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Replaced my old crimp tool after 12 years of fighting with it
I finally swapped out my beat-up M22520 crimper for a new one last week, and honestly I should have done it ages ago. The old military surplus unit I had was fine for the big pins, but man, the small 22 gauge contacts were always a gamble with it. I used to have to squeeze twice and check with a magnifier every single time, which ate up so much time on pit jobs in Phoenix. The new ratcheting tool catches when the die is actually seated, no more guessing, and the first crimp I did came out perfect on the pull test. It cost me about 300 bucks, which stung, but the time I've saved on one harness rework alone already paid for it. Has anyone else held onto a worn tool way too long because it was 'good enough' for the old work?
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drews552d ago
Three hundred bucks for a tool just to save maybe ten minutes on small contacts, that math only works out if you're doing this all day every day. The old M22520 units were built like tanks, and half the time the "worn" part is just the operator's habit of double checking things, not the tool itself. I've seen guys swear by beat up gear for twenty years and crank out solid work, the pull test either passes or it doesn't, and that's the only number that matters. If you feel better dropping that kind of cash, fine, but calling a 12 year old crimper a gamble feels more like an excuse for a new toy than a real problem.
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