How to Crimp Bullet Connectors? If you own a vintage Ford or other 1950s vehicle, you know how vital bullet connectors are for connecting its electronics. However, to achieve a reliable connection and ensure proper communication between the devices, you must crimp these cable connectors properly. For this reason, join me as I share seven comprehensive steps for crimping bullet connectors.
Step 1: Preparation
Before we can even consider crimping steps, we must collect all the required tools, components, and items. Here, you must purchase your preferred female and male bullet connectors and their insulators.
Then, get a proper crimping tool that will give you a W-shaped crimp. While in this step, inspect your connection cables to ensure they are clean, starlight, and undamaged.
An isolated crimping tool
Step 2: Removing the Old Terminals from the wire
In this second step, you must carefully cut the wire where the old terminals are to remove them. You require a wire cutter or a sharp utility knife to ensure precision while preventing wire damage.
While cutting, you might also want to be careful to avoid cutting or nicking wires or components near your connection. I recommend isolating the cable you want to crimp or removing it from the car if possible.
Step 3: Passing the Insulation Sleeve Through the Wire
Remember, once you finish cutting off the old terminal, you must pass an insulation sleeve through the cable. However, the insulation sleeve must be the correct size for a tight fit and avoid coming off.
As we said, this will ensure not only the security of your crimp but also durability, even in vibration-prone scenarios. While threading the wire through the insulation sleeve, be gentle, not damaging it or the insulator.
Step 4: Peel Off the Wire Insulation
Here, you must carefully expose the wire strands or core inside the insulator after inserting the sleeve. Doing so allows proper crimping on the conductor (instead of the insulator), allowing optimal current passage. With that said, take your wire stripper and select the appropriate stripping teeth based on your wire thickness.
Then, estimate about 5 mm from the wire end, which is supposed to be a bit more than the crimping terminal part. From there, hold the stripper firmly, squeeze it gently, and pull to remove the insulator to achieve a clean strip.
Peeling off wire insulator
Step 5: Crimp the Wire Core into the Wire
Fix the wire core center of the bullet connector in the crimping area of the tool. Hold your wire crimper from there so the M tooth faces downwards from the upper side.
Finally, squeeze the tool firmly until you crimp the terminal to the wire strand snuggly. While here, make sure you do not overly bend or twist the wire core, as this may result in cutting the wire or a poor crimp.
Step 6: Crimping the Insulator
While crimping the naked wire is enough for a proper connection, crimping the insulator secures the connection. It’s a way of adding extra protection to the crimp thus enhancing the durability and reliability of the connection.
With that said, place the insulator securely into the teeth of your crimping tool. Now, hold the cable gently to avoid damaging your insulator. From there, grip and squeeze the crimping tool properly until it closes to show complete crimping.
Using a crimping tool
Step 7: Inspect the Crip and Place the Insulation Sleeve
Now that you have successfully connected the wire with the bullet connector, the last step is to check the connection’s integrity. Here, you need to check for any damaged or loose wires or uneven crimps. If you find them and other irregularities, ensure you rectify the security and optimal functionality of your connection.
Once that is done, roll over the insulator sleeve to the crimped area for enhanced protection and prevent short circuits. You want also to ensure the insulator sleeve covers the entire crimped area to protect from electric faults.
Conclusion
With my research, I believe you can successfully crimp your electrical system bullet connectors. However, if you face any problems, it would not hurt to call a specialist.
