Crimpers, crimpers, crimpers, ...

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 I happen to have bought a few crimpers over the years. I understand how convenient is to have a trusty connection using a crimper, but I have had trouble shelling out the hefty sum a brand-new required. Being mostly a hobbyist I had a difficult time accepting paying hundreds of dollars for a glorified set of pliers that I would use to make less than fifty contacts a year. 

However, whenever I have had a hint that an affordable tool could do a reasonable job within a budget I have bought a new crimper. Most of the time to get a disappointing result, or a poor one at best. I usually deal with 2.54 mm DuPont and Molex connectors so I have bought SN-28B (actually twice by mistake), TU-190-8, and another one I bought from RS.

The one from RS almost did the trick for DuPont but it crushed the top metal too flat so I needed to use some pliers so I could squeeze it into the plastic part. The two jaws did leave a small space on the side so I reckon the crimp was good but the geometry was off. 

Someone praised SN-28B crimpers and I went for it but they did not work. I went on and, following another clue I found online, I bought the TU-190-8 crimper with did not do the trick for DuPont's but worked ok for Molex's. To make things worse, I did not check that I had one already, and, following another recommendation, I ended up buying a second SN-28B with identical results.

But I wanted to have a tool that could do the job so I could recommend one to my students. So I looked around and I saw two recommendations by different people online. As now I have a good collection for crimpers, I went on and bought just the machined jaws 2549 that turned to work well for both DuPont and Molex connectors. From what I saw online, you can get a 2549 crimper for around $20, so that is within the budget I found reasonable for the occasional user.

I read good comments about the IWIS-3220M crimper too, but this time I am not buying one just for testing it. But I will be glad if a reader can leave a comment (good or bad) about it. 

Unfortunately, the result you get on the DuPont connect has the problem mentioned here though I can live it as it does not prevent me from inserting it properly in the plastic part.


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