap: a used Huber+Suhner 75 z-0-0-15 kit (just without the wooden box). It’s roughly €3000 new, I got it used for about CHF 120 shipped. Seems to be in great shape, just a tiny, tiny bit of flash rust (Flugrost) on nonfunctional areas of the dies. I took it to work and did a test crimp with it, and it came out perfect. (In all fairness, the result from the Knipex tool also looks perfect, though the die length is optimized for different shield ferrule lengths.)

I also got a Berg HT-213 (the “low cost” genuine tool for the small-gauge (28-32 AWG) Mini-PV) from the same seller for another CHF 20.

[tooki]

While off-topic for this thread, I’ll note that the problem might be with the terminals, not the tool. In my experience, cheap Chinese terminals and ferrules are often made of the wrong alloy and/or improperly annealed to undo the work-hardening from the shaping process. The result is a metal that springs back a bit after crimping, making for a loose crimp. So I would definitely try some high-quality terminals first, before blaming (or modifying!) the tool.

Very true, I've come across terminals that were made of a thinner metal than the real ones.

Yep!! At least those are relatively easy to spot. The bad ferrules are insidious, because good ferrules are also so thin — and because the crimped ferrule looks good. It’s only when you perform a pull test that you discover the problem…

[5U4GB]

Why? Because they’re cheap bastards.

It's not that they're cheap bastards, it's that we're cheap bastards.  If you don't mind spending several hundred dollars on a crimp tool hand-forged by Nepalese monks in a cave in the Himalayas, you'll be fine.

[tooki]

Why? Because they’re cheap bastards.

It's not that they're cheap bastards, it's that we're cheap bastards.  If you don't mind spending several hundred dollars on a crimp tool hand-forged by Nepalese monks in a cave in the Himalayas, you'll be fine.

I think it’s a bit of both. I mean, I’ve said for years that if these companies can make a somewhat-decent tool for $20, then they could make an excellent one for $50. That’d be a great deal. But they cut every corner, to the point that they become useless.

[Psi]

Why? Because they’re cheap bastards.

It's not that they're cheap bastards, it's that we're cheap bastards.  If you don't mind spending several hundred dollars on a crimp tool hand-forged by Nepalese monks in a cave in the Himalayas, you'll be fine.

several hundred dollars?  they're often near or over $1000.

They're definitely milking the price because it's a tool used in production.
If it was only a few hundred I would say "ok fair enough", it does need to be up to a higher standard than your normal $50-$100 tool.  But $1000 is just milking.

[5U4GB]

I think it’s a bit of both. I mean, I’ve said for years that if these companies can make a somewhat-decent tool for $20, then they could make an excellent one for $50. That’d be a great deal. But they cut every corner, to the point that they become useless.

They can actually make decent products, but there's a relentless drive to make everything as cheap as possible because that's what sells.  Consider the following:



It's a standard paintbrush. If you source this from a Chinese manufacturer then you'll be offered a whole catalogue of ways to make it cheaper: Starting with a Gourd handle, end dipped, stainless ferrule, and SRT bristles, you can omit the dipping, use some bandsawn handle with the edges knocked off a bit, "stainless" steel (typically chrome-plated pot metal) ferrule, and garbage nylon bristles of increasing degrees of roughness. Also, you can decide the bristle density, the less you have the cheaper it gets. Mix and match until you've got whatever sells best.

You can certainly get good-quality brushes, but you have to go out of your way to find them because what 99.9% of buyers are after is ones that are 30 cents cheaper than the competition's.