- A few weeks ago, this E 50 ML crimping tool from Klauke
rocked up here at Lineside Studios.
And let me tell you,
nothing stops the work on what we should be doing
than a new tool showing up,
so we had to put it to work straight away.
And the results, we teased out in a short video
because we used this just to terminate
one of those red insulated crimps
that I'm sure everybody uses.
And oh, how the comments rolled in.
"You're crazy.
You don't need an electric crimper
on such small crimp terminals.
A hand tool takes no effort."
Well, this might be true if you're an occasional crimper,
but what if you've got hundreds
or even thousands of wires to crimp?
Perhaps you're building up an electrical control panel
or working in a repetitive production environment.
So we thought a challenge was in order.
We thought we'd put the whippersnappers,
the younger people of the team
to work crimping a load of red insulated terminals.
So in this challenge,
it's hand crimper versus the EK 50 ML.
Three, two, one, go.
So while they're on with the mission,
let's take a closer look at the tool.
The tool has benefits even for the occasional crimper
because you can use it with an incredible
50 different die tool crimp options.
It's a straightforward process to change the crimping dies
'cause they're held in place with these two knurled screws.
Now, we've tried this out
with a lot of the common cable applications that we have
including our favorite ferrules,
which it can crimp up to 50 millimeter squared.
The die I've got fitted at the moment
will crimp either 10, 16, or 25 millimeter
ferruled conductors.
A quick switch of die,
you can crimp ferrules from .75 to 10 millimeters.
Moving on to copper tube or lug terminals,
you can crimp up to 25 millimeter squared conductor cables
with this compression die.
You can even get a cable cutting die,
which is great if you have lots of larger,
cross-section cables to cut.
And of course, you can crimp
commonly used pre-insulated terminals.
And speaking of pre-insulated terminals,
let's have a look at how the challenge is going.
- Do you go to the gym often?
- They need a crimping machine in the gym, don't they?
(crimping tool whirs)
Did you hear my wrist crack then?
(laughs)
I think it's time for lunch, Rick.
(laughs)
(crimping tool whirs)
- Although this tool is battery powered,
it still has the feel of a hand crimping tool.
You set up and place the crimp
as you would with a hand tool
and then squeeze the trigger
to complete the crimping process.
Something Klauke call Power Sense.
It sort of senses the amount of force required,
obviously to finish the crimp terminal.
It takes less than 1.5 seconds to complete a crimping cycle.
It also feels well balanced.
The tool wears less than a kilo, including the battery.
So it's great for hand use,
but you can also stand the tool on the bench
with a flat side of the battery.
The tool also has an attachment on the back
for use with lanyards or tool balances.
It's important to closely monitor crimp quality
and enable traceability in regulated industries,
thinking rail signaling, nuclear,
and certain production environments.
The red LED on the side here
serves as a really clever interface
to download information about tool usage
to Klauke's, i-press software.
So this includes things like the number of crimp operations
it's performed and the last service date.
So you can almost issue a certificate
in relation to a particular project or batch of production.
Now, speaking of LEDs, as with almost every tool these days
it has a white LED to illuminate the work area.
And of course the battery has a charge level indicator.
The 10.8 volt lithium-ion batteries
take about 45 minutes to charge.
But during our tests, we've performed
hundreds of crimped operations
without swapping out the battery.
If you're interested in knowing more about the EK 50 ML,
the huge range of crimping dies,
and of course that all important price,
I've left a link in the description.
If you've used this tool,
let us know what you've used it for
and any top tips that you found when you're using it.
Now, if you work in repetitive production environments
or wire huge control panels,
I think this tool is a joint saver.
Something you might only realize
when you get a bit of snow on the thatch
and your hands really start to ache
with that repetitive work.
But what does it matter what I think?
Let's hear from the challenge team.
I think after crimping 80 of those red terminals,
they'll be experts.
- [Rick] There we go.
- [Gordon] How's your wrist, John?
- It was starting to hurt near the end.
Started to crack a bit as well so.
- [Gordon] Rick how's your trigger finger?
- Yeah, it's all right, not a problem.
Good for another 40. (laughs)