I wanted to be able to crimp AMP/Tyco Stratotherm connectors correctly
but the new price of a 46447 crimper was scary so I bought a 2nd hand
one from a guy in California. He listed it with USPS international flat
rate shipping so it being sent to the UK was not a problem. The crimper
was obviously used as the dies were a bit polished but seem undamaged
according to the AMP/Tyco documentation . What I'm curious about is that
the handles and the die head were wired closed and had a lead seal
applied to hold the wire, is this a standard practice in some US
industry and if so for what purpose. The crimper did have some rather
tenacious labels on the handle indicating its use for a particular butt
splice.

David Billington wrote:

I wanted to be able to crimp AMP/Tyco Stratotherm connectors correctly
but the new price of a 46447 crimper was scary so I bought a 2nd hand
one from a guy in California. He listed it with USPS international flat
rate shipping so it being sent to the UK was not a problem. The crimper
was obviously used as the dies were a bit polished but seem undamaged
according to the AMP/Tyco documentation . What I'm curious about is that
the handles and the die head were wired closed and had a lead seal
applied to hold the wire, is this a standard practice in some US
industry and if so for what purpose. The crimper did have some rather
tenacious labels on the handle indicating its use for a particular butt
splice.

Usually the lead seal is used to determine if something's been tampered
with. Here, my closest guess is that he wanted to constrain it from
springing open in shipping. Does the lead seal have any kind of letters,
numbers, or a logo or anything stamped into it?

Cheers!
Rich

On Sat, 19 Feb 2011 20:41:17 +0000, David Billington
wrote:

I wanted to be able to crimp AMP/Tyco Stratotherm connectors correctly
but the new price of a 46447 crimper was scary so I bought a 2nd hand
one from a guy in California. He listed it with USPS international flat
rate shipping so it being sent to the UK was not a problem. The crimper
was obviously used as the dies were a bit polished but seem undamaged
according to the AMP/Tyco documentation . What I'm curious about is that
the handles and the die head were wired closed and had a lead seal
applied to hold the wire, is this a standard practice in some US
industry and if so for what purpose. The crimper did have some rather
tenacious labels on the handle indicating its use for a particular butt
splice.
Could be to indicate that it's calibration has been verified/certified
and is ready to use.
--
Mr.E

Rich Grise wrote:
David Billington wrote:


I wanted to be able to crimp AMP/Tyco Stratotherm connectors correctly
but the new price of a 46447 crimper was scary so I bought a 2nd hand
one from a guy in California. He listed it with USPS international flat
rate shipping so it being sent to the UK was not a problem. The crimper
was obviously used as the dies were a bit polished but seem undamaged
according to the AMP/Tyco documentation . What I'm curious about is that
the handles and the die head were wired closed and had a lead seal
applied to hold the wire, is this a standard practice in some US
industry and if so for what purpose. The crimper did have some rather
tenacious labels on the handle indicating its use for a particular butt
splice.


Usually the lead seal is used to determine if something's been tampered
with. Here, my closest guess is that he wanted to constrain it from
springing open in shipping. Does the lead seal have any kind of letters,
numbers, or a logo or anything stamped into it?

Cheers!
Rich


None that I could see. The vendor noted in the ebay text that he had
bought the item for resale so I presume the lead seals were applied
before by the previous owner. IIRC the other 46447 crimper he sold
didn't have the seals.

On 2011-02-19, David Billington wrote:
I wanted to be able to crimp AMP/Tyco Stratotherm connectors correctly
but the new price of a 46447 crimper was scary so I bought a 2nd hand
one from a guy in California. He listed it with USPS international flat
rate shipping so it being sent to the UK was not a problem. The crimper
was obviously used as the dies were a bit polished but seem undamaged
according to the AMP/Tyco documentation . What I'm curious about is that
the handles and the die head were wired closed and had a lead seal
applied to hold the wire, is this a standard practice in some US
industry and if so for what purpose.

Is this a hydraulic crimper, or pure leverage?

O.K. I just looked it up -- pure compound leverage, like most
of my AMP crimpers.

Now -- if there is a number or something in the lead seal, it
might indicate that it has been though factory refurbishment and not
used since.

Or -- someone doesn't know about the Certi-Crimp ratchet which
only allows you to open the handles after you complete the crimp. You
can stop squeezing one click before that, and the handles will stay
together.

