I am a retired Army SIGINT linguist, and just passed my Technician's license for HAM radio. So, bought the power supply, bought the radio, bought the antenna...when I went to hook up radio to power, I let out the big "QTF!? " These (ring terminals, cutting wire, crimping, etc.) are the things they don't tell you when you go to the local Voc-Tech for a HAM class. Your succinct and most excellent explanation just saved $450 of equipment going through the second story window. Kudos to you and thanks. 73
Good short and to the point video. Thanks TIm. I think I have to share this video with some co-workers. I have seen too many connections where it looked like someone just took a pair of pliers to an non-insulated ring terminal for 12AWG wire and squeeze the heck out of it on a 16AWG wire. One time I saw it being done I told him that will never hold, then proceeded to show him. I just grabbed it with my fingers and pulled it apart. I then let him borrow my crimper and gave him the correct size of terminal. I have heard the "it will be good enough" or "I have done it this way for years" or (insert your favorite saying, I've heard them all), way too many times.
A panel building company where I was previously employed had a foot triggered belt loaded crimper for doing piles of wires such a the one in front of you. Some of our customers, and the NFPA specifies that many types of upturned lugs must have ferrules on every wire, terminal blocks were excluded. But you know that already. High five!
Just as an FYI...I have a ratcheting crimper for insulated terminals similar to the first one you showed. Mine is Gardner Bender branded. The jaws are ever so slightly different from one side compared to the other. It definitely makes a difference with my crimper as to which way the terminal faces when crimping. On mine, the wire needs to come in from the side with the colored dots, otherwise I don't get a fully tight crimp.
tysm! exactly what i was looking for, as i am currently doing a rebuild on a set of PA speakers with some NL4 (SpeakON) connectors which required crimping on spades, had no idea if i did the crimp correctly at first but this really helped :)
Crimpin' aint easy. My insulated eye connectors keep coming off. Thank you for showing how it's supposed to be done. 10 videos and no one else explained which side the dimple goes. I knew there had to be a right or wrong side.
Good info! I prefer to use uninsulated crimps, and use heat shrink to make it look more professional. 99% of the crimp connectors I use are for ground wires though, so I use green/yellow shrink tubing. Insulated ferrules go on everything else. Off topic: I see a can of O'Keeffe's 'Working Hands'. I swear by that stuff, especially during the winter, when it's dry. Be sure to try their night treatment!
I see people strip wire too long. As for wire ferrules I strip wire long crimp the ferrule then cut back excess wire. Needs to be 100% though the ferrule. Again, I seen people where wire is 50% though ferrule. Another great video with knowledge. Thank you.
Thanks a lot for this .... Though admittedly I'm not looking forward having to purchase two different crimpers. To properly cover both insulated and uninsulated crimp connector situations. ....
I have been watching your videos and would like to thank you for making them. One thing I noticed in this video though is that I think your dies in the insulated crimper might be backwards. Every crimper I have seen/used in the past has the largest crimp closest to the fulcrum to get the greatest mechanical advantage. I don't think there would be any quality problems as your crimper wont release until it hits the proper position, but it would be much harder on your hands if you are doing more than one. Keep up the good work.
Hello great video Thank you. How do you crimp a black negative and red positive wire to the same? I am trying to join a sirocco fan to a 12v cigarette plug in my van.
Can somebody finally do a video on how to land termination’s in a terminal block. Im tryna tell this dude your supposed to land the first one backwards so in case somebody has to come behind you doing hot work the term can be landed straight on top.
It will depend on what you are installing the ring terminal on. Not all studs are listed to handle more than one ring. Also it may be convenient but not all studs have clearance for installing them this way without deforming the ring. I don't know if this specifically violates UL but there is a general tidiness cause and I'd say my inspector would balk at it.
I was just wondering, can you crimp non-insulated ring/fork etc terminals with a 4 or 6 jaw wire ferrule crimper? I know it wouldn't be kosher, but would it produce a good crimp, or would it be too weak (I think regular wire ferrules are a lot thinner than the ferrules on the terminals)?
