Wiring education needed.

[Deptford Draylons]

Currently in the middle of a nut and bolt rebuild on my BMW, but now the part I dread is approaching and need some advice on wiring tools, as currently I'm in the ' just about wire a plug' camp.
Most of the bits I'll be tackling have crimp connectors like those in the pic below. So first up is to buy a decent crimping tool suitable for this and looking for suggestions on a good crimp tool and any links to any useful guides.

Thanks

[DaveGib]

Get ratchet crimps you get a much neater and consistent tight crimp on the terminals

[voicey]

You're looking for a non-insulated crimp tool for those connectors. They have a special shape to neatly fold the tabs over the wire.

[Deptford Draylons]

Thanks. Any recommendation on a decent crimp tool ? They seem to range from ten pounds , right up to hundreds of pounds. Something sensibly priced for the home gamer

[GreenV8S]

As others have commented, you want a ratchet crimper rather than a simple two-piece crimper. Good ones typically have removable jaws and adjustable travel limits, and come with a few sets of jaws covering different size ranges or letting you switch between insulated and non-insulated terminals. You need to ensure the supplied jaws cover the types and sizes of terminal you need. It's quite important to use the right size jaws for the specific terminal you're crimping in order to get a good result.

I'd expect to pay about £15-£20. For example Meterk sell some that seem decent quality, but there's nothing special about that brand and no doubt there are dozens of alternatives that would do just as well.

Note that this type is for crimping terminals with folded over ears - if you're using crimp-on ferrule style terminals you need something completely different.

[Dabooka]

Deptford Draylons said:

Thanks. Any recommendation on a decent crimp tool ? They seem to range from ten pounds , right up to hundreds of pounds. Something sensibly priced for the home gamer

I scored for a pair of excellent CK crimpers from my (sparky) mate, they are excellent for me and it's all he uses nowadays.

Edited by Dabooka on Monday 27th August 20:45

[PaulKemp]

I bought a £10 auto wire stripper crimper in Lidl and it’s quite good.

You will need a soldering iron and some different sized heat shrink

[GreenV8S]

PaulKemp said:

I bought a £10 auto wire stripper crimper in Lidl and it’s quite good.

You will need a soldering iron and some different sized heat shrink

Soldering and crimping are two different techniques. Crimping is generally preferred. You can add solder to a crimped joint, but there is no advantage and some disadvantage if it is crimped properly.

[steveo3002]

i use these

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ratchet-Electrical-Cabl...

cheap terminals dont crimp nice...use a supplier like r.s compenents

[taz turbo]

GreenV8S said:

As others have commented, you want a ratchet crimper

I'd expect to pay about £15-£20.

You need to tell me your supplier, last pair of ratchet crimpers (with jaws) was just shy of £300.

The jaws seem so very expensive, especially painful with a different set of jaws for each terminal style.


Chris.

[GreenV8S]

taz turbo said:

You need to tell me your supplier, last pair of ratchet crimpers (with jaws) was just shy of £300.

They can get expensive in the bigger sizes but I wouldn't expect to pay anything like that for the sort of thing you'd use for common automotive connector sizes. £20 ish would get you something perfectly satisfactory.

[Kccv23highliftcam]

Have some mods/work to do on kit car, going to use heatshrink pre -insulated terminals

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/section.php/...

due to their greater environmental protection and strength once shrunk...

[Penelope Stopit]

Kccv23highliftcam said:

Have some mods/work to do on kit car, going to use heatshrink pre -insulated terminals

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/section.php/...

due to their greater environmental protection and strength once shrunk...

Those terminals are bad real bad, any wiring job done with those terminals looks a proper mess

Black heat-shrink sleeving that contains adhesive used to cover folding type crimp terminals does a nice job

[anonymous-user]

Having had nothing but trouble with cheap nasty insulated terminals, I found a supplier locally who could supply good quality uninstalled terminals in the shape I wanted, male, female and round and then asked him to supply the tool to suit. I always go back to him for the terminals. never had a problem since. my experience is its the terminals that are cheap and not fort for purpose rather than tool brand.

[finishing touch]

If your the sort to need a 500 quid wheelie cabinet to keep your tools in then this may not be for you.





Or the £13 ones from Screwfix may deserve a look.


Just had a look at mine that were £17 ish but that was 10 years ago. Unfortunately they have no brand name on them.

Apart from other bits and bobs they have made a complete loom for my Seven with the exception of the alternator spades. They're huge.


Paul G

edit
Found a pic of the ones I have.

Edited by finishing touch on Friday 7th September 05:34

[adeel_gt]

I’ve used this, cheap and good quality used it when making part of a new loom

https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/non-insulated-termi...