Holding crimps and wire at same time? (Weird clip thingy for molex crimp tool) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: incf
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 05, 2025, 04:55:50 pm
content: How do you simultaneously hold and position (1) crimps (assuming the wire insulation is too big to fit with the jaws partially closed) and (2) a stripped wire at the same time when using a cheap hand crimp tool?I recently was looking at the Molex 0640160201 hand crimp tool. Their solution to that problem is have the customer pay extra for two accessories - they bolt a small metal table/shelf to the side of the tool, and then to hold the crimp in position at the correct height with a custom designed metal clip.I'm struggling to understand how one would make due with cheaper tools without something like the clip accessory that Molex essentially forces one to purchase for their low end crimpers.I would attach an image but the forum is slightly broken right now. Instead here is a link that shows the custom clip.https://www.molex.com/content/dam/molex/molex-dot-com/products/automated/en-us/applicationtoolingspecificationpdf/640/64016/ATS-640160201-001.pdf

author: shabaz
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 05, 2025, 06:03:41 pm
content: Since you mention the insulation is too thick to first partially close the crimp tool, then instead you can simply balance the crimp terminal against the crimper, by holding the wire against it, i.e. you end up with the crimp terminal just sandwiched and held there, with you just holding the wire with one hand, and the crimp tool with the other.The alignment between the wire and the terminal can sometimes be easy, if the insulation is cut cleanly, because the edge of the insulation can be made to touch the edge of the crimp portion of the terminal.The alignment between terminal and crimp tool you may just have to eyeball. That's just the cost of using low-cost crimp tools. Also, a lot of the cheapest crimp tools do not crimp properly (either not enough force, and/or not the correct shape). The ratcheting crimp tools are often more ideal (i.e. the official Molex tools for instance). If this is for hobby use, you could look on ebay in case a used official tool crops up (they do from time to time) since that may save some costs.

author: ajb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 05, 2025, 06:30:14 pm
content: Do you actually have to buy the holder separately? It looks to me like it’s included but available as a replacement part — that’s how it is with their higher grade tools, the terminal holders do wear over time and eventually need to be replaced.Getting wire and terminal properly positioned in a cheap tool really can be a pain and feels like it requires three hands. That’s why the higher end tools have terminal holders, and part of what makes the more expensive tools worthwhile if you’re doing any level of production. The terminal holders are also better than the one shown here. They locate the terminal in all axes and can be loaded without removing them from the tool, so you don’t have to switch hands or set the tool down between crimps. The time and effort savings are significant when doing a few hundred crimps at a time, and the results are more consistent/reliable.

author: incf
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 05, 2025, 07:03:06 pm
content: Quote from: ajb on April 05, 2025, 06:30:14 pmI think you are right. I agree

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 05, 2025, 07:28:31 pm
content: I use a cheap crimper for Dupont style fittings. My usual approach is to partially close the crimper. If that is not possible, I use a "hemostat" like, fine nose forcep to partially close the ears that hold the insulation on the wire being crimped. Then insert it in the crimper and finish the crimping.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 05, 2025, 08:34:29 pm
content: pay or you need steady hands and hard work.the assertion that good crimping is easier then good soldering is a bunch of BS (unless you get ALL the helper tools)crimping ends up faster if you know exactly what you are doing, but the difficulty in learning them is similar IMO, crimping requires more work on dexterity and soldering needs imo slightly less dexterity, more fixture and more brain. inspecting the crimp afterwards is more complicated then inspecting a solder jointand the skill cap on soldering is higher IMO, because there are some real tricks you can do that IMO pass general inspection if your excellent...

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 05, 2025, 09:05:11 pm
content: Apples and oranges. Can you crimp a TQFP or 603 resistor? Please point us to the proper tool for each.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 05, 2025, 09:18:49 pm
content: even inserting a socket correctly seems to be fraught with hazards

author: Kjelt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2025, 05:44:06 pm
content: So you need three hands but only have two.This is the same principle with every crimp even 300m2 cablelugs.The A brand crimpers have the nicest solution to a certain price.If you don't want to pay and don't have three hands you will have to create some clamping jig to hold the specific part.You can for instance 3D print this just as for instance Molex have their injection molding plastick locator version (red part).