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What tool do you use to crimp on the original style male wire connectors (bullets)? I have used solder on a few, but that doesn't seem to be the best. Any suggestions are appreciated.
I have never crimped that style connector, I believe that they were made to be soldered. That said, to ensure a good solder connection, clean the inner sleeve and tin it prior to assembly with the wire. The wire should also be tinned. Not sure what you mean when you say "may not be the best" but I am assuming that you mean that you are getting cold solder joints. Clean metal, sufficient heat, good flux, and the proper solder will make the job a breeze...
I have had good success with solder, but many of the connectors on my replacement wiring harness appear to be crimped on. It just seem to me that that was how they were meant to be attached to the wire. Thanks for the soldering tips.
When I solder them, I just remove enough insulation to get the copper wire up into the head of the bullet. I put the wire in a vise to hold it so the bullet is up, put the iron on the bullet for a few seconds and then apply solder through the hole at the top. If you time it right you can get a great connection and not discolor the insulation and avoid the shrink sleeve.
Sometimes I get solder on the side of the bullet, use the iron to smooth it out so it slides easily into the connector.
I would not use that style of crimper on that fitting as it will widen the crimp end which will make it harder to go into an insulated sleeve on the female connector. By the way Titan sell that exact same crimper at Summit Racing for $20, a lot cheaper than the Klein for the same tools.
I am currently re-wiring a beetle for my daughter and have no less than 4 styles of crimpers and the one I would use for that connector is this style (I own at least 3 of these). https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-86263 There are other brands but for $20 it is hard to go wrong.
I put the bullet end in the vise, I strip the wire, I slide shrink tubing on the wire warm up the connector with a common propane torch fill the bullit with solder insert wire in the solder / cooled down then shrink the tubing
I learned from my mechanic and electrician that is re-wiring my truck that he uses a crimper, all the reproduction stock cloth covered wire is also crimped. Although much of the original wiring was soldered. He said that the soldering is brittle and that the crimped connections remain more flexible. Supposedly they do not use soldering on any race cars for this reason? If that helps you?
I noticed that the connectors on the wiring kit (cloth covered) were crimped. I just wanted to know what type of crimper should be used. The connector crimper that I use for ordinary wiring is similar to the ones mentioned above. The problem is that the connector will be deformed and not fit into the female socket. The premade wiring harness almost looks like the crimper works along the circumference of the connector rather than one side to the other (probably a poor explanation).
I learned from my mechanic and electrician that is re-wiring my truck that he uses a crimper, all the reproduction stock cloth covered wire is also crimped. Although much of the original wiring was soldered. He said that the soldering is brittle and that the crimped connections remain more flexible. Supposedly they do not use soldering on any race cars for this reason? If that helps you?
If you have a chance, could you ask him what brand/type of crimper he uses? Seems like he has a good handle on the original type of wiring and connectors. Thanks!
Hey I’m learning something here too! Here’s my mechanics email response back hope this helps.
The bullets we're using are technically not the original style, BUT from a functionality standpoint, they work much better. Mostly because you can grab the end that is crimped to seat it into a single or double splice. Versus the factory style you are pushing on the wire to get it fully seated in a splice. The crimpers Im using are SnapOn 29ACF. I also have this hydraulic crimper with a small die that would work for the factory style bullet ends, but again, I prefer the Molex ones and the hydro crimper is not very production friendly, especially under a dash. Finish off the connection with a piece of adhesive heat shrink, and you have a connection that looks close to factory, but will last longer and is more serviceable.
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