On Wed, 24 Jan 2007, Sridhar Ayengar wrote:
Tothwolf wrote:
That's not the only benefit. The Crimpmaster has interchangeable dies.
And they are industry standard. I have all sorts of dies for my Paladin
frames. Everything from modular plug dies, to coax dies, to old style
fiber optic connector dies, to electrical terminal and ferrule dies.
There are probably close to 100 different dies available that will fit
these type of frames, though I only own a fraction of them.
I had no idea that this tool used a standard configuration. I just
picked it out because Ideal had a good selection of dies for it.
Is there a way of using this tool to attach SCs to Fiber without epoxy
and polishing? That would kick much ass. I have a cleaver set and
tester. I just don't have all the latest fiber termination gear. I
just don't have the cash right now.
Possibly...it depends on the connector though. These are the dies Paladin
lists on their website:
http://www.paladin-tools.com/list_tools.php?id=109&parent_id=236
Ideal lists a number of dies here:
http://www.idealindustries.com/dc/FiberOptic.nsf
Greenlee also has a few fiber optic dies available, but I don't see any SC
type in my catalog, though its over a year old.
There are also fiber optic dies available for the Ideal PremierMaster
frame (# 28-500). Its dies are interchangeable with those for the Paladin
1600 series and the Greenlee Kwik Cycle 8" frame (can't find the part
number right now). The Greenlee 45637 8" frame has a die set that might
work with SCs.
The die sets for the Ideal PremierMaster, Paladin 1600, and 8" Greenlee
frame are *not* compatible with the Ideal Crimpmaster, Paladin 1300/8000,
or the Greenlee 45504 though.
How do the feel and function of the Paladin frames
compare with the
Crimpmaster ones?
The breakover force and ratchet feel is identical on the Ideal
Crimpmaster, Paladin 1300, and Greenlee 45504. The grip on the later Ideal
Crimpaster frames is a little softer, whereas the 1300 has a hard plastic.
The older Crimpmaster frames had the same hard plastic grip that the
Paladin 1300 uses. The Greenlee 45504's grip has a nice non-slip rubber
type grip, so if I had to settle for one of those 3, the Greenlee would
probably be my pick.
That said, all of those frames still require quite a bit of breakover
force to complete the ratchet cycle (how hard they are to squeeze just
before that last ratchet "click"). The Paladin 8000 frame has the pivot
point and ratchet located differently so that it doesn't require any
breakover force. Basically, you can squeeze the 8000 series handles all
the way though at about the same amount of force.
The Ideal PremierMaster and Paladin 1600 frames don't require nearly as
much breakover force as the Crimpmaster and 1300 frames. Its probably
partly to do due the smaller dies and reduced frame size.
For electrical terminals, the ERG series tools from Thomas & Betts are
still my favorites, though I do still use the Paladin 8000 frames with
terminal dies from time to time as well.
Of course, then there are the Weidmuller tools, who oddly enough, used to
(or might still) make a lot of the tools Paladin sells. Weidmuller makes
probably the best wire ferrule crimpers out there. I'm a bit of an odd
duck in that I use ferrules, especially when I've wired industrial and
facility equipment where captive terminal blocks were used. I've been told
that outside of Europe, they aren't used all that much, and I've seen
enough poorly wired machines to believe it.
-Toth