Have you ever had the problem where your terminals split during the crimping process?

Insulated terminals, when crimped with the correct tool, rarely split during the crimping process. However, Non-insulated, non-brazed terminals (NIT), can be split by a variety of factors, producing a bad termination. This can be frustrating, since a bad termination means cutting off the terminal and recrimping with a fresh terminal or redoing the entire process from scratch. Usually the cause for the split of a NIT could be one of the following:

· tool indentor is applied to the barrel seam, rather than the back of the barrel during crimping
· improper tool air pressure,
· incorrect part orientation in the tool
· incorrect tool
· incorrect wire size for the terminal.

To prevent splits, first verify the wire range of the terminal against the size of the wire that you are crimping. Attempting to crimp a terminal onto wire of the incorrect size, be it too small or too large, will always produce a poor crimp. Too small does not allow enough contact space between the wire and the terminal. Too large means a poor fit for the wire into the terminal, and too much contact for the terminal. Hollingsworth stamps the wire range on each of its solderless terminals.

Second, verify the tool being used to crimp the terminal is the correct size and type for that particular terminal. Hollingsworth tools are clearly marked with the wire size next to the crimp nests as well as being marked for NIT, FIT, FIIG, etc. A tool that crimps insulated terminals will not properly crimp non-insulated terminals.

Orientation of the terminal within the tool is always key to a good crimp. Hollingsworth hand tools create indentor style crimps, which means that the tool pushes an indentor into the terminal to create the crimp. It is imperative that the barrel seam face away from the indentor (or opposite), otherwise the force from the indentor will create an opening at the seam.

Hollingsworth crimp presses do not use an indentor to create the crimp, but instead create a confined hex crimp through the use of matched dies. Terminals are adhered to a tape, which feeds the terminals through the press, at the same time correctly positioning them to be crimped. Correct orientation of the tape through the press ensures correct orientation of the terminal within the press crimp area. The tape must be fed through press with the open barrel of the terminal facing up.

Air powered tools, such as Hollingsworth H270 crimp presses, require the correct psi. Too much psi, and you have too much force, which can cause damage not only to the terminal, but to the machine as well. Not enough psi, and you will have a poor crimp which will not pass the pull test.

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