The ferule crimper would also be stuck on the wrong side of the terminal.. If you were terminating on a long installed wire that is. A tool left dangling on a cable run because you cant get it back off is a bad look..
hello why I always got no answer about what should terminal lug I use in my thhn stranded 3.5 in Plug in breakers. I ask everybody for so long here in youtube. Pls help
Unfortunately the camera is not focused on what you are showing. The only thing that is clear in this video is your face, your tools the wires everything you're holding is blurry.
Back in my day, when these things first came out, we didn’t have any fancy ratchet tools, we just crimped them by squeezing them between our thumb and pointer. Wire strippers? Yeah, they’re called teeth.
Thanks. It's these short lessons that make the difference to workmanship.
Glad it was helpful!
I am a retired Army SIGINT linguist, and just passed my Technician's license for HAM radio. So, bought the power supply, bought the radio, bought the antenna...when I went to hook up radio to power, I let out the big "QTF!? " These (ring terminals, cutting wire, crimping, etc.) are the things they don't tell you when you go to the local Voc-Tech for a HAM class. Your succinct and most excellent explanation just saved $450 of equipment going through the second story window. Kudos to you and thanks. 73
Haha, glad I could help and thank you for your service.
Good short and to the point video. Thanks TIm. I think I have to share this video with some co-workers. I have seen too many connections where it looked like someone just took a pair of pliers to an non-insulated ring terminal for 12AWG wire and squeeze the heck out of it on a 16AWG wire. One time I saw it being done I told him that will never hold, then proceeded to show him. I just grabbed it with my fingers and pulled it apart. I then let him borrow my crimper and gave him the correct size of terminal. I have heard the "it will be good enough" or "I have done it this way for years" or (insert your favorite saying, I've heard them all), way too many times.
Love the "have done it this way for years" comment 😜
Big dawg! I’d rather watch and learn from you TW than anyone! Ty 👍🙏💯
Glad to hear it!
Thank you for this 🙂
I have wasted over 20 connectors because I didn't know how to crimp. I'm now practicing and getting better!
Great to hear. Practice makes perfect 😁
A panel building company where I was previously employed had a foot triggered belt loaded crimper for doing piles of wires such a the one in front of you. Some of our customers, and the NFPA specifies that many types of upturned lugs must have ferrules on every wire, terminal blocks were excluded. But you know that already. High five!
Yes there are some super nice automatic crimpers. Maybe one day 😀
Just as an FYI...I have a ratcheting crimper for insulated terminals similar to the first one you showed. Mine is Gardner Bender branded. The jaws are ever so slightly different from one side compared to the other. It definitely makes a difference with my crimper as to which way the terminal faces when crimping. On mine, the wire needs to come in from the side with the colored dots, otherwise I don't get a fully tight crimp.
Good tip Andy, thanks for sharing!
Thank sir, instills confidence to rewire my 30 foot yacht.
Great!
tysm! exactly what i was looking for, as i am currently doing a rebuild on a set of PA speakers with some NL4 (SpeakON) connectors which required crimping on spades, had no idea if i did the crimp correctly at first but this really helped :)
Glad I could help!
Crimpin' aint easy. My insulated eye connectors keep coming off. Thank you for showing how it's supposed to be done. 10 videos and no one else explained which side the dimple goes. I knew there had to be a right or wrong side.
Glad I could help. Here is one on things to consider when purchasing a crimp tool.
czcams.com/video/mmf9wIvRTYs/video.html
Good info! I prefer to use uninsulated crimps, and use heat shrink to make it look more professional. 99% of the crimp connectors I use are for ground wires though, so I use green/yellow shrink tubing. Insulated ferrules go on everything else.
Off topic: I see a can of O'Keeffe's 'Working Hands'. I swear by that stuff, especially during the winter, when it's dry. Be sure to try their night treatment!
