Talked to an old avionics tech at ORD last week who said skip the factory crimpers for D-sub pins

He showed me his modified $30 ratcheting crimper that works better than the $500 name brand ones. Anyone else run into old timers with surprisingly simple tool hacks?

2 comments

2 Comments

terryj452d ago

My 20 years in avionics says that modified $30 tool is a crap shoot at best. Factory crimpers give you consistent pull test results every single time, not just when the stars align. I'd rather pay for the name brand tool once than chase intermittent faults from a bad crimp.

bencampbell2d ago

Funny you mention that, it reminds me of this time my buddy tried to fix his lawnmower with a pair of pliers and a coat hanger. He swore it would work just as good as a real spark plug gap tool. Thing ran for like ten minutes before it started smoking like crazy. Point is, sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. With something like wiring, especially in a plane or car, I'd rather not rely on luck.