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David,
Related to another hobby of mine, what would you say is the appropriate number for a pull test on stranded 12 AWG? I don’t know the stranding but its fine. I haven’t been in a position to oversee production crimp machine audits for 30 years but I’d guess 45-50 lbs.
I’ve seen so much bad harness workmanship lately I was beginning to think UL had relaxed its requirement that each crimp be formed using the crimp manufactures specified tool. Glad to hear I’m not off in left field after all.
Wing Tip went all dark on SF Bay a just after ushering in New Years ’96. She’d been with us for only a month so I was appalled when I popped the electrical panel and found a failed crimp. I was about to be very disappointed in CY when I realized every affected wire was related to a dealer installed accessory. Too bad he cut a main feed to splice in a branch circuit. Thank goodness for propane powered soldering irons. (Manned space flight certified at one time and the other skipper helping was an AT&T switch installer.)
You would think a dealer would know enough to restrict their technicians to Anchor brand crimps and their matching ratchet crimper. I don’t have a salt spray chamber to play with anymore but it sure looks like a gas tight seal to me.
Obviously the tech thought his work passed the crimp and jerk test but he didn’t achieve gas tight seal. We soldered every one of his crimps once we identified his tool marks versus the factories.
Phil Agur s/v Wing Tip Commodore, Call Sign WCW3485 IC27/270A
www.catalina27.org Vessel Doc# 1039809
-----Original Message-----
Oops, missed this message! FWIW, the MX150L can be crimped by either of two crimping tools. The one I'd suggest is really very inexpensive: (relatively speaking) #489 from Waytek, about $30. The one we use here costs $310.00. But the cheaper one is really a very good crimper and will last a lifetime.
As far as using another crimper--well, maybe... I never would in production, but that's because we're incredibly fussy about quality. But if you're working on your own boat, and it's not a life-safety issue, who am I to judge? Here's the thing: the very best test for crimp quality is a pull test. We use a specialized machine with an electronic strain-gage that pulls a wire away from a clamped terminal at a rate of one inch of stretch per minute, and records the force it took to break the wire. (We test samples, not production items--we never ship a pull-tested wire because the strands might break inside the wire, and we test to destruction anyway). For 16 AWG wire, for example, we're looking for a capability of 30 pounds. So what I propose is that you use your crimper-wannabe to crimp a sample of the MX150L terminals to a sample wire that matches your searchlight or power cable, clamp the end of the terminal in a vise, and carefully hang 30 pounds from the wire (with no bending of the wire coming off the terminal--pull straight!). This is a quick and dirty test. That's for 16 AWG. If you're using a different gauge, let me know and I'll give you a pound rating. If the wire breaks at the back of the terminal, you either over-crimped it or did a poor job of stripping and cut strands of the wire. If the wire slips out of the terminal, it's not a strong-enough crimp and would make a weak electrical connection,....unless carefully soldered. hmm..... There's an alternative, isn't there? But I hate to suggest it. You have to be a competent solderer, and you have to make a crimp that's close enough to the real thing to let you plug the terminals into the housing...
Let me know if I can help further. Hope this all makes sense.
David Shaddock Rockford,
IL Hi Dave, Looked at Waytekwire web site and they say on the catalog page, "MX150L crimpimg tool must be used to insure a good seal". Can you use any high quality crimping tool? Harvey Rosenberg C-27TR
#6023, 1985, M-18, Stony Point NY
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- RE: catalina27-talk: 12 Volt Searchlight Phil Agur
- catalina27-talk: Crimp testing drs377
- RE: catalina27-talk: Crimp testing Phil Agur
- RE: catalina27-talk: Silent - Test Phil Agur
- RE: catalina27-talk: Silent - Test Chris Maddox
- Re: catalina27-talk: 12 Volt Searchlight Harvey Rosenberg
