Hit 3,000 cable terminations today and I think my crimpers are ruined

I counted up my terminations from the last 5 years and realized I've done over 3,000 coax and ethernet ends without ever replacing my crimper dies. Has anyone else had their compression tool wear out silently like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannah_price791d ago

Wait hold on, you gotta be careful mixing up termination types. Coax and ethernet use totally different dies in compression tools so they wear out at different rates. I've seen guys crush RJ45 ends with coax dies because they didn't check. Your 3,000 count probably spread across both so its not fair to say they're worn out the same way. Normal wear on a good Klein or Paladin crimper happens more like after 5-6k terminations if you're doing solid core stuff. If you've hit 3k and they still feel tight you're probably fine just check that the die actually matches your connector brand.

evah4016h agoTop Commenter

That 5-6k number might not hold up if you're doing stranded core cable instead of solid. Stranded stuff moves and flexes more during termination, so the die alignment wears out faster. I swapped to pass-through connectors on stranded runs last year and the crimper started acting loose after around 2,800 terminations. The little cutting blade inside just couldn't keep up with the softer wire strands pushing back. What nobody talks about is how the ratchet mechanism degrades on cheaper all-in-one tools way before the die gives you trouble. If you feel that click getting sloppy, the compression depth changes even with a clean die. That's where I've seen failed terminations on the analyzer that looked fine by eye.

sandra_black1d ago

Hannah_price79, are you saying those all-in-one crimpers with interchangeable dies actually hold up better than dedicated tools, or is it just a matter of keeping the inserts clean?