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looking for a molex crimp tool, that isn't $350

Cole2534

Diamond
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Location
Oklahoma City, OK
I need to make (8) crimps on Molex microfit 3.0 terminals, and I cannot justify the cost to buy Molex's $350 crimper. These are open barrel double crimp fittings, but they're kinda small at 20ga. I found some in the $25 dollar range, but Im not sure if they'll work? THe price seems too good to be true.

Does anyone know of a good, economically priced crimper? I looked at Knipex, but they weren't cheap either.

Also- holy hell, why are the pro grade crimpers sooooo pricey?
 
I need to make (8) crimps on Molex microfit 3.0 terminals, and I cannot justify the cost to buy Molex's $350 crimper. These are open barrel double crimp fittings, but they're kinda small at 20ga. I found some in the $25 dollar range, but Im not sure if they'll work? THe price seems too good to be true.

Does anyone know of a good, economically priced crimper? I looked at Knipex, but they weren't cheap either.

Also- holy hell, why are the pro grade crimpers sooooo pricey?

In theory every single crimp terminal from every supplier has its own crimper.

IF it is a standard 'F' crimp then a generic open barrel crimper will usually do it.

I am not going to bother looking up what that terminal is
 
I bought a J.S.T. Corporation (Taiwan) crimper tool 10015-JST for $20 in a surplus store. The same tool from a reputable USA company was $350.

This one is like the one I bought. Replaceable jaws to crimp lots of things. There are a few other ones that look and work the same.

RS Pro by Allied - 2534583 - Ratchet Crimp Tool Closed End Splice Connector Connect 1.5-6.0sq mm - Allied Electronics & Automation

Looking at the link again. It is the exact same design as mine. I bought mine a little over ten years ago. Glad nothing or little has changed. It's been a great crimp tool.
Crimps look good and they are strong.
 
At 3mm pitch you can get away with one of these if you're careful.
0638111000 Molex | Tools | DigiKey
Crimp around the bare wire and the insulated wire using different notches. Experiment a bit first! Comes in handy for many different connectors.

Went with these and they work well..so long as I do my part.

Are there any tricks to keeping the pins aligned on the wires during the crimp? Everything is so small and the tool so heavy (in comparison) that you really need about 4 hands to get it all straightened out. And naturally, I'm doing this to components not on the bench. I've found a small toolmaker's vise very handy in holding the wire steady.

Anyone have additional tips?
 
For small quantities this type of tool will do the job if you are careful. The main thing is the smoothness of the cavity. If it is rough, malformed, or otherwise looks bad send the tool back and try another.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07476C1LD?tag=duckduckgo-exp-b-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1

I have a bunch of crimpers including a few old Molex ones somewhat similar to this. You need to carefully position the terminal in the cavity and control the crimp pressure manually. Takes a bit of practice but terminals and wire are cheap and after a few tries you should be able to make a good crimp. The insulation crimp needs to be done separately, usually in a larger cavity, sometimes with a different tool.

The reason the factory tools are so expensive is because they are precision assemblies designed for long-term volume use by semi-skilled assemblers. Unless they place the terminal in wrong a perfect crimp is guaranteed as long as the correct terminal and wire are used.

I've probably crimped thousands of terminals over the years with low-cost tools. With some open barrel terminals I've had to preform the "tails" of the insulation crimp with electronics pliers before placing in the tool. Much slower than the expensive dedicated tools but much cheaper AND more versatile. A new unfamiliar terminal can be mastered with little thought and practice where the dedicated tools only work with ONE brand and family.
 
Went with these and they work well..so long as I do my part.

Are there any tricks to keeping the pins aligned on the wires during the crimp? Everything is so small and the tool so heavy (in comparison) that you really need about 4 hands to get it all straightened out. And naturally, I'm doing this to components not on the bench. I've found a small toolmaker's vise very handy in holding the wire steady.

Anyone have additional tips?

Yes, pre-form the "tails" of the open barrel connector with precision pliers to loosely fit the insulation. This prevents the "fumble, mis-crimp, drop on floor" cycle that often occurs with the cheaper single cavity tools. You can also use a tiny piece of masking tape to hold the back of the insulation crimp to the wire insulation until the bare wire crimp is made. As I said in another post, extra terminals are always a good idea to allow for practice.
 
At 3mm pitch you can get away with one of these if you're careful.
0638111000 Molex | Tools | DigiKey
Crimp around the bare wire and the insulated wire using different notches. Experiment a bit first! Comes in handy for many different connectors.

This one! It's my go to tool for random size terminals. I was going to get the number of ours in the lab, but sheys beat me to it. Ive used it for hundreds of connections.
 
Went with these and they work well..so long as I do my part.

Are there any tricks to keeping the pins aligned on the wires during the crimp? Everything is so small and the tool so heavy (in comparison) that you really need about 4 hands to get it all straightened out. And naturally, I'm doing this to components not on the bench. I've found a small toolmaker's vise very handy in holding the wire steady.

Anyone have additional tips?

load the terminal in the tool first and then insert wire. goes from 4 hands to 2.5...
 
An response sort of off in left field - on occasion, I solder the terminal/wire then I can use the "closest" sized crimp tool for the strain relief crimp. My opinion is that the strain relief crimp is not quite as sensitive as the electrical crimp.
 
Tried that, but haven't mastered gripping it tight enough to hold yet loose enough to not begin to close it.

Sent from my SM-G981V using Tapatalk

Wrap a light duty rubber band around the handles. Pry the handles open to load the terminal. Hold the tool loosely (the rubber band will keep the terminal from falling out) and then when you get the wire inserted squeeze down.
 








 
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