"rb" wrote in message
...
Doing wiring around the house with small (20-16ga) wires on the cars,
mowers, etc, I would like to use the crimp-on connectors.

When I squeeze them hard with pliers, the wires still have a tendency to
slip out.

Is there a better way to do install those crimp-ons than using pliers?


Crimps can be incredibly secure. The problem is finding a good crimping
tool. The ones sold at places like Home Depot or Lowe's are crap. They
usually have two slim, flat jaws that do nothing but squeeze the connectors
in a way that's not much better than pliers. What you want is a tool that
has a groove on one side that holds the crimp in place, and a "tooth" sort
of thing on the other that makes an indentation in the connector, almost as
if you'd pressed the connector with an awl whose point had been rounded off.

I don't have time at the moment to find you a link, but poke around at
www.panduit.com for crimp tools. If you find some, but they don't show a
closeup picture of the tool's jaws, let me know and I'll post a picture. The
tool I have came from Mac Tools, but a very quick look at their site
suggests that they don't make them any more.

By the way, Panduit makes the best crimp connectors in the known universe.
No matter how expensive they seem, they are worth the money, especially if
you're obsessive-compulsive and have nightmares about electrical failures
harming your family.