Yes "Working Hands" is good stuff. Thanks for watching!
I see people strip wire too long. As for wire ferrules I strip wire long crimp the ferrule then cut back excess wire. Needs to be 100% though the ferrule. Again, I seen people where wire is 50% though ferrule. Another great video with knowledge. Thank you.
Good points, here is another one where we talk about the strip length.
czcams.com/video/hvDT8QMNRUU/video.html
Thanks a lot for this ....
Though admittedly I'm not looking forward having to purchase two different crimpers.
To properly cover both insulated and uninsulated crimp connector situations. ....
Here is a video to help you understand your options.
czcams.com/video/mmf9wIvRTYs/video.html
I have been watching your videos and would like to thank you for making them.
One thing I noticed in this video though is that I think your dies in the insulated crimper might be backwards. Every crimper I have seen/used in the past has the largest crimp closest to the fulcrum to get the greatest mechanical advantage. I don't think there would be any quality problems as your crimper wont release until it hits the proper position, but it would be much harder on your hands if you are doing more than one.
Keep up the good work.
Good observation! I'm left handed and it makes it more ergonomic to operate them with the dies reversed
Just what I needed to know. Thanks
You are welcome!
My carpal tunnels just ache at the idea of crimping all of those.
Yes, hopefully we'll get an automatic crimping machine!
Hello great video Thank you. How do you crimp a black negative and red positive wire to the same? I am trying to join a sirocco fan to a 12v cigarette plug in my van.
Couldn’t find the link to the crimpers you used
I wasn't super excited about the crimpers I used in this video, here is one on crimper selection.
czcams.com/video/mmf9wIvRTYs/video.html
Very good. You need a close up camera
Can somebody finally do a video on how to land termination’s in a terminal block. Im tryna tell this dude your supposed to land the first one backwards so in case somebody has to come behind you doing hot work the term can be landed straight on top.
It will depend on what you are installing the ring terminal on. Not all studs are listed to handle more than one ring. Also it may be convenient but not all studs have clearance for installing them this way without deforming the ring. I don't know if this specifically violates UL but there is a general tidiness cause and I'd say my inspector would balk at it.
Awesome video, thank you! Just a pity about the lack of focus when you show close-up. I couldn't see a damn thing 🙈
Yes, sometimes we realize after recording that the auto focus didn't work.
I was just wondering, can you crimp non-insulated ring/fork etc terminals with a 4 or 6 jaw wire ferrule crimper? I know it wouldn't be kosher, but would it produce a good crimp, or would it be too weak (I think regular wire ferrules are a lot thinner than the ferrules on the terminals)?
I would stick with the crimper recommended by the ferrule manufacturer.
The ferule crimper would also be stuck on the wrong side of the terminal.. If you were terminating on a long installed wire that is. A tool left dangling on a cable run because you cant get it back off is a bad look..
@Tim, can I ask you what ULL says you do with spare cores in a multicore cable?
Should they be terminated at both ends and the source end grounded?
hello why I always got no answer about what should terminal lug I use in my thhn stranded 3.5 in Plug in breakers. I ask everybody for so long here in youtube. Pls help
Too vague, contact your manufacturer
looking for a good assortment of terminals,connectors...
Check out these links Bill.
Insulated and Non-insulated Crimper amzn.to/3rmW6lw
Insulated Terminal Kit amzn.to/3d76x7F
Non-Insulated Terminal Kit amzn.to/3ro2U28
Out of focus.
Sorry to hear that. Which part did you not get?
Unfortunately the camera is not focused on what you are showing. The only thing that is clear in this video is your face, your tools the wires everything you're holding is blurry.
Yes, it was a last minute decision to make the video, nobody's perfect 😁
Back in my day, when these things first came out, we didn’t have any fancy ratchet tools, we just crimped them by squeezing them between our thumb and pointer. Wire strippers? Yeah, they’re called teeth.
😂