Appreciation post: I tried a new crimping technique on a 737's main harness last month

I was working on a main avionics harness and decided to use the old manual crimper instead of the new pneumatic one, just to see if I could still get a perfect crimp by feel. The result was actually a more consistent connection across all 48 pins, which really surprised me. Do you guys still use manual tools for certain jobs, or is everything automated now?

2 comments

2 Comments

thomas.cameron1mo ago

Honestly, it's just a crimp. The plane flies or it doesn't. Getting that worked up over a hand tool versus a power tool seems like overthinking it. As long as the spec is met and it passes inspection, the method is just personal preference. Feels like people make a bigger deal out of these small choices than needed. The machine probably does the same job in half the time anyway.

sullivan.abby1mo ago

Remember when our shop got that new hydraulic crimper last year. I pushed for it because the specs were tighter on a new contract. The machine was faster, but we had a bunch of bad crimps that looked perfect until they failed under vibration testing. Went back to the old hand tool for those specific connectors because you can actually feel the wire seat properly. Sometimes the extra minute isn't about being slow, it's about feeling what the machine can't tell you. Saved us a huge headache on that job.