- When it comes to crimping cables
it seems everybody has an opinion.
Now, if you ask 10 electricians,
you'll probably get 11 answers, particularly when it comes
down to the crimping method itself.
Now today we're gonna look at
the dieless indent crimping method using this new tool
from Klauke, the EK30IDML.
We've been using this battery powered crimp tool
in lots of different applications
and I've put some short videos out there on social media.
And if you're one of the 28 million people
who watched my hack of how to get
a really flexible conductor into a crew terminal,
you've probably seen it.
Now, if you're one of the thousands of people
in that video who told me I was doing it wrong
we're gonna come back to that later.
And I might even have to issue myself an eFIXX blue plaque.
The great thing about the dieless crimping method
is you can crimp a huge range of cables
without having to change anything on this tool.
Now this tool can crimp from six millimeter square
conductors all the way up to 120 millimeter square.
Now it might be a little bit fiddly
at the six millimeter end.
You'll probably still be using your hand crimper there.
But this lightweight tool is fantastic
for those larger conductor sizes.
And I say effortless one-handed operation.
Alongside the cross-sectional area of the conductor,
we also need to think about the conductor type.
Now this machine will deal with Class 2
five and six conductors.
Now if you're not up on your classes of conductor
we have made a separate video about that.
I will leave a link in the description.
But to summarize a Class 2 conductor
that is something you'll typically find
in a fixed electrical installation, a Class 5
something usually found in panel building
and Class 6, something possibly in automation applications
where you've got a lot of movement,
you often see them in battery leads.
I've seen them in plating baths within PCB factories.
So if you're using a die-based crimp tool
you may have to change the die size depending
upon the actual class of conductor.
And there's a good reason for that.
I've got two copper tube terminals here, both designed
for 70 millimeter squared cross-sectional area conductors.
But you'll notice there's a massive difference
in the diameter of the opening between the one designed
for Class 6 and the one designed for Class 2 conductors.
And that's because the conductor size changes considerably
with the class.
Now a Class 6 conductor is made up of hundreds
of tiny, fine strands that are twisted together in bundles
and then further twisted to make up the conductor
and that increases the diameter.
So hence we need a bigger crimp.
So there you go.
That was a fantastic hack, but you don't need to do it
if you use the correct crimp journal.
So therefore everyone in the comments was right
and I was wrong.
(sad trombone sound)
So that's another advantage of this dieless crimping method.
It can continually adjust between different classes
of conductor and different sizes
because the crimping force is measured inside the tool
so you get consistent crimping.
So just to throw another variable into our crimping process
and this one cannot be solved by the tool
or the crimp process that you're using
and that's the quality of the crimp terminals themselves.
Now, it's usually recommended that you buy them as a system
so both the tool and the terminal made or approved
by the manufacturer of the tool because they'll
have been tested as a system together.
And there's loads of standards out there for
performance of crimp terminals.
But you might choose a different option to go
for something a little bit cheaper that you find online.
So on crimp terminals, the manufacturer is identified.
So here you can see the Klauke name there
and on this crimp terminal here, but on this one here
it's denoted by the the K.
So we'll just put them to one side for now
and bring in some unknown crimps, which you'll see on there.
There's no manufacturer details.
And just have a closer look at them you'll see
there's a significant difference
in some of the the diameters.
So the thickness on this one, but this one's actually wider
but just have a little look.
I've got five here.
We'll put them on the on the on the kitchen scales.
Here's our unbranded crimps and see them 10 grams
sweep them to one side, bring in the Klauke crimps.
Let see, we've got 18 grams there.
So somewhere along the way
a significant amount of copper has vanished.
So it's no wonder with all these variables
that everyone has an opinion when it comes to crimping.
Now, Klauke produced a handy guide that takes you
through the different crimping methods
because they do manufacture both types of tool
but it also goes into details
about different conductor types, the crimping methods
and some of the other materials available even
when it comes to crimp terminals.
And we'll leave a link in the description
for that and a link to the tools as well.
And once you've read that, perhaps we can interact
in the comments a little bit further
about what is the best crimping method.
So back to the tool itself
I like the compact, lightweight design of this.
With the rotatable head, you can get
into all sorts of tricky places
in our switch gear and control gear assemblies.
Of course, you can open the crimping mechanism as well
cause otherwise it'd be pretty useless.
You wouldn't be able to get it
off the cable when you've done a through crimp.
The 10.8 volt lithium ion battery is common
across lots of tools in the Klauke range.
Now speaking of the Klauke range
you've probably spotted the ferrule crimper as well
which we've reviewed in this video.
(power tool buzzing)