According to Bob Engelhardt :
I have been using a crimper that's the twin of the OP's for 40+ years.
I can't say that I've never had a bad crimp, but very few. Almost
always a post-crimp tug will catch it.
Is it a "bad tool" and/or having I been creating "bad crimps"? My main
criterion is "Does it work?" Like most here, I use it for hobby work,
as I guess the OP does. Professional requirement *will* be different.
No doubt, the crimpers starting at $100 are better. But not worth it to
me.
Almost all of my crimpers were purchased at surplus sales,
hamfests, or eBay auctions. There, you can get excellent crimpers for
quite reasonable prices. I am a hobbist as well -- I just was exposed
to industrial quality tools when I worked for a manufacturer who made
things for the military -- things like four-off flight simulators and
such. And once exposed to those, I find the others quite
unsatisfactory.
With a quick search through eBay I find auction #7598573080
which has a crimper by AMP which can handle two sizes of terminals --
those for the red terminals (22-16 Gauge), and for the blue terminals
(16-14 Gauge). The current bid is $15.50. My own preference is for
single size crimpers, but I would expect this one to work quite well,
too -- and to save a bit of room in the toolbox.
Here is an example of what I use -- auction #7599234970
(currently at $9.95) There aren't even any bids on it at present.
The three sizes which I use most a
red 22-16 Ga
blue 16-14 Ga
yellow 12-10 Ga
(the colors repeat though other size ranges, but these are the most
common, and the most useful generally. I've got crimpers capable of
handling wire sizes up through 4/0, and the dies for the larger ones up
through 3/0. It has turned into a collection for me -- but a quite
useful collection. :-)
In the other direction, I go down to 30 Ga in various formats.
I'd say if you buy your crimps in 100-count boxes, you should get a
gold-standard crimper. If you buy variety packs or 10-count boxes, a
$10 one will do. If I didn't already have 2, I'd get the $26 Klein - a
nice middle ground.
Actually -- the more crimps you do in a year, the more you are
able to work around the limitations of cheap crimpers -- and the more
you appreciate *good* crimpers. :-)
Enjoy,
DoN.
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