Whats the best (brand and type) crimping tool for working on battery leads and such in rc planes?

When I was at the Toledo Show I took a class on crimping. It was put on by rcmicroflite. The crimpers that they used were really good. I think the cost was 39.00 Hansen Hobbies also has them, I think 40.00 either one is good quality.

you can also check radical r/c they are all about the same.

radio shack about $10.00

don't think the radio shack make the same type crimp;s used in r/c connecters.

I hope I don't come off sounding like a jerk, but why not just solder? I was terrible at it when I first began, but I have gotten much better. It's a good skill to have and you'll get much better connections.

I use one of those butane powered Hobbico torches, but an inexpensive soldering gun from Harbor Freight is a good way to go as well.

Good luck

Solder can actually generate a vibration fracture point. This is due to the wire becoming stiff where the solder is. A crimped connection does not have this problem. This is one of the reasons they mostly crimp on full scale planes except on circuit boards and the like where the connections are supported. A little bit of heat shrink helps IF you can get it into the right place.

Thanks, Bruce. I was not aware of that.

I've mostly been hooking up Dean's plugs and bullet connectors, and have had plenty of room for heat shrink.

Interesting...

Though I would assume that the original poster is working with smaller electric planes where vibration is not going to be an issue anyway.

A Deans or bullet connector is intended to be soldered but the typical servo and battery connectors are not. They are intended to be crimped. A proper crimp works very well.

The key is to do it right, using the correct tool. I see a lot of people (usually outside of RC) try to use a dollar store crimper/stripper tool and wonder why their results are so bad.

Regardless of whether somethign is soldered, crimped, or whatever take the time to get it right and it will be much more reliable.

what ever kind you buy, get the ones that ratchet. Some of the crimpers is a two step process and hard to hold the connector in and put the wire in. With the ones that ratchet you put the connector in, close crimper so it just holds the connector and then insert the wire and squeeze the crimper. One step does it all.

"ratchet" crimpers are required for real aviation. They do not allow (if used properly) under/over crimping. Still must obtain correct crimper, wire and terminal or all bets are off.

Why assume that? He made no mention of airplane type or battery type either. Only that he wanted a crimp tool for battery leads.

I use a ½” long brass fuel line tube put in the wires in each end and soldered the connection it will never crack to much service area, don’t forget to put heat shrink tubing on the wire first.

The crimping tool that we used at the Toledo Show for the seminar can be purchased from here. 40.00 for the crimper and stripping tool. [email protected]