AMP Ratcheting crimp connector

I picked up a practically new AMP PRO - Crimper II ratcheting crimper for $8 at a yard sale today. Unfortunately for me it came with a 58495-2 die which appears to be for uninsulated pin connectors, and I want to use it for red blue yellow insulated solderless connectors.

What die part number do I need and where should I get it? I remember someone saying that there may be Eclipse branded dies that are interchangeable and less expensive. I found these, but am not sure if they are compatible with my crimper and which one I would need.

-Joe

Dies

If your pro-crimper II is amp part No. 354940-1, the dies for red, blue & yellow plastigrip and PIDG terminals will be Amp 58423-1.
The dies cost approx £57 in the UK ($104).

Mark

For US supplier of dies, try Newark. Part Number: 66F3273 @ $39.68

Talk about being ripped of in the UK!

Mark

Eclipse has a line which is interchangeable with Ideal, not AMP.

I have two Ideal crimpers and quite a number of die sets, some Ideal, but mostly Eclipse.

I usually use the PIDG-type for new work, but as some of my work is restorations, I also can use the old uninsulated type, in order to make the repair identical to the original.

Some of my dies are for communications purposes, such as RJ-11, RJ-45, CATV "F", RS-232 DB-25 and similar. Also AMP Mate-N-Lock.

Basically, with the one type of tool, I can crimp nearly everything which comes my way.

Some of the later Eclipse tools and dies are not compatible with the Ideal.

Usually, I take my tools in, mount the dies on the frames and try a few crimps, and if they pass inspection I'll buy them.

I still have AMP tooling for the old "F" crimp (needed on lots of automation equipment) and also the "PIDG" type, but the AMP "PIDG" tool does not cover yellow terminals (#10, etcetera), only blue and red.

New AMP tooling is way too costly to seriously consider, unless you have an unlimited budget.

peterh5322 said:

New AMP tooling is way too costly to seriously consider, unless you have an unlimited budget.

Click to expand...

AMP is owned by TYCO, the $5000.00 shower curtain for the maids quarters folks and other acts of corporate excess, and it needs to be paid for somehow.....

The act(s) written about did happen some time ago, but still come to mind when TYCO is on the box.

Is this the proper die for the red / blue /yellow connectors? The frame is a 354940-1

$40 is not that unreasonable.

-Joe

2slow,

Thats the one, see my 1st & 2nd posts.

Mark

AMP isn't, per se, a bad company. Rather, what was bad was the company it kept: Dennis Kozlowski and his buds from Seaton Hall. Crooks, all. Hmmm, rhymes.

AMP was founded as "Aircraft and Marine products", and it was a world leader in innovation, as well as the world's largest maker of termination products, until Kozlowski/TYCO ruined it.

I see that AMP (now TYCO) is making a popularly priced product, perhaps for the first time.

If it wasn't for the extensive coverage provided by the Ideal/Eclipse frame and its nearly 50 sets of interchangeable dies, I might try an AMP.

I still have all the original AMP tooling for "F" crimps, "PIDG" terminals, and EIA communications terminals, but all my new acquisitions are based upon the superior coverage of the Ideal/Eclipse concept, which AMP appears to be emulating, to a degree.

The new die arrived from Newark today.

I made some test crimps and it seems to work fine.

The crimp does not look as tight as I would make with my 3M standard crimper / Striper, but I put the connector in a vise and pulled as hard as I could on the wire and could not get it to budge so I guess it is OK.

Maybe I have been squeezing too hard with my old tool...

-Joe

Generally, if the dies close and touch on both sides, they are making (or trying to make) a 'spec" crimp.

if they do NOT close, then you have a problem.

Then there is the problem of the die vs the actual lug.......

I have seen crimps made with dies not from the lug manufacturer, but supposedly "crossed to" them.... After you crimped the wire, it wouldn't come out, but you could wiggle it in the crimp and a bunch of center strands would move...... You KNOW that's wrong.

The die closes on both sides, and none of the central strands wiggle when moving the wire around, however the crimp is just not that tight.

I crimped a yellow connector on one end of 10 awg with my cheap 3M crimper, and the other end with the AMP ratcheting crimper. I held one end in a vise and pulled on the other. I pulled hard, but I was always able to slide the AMP crimps out. The Cheap 3M crimps held up multiple times.

I then tried crimping a yellow connector in the "blue" portion of the die. (One size smaller) the insulation was visibly damaged, but I put it back to the vise test and I could not separate either end.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
-Joe

User Error!!!

I was not inserting the connectors properly (deep enough) into the die.

After rectifying that issue the crimps are rock solid.

-Joe