I would go with the Amazon ones.

I think the opposite. The BCT-1 aka 1026-CT crimper is my favorite.

The Amazon one is closer to what I use and it works fine...

I have this one from GPE -- Part Number: W-HT-1919

I only need it occasionally and find it is more than adequate. Maybe you end up mashing a few connectors but since they are so cheap I just buy a hundred at a time.

i bought the Platinum Tools 16801, after watching d0kert's youtube video on crimping, and i've been pretty happy with it.

link to amazon version of tool, though you can find it lots of places - http://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Tools-16801C-Contact-Clamshell/dp/B000CSC4W2/ref=sr_1_1

link to d0kert's youtube video -

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That's what I use myself too... my big complaint is that I have trouble crimping really small guage wire with it.

The ratcheting type is so much better as long as it has the right jaw for your application. I use a very similar one for the small connectors on R/C servo extensions and it works great. Have the other type as well and it is hit and miss.

This is where the BCT-1 aka 1026-CT is good. It is very forgiving about pin and wires sizes. I can use not exactly proper size pins and still be able to make perfect reliable crimps. It is very easy to see what you are doing with this crimper as well.

Yeah...the Plat Tools one works great....for 16-20 ga wire and .156 pins. Anything smaller than that...forget about it.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003MWJ6SA/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_S_ttl

does the 1026-CT have two levels in the jaw, so you can do both the wire and insulation at the same time?

might have to invest in one of those.

i've used the Plat Tools one for .093 - it's not easy but can be done...

I have a 1919 and 1026 - I use the W-HT-1919 more than the 1026-CT.

I just bought the HT-225D from Amazon last week. I used it to crimp some 22 gauge wires, and it was a little tricky to get the wire in the pin exactly the right amount. Then, I had at least one pin that slipped off the wire after crimping...

I need more practice, I'm sure. I did get it to work. I imagine 18 gauge wire will work a little better.

1026-CT has 4 or 5 anvils so you can crimp many different sizes. You can even get good crimps using the smallest jaw with thin wire and .156" pins.

but does it have both levels in the jaw? or do you crimp the conductor and the insulator portions separately?

You crimp them seperate.

damn. that's one thing i really like about the 16801 - it does them both at once...

There are certain wire gauges, like small ones, and doing double wire crimps, you will want the 1026-ct to crimp insulation separately. The double crimping ones are speedier in most cases, but not as versatile. Having both would be nice.

+1

These are what I use as well, and I even bought them because of d0kert's video, lol. I've redone several Molex connectors with these in both arcade and pinball machines and have had very few bad crimps. Pick up a set of auto-adjusting wire strippers to compliment the crimpers, and you will be doing new Molex connectors in record time!

http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-01924A-Ultimate-Self-Adjusting-Stripper/dp/B000IYTCG6/ref=sr_1_2

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agreed that having both would be nice. will probably shell out the boucoup dolores for the 1026ct...

I did some more crimping with the HT-225D from Amazon last night on the GI connectors on a 90s Bally/Williams game and did not quite have a good experience. I'm thinking about returning the crimp and trying to find another.

I think those wires are 22 gauge -- they're definitely small. I was using the 18-22 gauge jaw of the crimp, and neither the crimp on the wire nor the insulation was as good as I hoped. After crimping as tight as I possibly could, you could generally wiggle the connector and it would slide up down a little bit on both the wire and insulation. Some terminals pulled right off...

I don't think I'm doing anything wrong, I'm thinking that the crimp just isn't quite the right tool for the job. I tried crimping one pin with the smaller jaw (24-30 gauge or something...), but the squeeze was so tight that the terminal got stuck in the crimp and needed to be pried out.

Terminals are .156" Trifurcon Crimp Terminals from Pinball Life. I don't think they're to blame at all.

Also, because it's worth mentioning, yes I have spent hours reading and studying http://www.pinrepair.com/connect/

Anyone have a different experience with this crimp?

I have the waldom crimpers, they work great but I had to epoxy the rubber grips to the metal because every time you make a crimp the rubber was sliding off the metal, after that no problems.not as fast as the more expensive ones but gets the job done, I don't do electrical work everyday so I am happy with them.

i have the 225 and its been crimping along just fine for me. only been doing molex stuff tho.

That sums up my expeirence exactly. Try crimping the very thin wires, like seen in a bally game, to a .156" crimp pin with that amazon linked crimp tool. It isn't going to work well.

Did you find a better tool for the job?

I use the set you linked to at Amazon regularly. Around 50-75 crimps per week. I have two, one at work and one at home. The one at work is over a year old but still works just like new. I just started using the one at home and it is brand new. Both crimpers feel the same and produce equally good results. I have also used the set that GPE sells.

I like the Ratcheting set BY FAR!!!!! Once you learn how to use it, you get a perfect crimp every time and it does both crimps simultaneously. For the $25ish, there is no comparison.

I build speaker kits for pinballpro.com and use these crimpers for that work. Making wiring harnesses and connectors is what I mainly use them for.

I picked up the HT-225 ratchet crimpers and have a somewhat similar experience. My pin is a Williams System 6 (Time Warp) and I repinned all the connectors on the power supply board. For the double upped wires it was totally awesomesauce. Felt very secure and solid. For the single smaller gauge wires I felt the crimp could have been better especially on the insulation. I found that if I tugged a decent amount I could rip the crimp apart. To be honest though I felt as though the smaller gauge single wires are 22 AWG and I only had the 18-20 AWG Trifurcon contacts and so maybe that was part of the issue (Ed at GPE sells both 18-20 and 22-26 AWG trifurcon crimps; I'm guessing PBL only sells the 18-20 and maybe that may be the cause of the poor crimps). I gave a few of these a slight tug in the connector and they didn't just fall out so that was good. The only way I could give the HT-225 a definite yay or nay is if I could test out the single smaller gauge wires with the 22-26 AWG trifurcon contacts. I have a feeling it won't make much of a difference seeing as the crimp die only goes so far no matter the size of the contact unless I try to use the 22-26 AWG contact in the 24-30 AWG die slot but again that may just mash it to bits. If that is the case I'd probably go with the 1026-CT/BCT-1.

Update 6/4/2015: I finally got around to testing the HT-225 with the smaller 22-26 AWG contacts from great plains and this ratchet crimper rocks big time now. I use the smaller gauge contacts on single wires and the larger ones on the 'doubled up' wires and this crimper does both great!

http://www.amazon.com/SARGENT-Tools-1026-CT-Contact/dp/B00CIRFUMQ/ref=sr_1_1

My opinion hasnt changed over one year. These crimps are the best for funny sized wires/crimp/housing seen in many pinball machines.