Why 50% of All Crimp Connections Fail - Up or Down?

Let me know your tricks for crimped connections! Cheap but Great Crimp Tool amzn.to/3V79Jb7 Crimp Assortment Insulated: amzn.to/437CNRL Non-Insulated: amzn.to/3wR9ZB2

So logical...but for 55 years I have been unaware of this...great content as usual SC

This explains the problems I've had for three decades with amateur wiring in my car. Genuinely, this video has made my life better. Thank you.

Retired now but built low and high current power supplies much of my early adult life… a couple that are no longer in this solar system. A few that vanished in a flash…. Nice to see someone on YouTube teach this right. The orientation really becomes critical when dealing with high strand count small gauge wire - 1400 strand 12ga Teflon jacket is a bear to get mechanically connected.

The crimp tool you used on the uninsulated terminals is for closed barrel connectors. The open crimp uses a die that rolls both wings of the open crimp down into the wire. You mean well but are actually not helping.

Another potential issue, primarily with the insulated connectors, is getting some of the wire insulation into the crimp. Using the right size connector, as you pointed out, can help avoid that because only the wire will fit. But if the wire is in the smaller range for a particular connector, it is possible to get some of the wire insulation into the crimp, and then it impedes a good connection and it’s difficult to notice if the connector has an insulated collar around it.

Crimpin’ ain’t easy

What you say is correct but If you buy brazed-barrel crimp terminals this failure mode cannot happen. They cost a lot more than the cheapies but are worth it. They often are made from thicker copper material, so they are sturdier. Nylon insulated terminals are good to higher temperatures than the cheaper PVC insulated ones. Many critical applications specify brazed-barrel terminals. For smaller screw size terminals 1/16 stick out of the wire may be too much. Any wire past flush is not part of the connection, so just make sure the wire strands are just a little past flush and not in the way of the screw head. Ratcheting crimping tools are great and often take a lot less force to crimp. I have carpal tunnel damage from crimping terminals and cutting wires with less than the easiest tools over fifty years of tool use.

Zero time wasted in laying it all out very simply. Subbed 👍

OUTSTANDING, as usual. I've seen MANY folks do this the wrong way and use regular pliers to crush the connector down. The "brute force" method.

OMG .... forty years later and I've now learnt how to (i) identify the lug's hole size & wire size and (ii) how to crimp correctly! What a great lesson you've taught me .... thank you, thank you!

Although technically your using uninsulated crimpers on insulated terminals, you are correct about the orientation which is easy to see by looking down the inside of the terminal. Insulated crimpers are what typically result in soft crimps, also good quality terminals have grooved interiors that help with getting a good bite on the wire, unlike the cheap Chinese terminals which are usually smooth.

One of the few YouTube videos that actually shows the importance of seam and crimper orientation. Thank you.

Been doing this all of my life. My dad was a brilliant electrical engineer. So glad he taught me well.

"Stop pulling out" thanks Chris, I'll take this to heart

I've done a lot of stranded 10-14. I had some long handled crimpers like the Gardener/Bender in the vid. Came up missing. I ended up welding 6" extensions on the pair I use now, as I couldn't find another. Crimps like a bench vice. Fixing a pulled crimp on a submersible pump a couple hundred feet below ground motivates one to make good crimps.

This video finally talks about how to orient the seam in the connector in the crimping tool. This is the first video that takes that question head on, to make sure that the dimple is on the side that does NOT have the seam. So simple and yet almost NEVER talked about—thank you for this video!

I've never seen all these points highlighted, and so well demonstrated, in any crimping how to video. Thanks, once again, for going a little deeper into the details that can make, or break, the success of a project.

This is a great video. No one has ever taught me the right way to do a crimp in all my years of using them

Thanks for this. I have been frustrated many times with loose connections on these connectors. Now I will look for this in the future.