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crimps |
Crimp terminals are sometimes used in DIY often to join two pieces of electrical cable together. Crimp butt connectors are especially useful for joining cables in automotive applications, such as when a new stereo is fitted.
| Before working on any electrical circuit you must ensure that it is isolated correctly and cannot accidentally be switched back on. Please read the article on safe isolation procedures before doing any electrical work. If you are not 100% certain what you are doing call a qualified electrician. Building regulations are changing all the time and modifying your home electrics could be against new rules and could invalidate your home insurance, if in doubt check first! |
There are lots of different types of crimp terminals, some of which you will never use. Here are a few of the more popular ones-
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Ring Terminal |
Butt connector |
Fork terminal |
To use crimp terminals you will require a pair of crimping pliers, these can cost a few pounds for a DIY version or over thirty pounds for a professional ratchet type pair.
This is a pair of combination crimping pliers which is often found being used for DIY use |
These professional ratchet crimping pliers will often be found in the professional electricians toolbox |
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You will notice that all of the crimp terminals come in three different colours- Red, Yellow and Blue. Each different colour represents a different size of crimp terminal and also corresponds to the correct thickness of wire, so if for example you were crimping a terminal to the end of some 6mm wire you would use a yellow crimp terminal. The pliers also have colour coded spots on the jaws of the crimping pliers so that you ensure you crimp the terminals to the correct tolerance.
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