Or -- someone removed/disabled the Certi-Crimp ratchet (a
diagonal line between the handles with a one-way sliding motion until
the crimp is complete), and needed the wire and seal (or something) to
keep the handles from spreading out and making it difficult to box or to
keep in a toolbox.

If the ratchet is not present, or not functional, there is no
assurance that a given crimp will be tight enough.

The crimper did have some rather
tenacious labels on the handle indicating its use for a particular butt
splice.

Your wording suggest that you removed the labels? Normally, the
color indicates the wire size range (at least with the pre-insulated
terminals). The size is also stamped on part of the assembly at the
head end, and (again for the pre-insulated terminals) the end of the
handles is dipped in paint, with the following translations:

Yellow 28-24 Ga
Red 22-16 Ga (or 22-18 if for mil spec use)
Blue 16-14 Ga (often one handle is blue, one is green in this)
Yellow 12-10 Ga

past this point, we get into the hydraulic tools, but the cycle of
colors continues (with the colors being dots in shallow drill holes on
the interchangeable dies) up through 4-0. (Two sizes of crimper heads,
for two sizes of dies.)

Assuming that your crimper is complete, you have an excellent
tool.

BTW You can download the manual in PDF format from Tycho's site.
The file name is "ENG_SS_408-1542_K.pdf" which covers several
models including yours.

Best of luck,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

The user guide document can be found by using the Search by: Document Number
selection (not Part Number), and entering 408-1542.

http://www.tycoelectronics.com/comme.../DDEController

For hand crimping tools (AMP - Tyco) 46447, 47410, 49592, 49935, 69363,
525693, 574573, 1490046-1 and 1490047-1.

--
WB
..........


"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...

BTW You can download the manual in PDF format from Tycho's site.
The file name is "ENG_SS_408-1542_K.pdf" which covers several
models including yours.

Best of luck,
DoN.

--
Remove oil spill source from e-mail
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. |
http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

DoN. Nichols wrote:
On 2011-02-19, David Billington wrote:

I wanted to be able to crimp AMP/Tyco Stratotherm connectors correctly
but the new price of a 46447 crimper was scary so I bought a 2nd hand
one from a guy in California. He listed it with USPS international flat
rate shipping so it being sent to the UK was not a problem. The crimper
was obviously used as the dies were a bit polished but seem undamaged
according to the AMP/Tyco documentation . What I'm curious about is that
the handles and the die head were wired closed and had a lead seal
applied to hold the wire, is this a standard practice in some US
industry and if so for what purpose.


Is this a hydraulic crimper, or pure leverage?

O.K. I just looked it up -- pure compound leverage, like most
of my AMP crimpers.

Now -- if there is a number or something in the lead seal, it
might indicate that it has been though factory refurbishment and not
used since.

Or -- someone doesn't know about the Certi-Crimp ratchet which
only allows you to open the handles after you complete the crimp. You
can stop squeezing one click before that, and the handles will stay
together.

Or -- someone removed/disabled the Certi-Crimp ratchet (a
diagonal line between the handles with a one-way sliding motion until
the crimp is complete), and needed the wire and seal (or something) to
keep the handles from spreading out and making it difficult to box or to
keep in a toolbox.

If the ratchet is not present, or not functional, there is no
assurance that a given crimp will be tight enough.


The crimper did have some rather
tenacious labels on the handle indicating its use for a particular butt
splice.


Your wording suggest that you removed the labels? Normally, the
color indicates the wire size range (at least with the pre-insulated
terminals). The size is also stamped on part of the assembly at the
head end, and (again for the pre-insulated terminals) the end of the
handles is dipped in paint, with the following translations:

Yellow 28-24 Ga
Red 22-16 Ga (or 22-18 if for mil spec use)
Blue 16-14 Ga (often one handle is blue, one is green in this)
Yellow 12-10 Ga

past this point, we get into the hydraulic tools, but the cycle of
colors continues (with the colors being dots in shallow drill holes on
the interchangeable dies) up through 4-0. (Two sizes of crimper heads,
for two sizes of dies.)

Assuming that your crimper is complete, you have an excellent
tool.

BTW You can download the manual in PDF format from Tycho's site.
The file name is "ENG_SS_408-1542_K.pdf" which covers several
models including yours.

Best of luck,
DoN.


Don,

The crimper is complete with the certi-crimp rachet in place and
functional. I did remove the label as it wasn't an AMP original but a
user applied label indicating its use for a specific number butt splice.
The tool die head does 3 ranges of wire sizes and those sizes are marked
on the die head. I'll oil it and put it away now until the terminals arrive.