Warning: that $15 crimper from the hardware store will cost you

I bought a cheap no-name crimper for $15 to save a few bucks on a big residential job last month in Columbus. First 20 connections looked fine, but on the 21st one the die slipped and crushed the coax jacket without seating the connector right. Had to go back and reterminate 8 of them the next day, which ate up 2 hours of my afternoon. Anyone else had a cheap tool ruin a whole day's work?

2 comments

2 Comments

jones.blake4h ago

One of my buddies thought he was being smart buying a $12 crimper off an auction site for his side work. He was bragging about how much money he saved until he tried to terminate a run of RG6 for a backyard setup. That thing squished the connector so bad it looked like a crushed soda can, and he had to redo the whole line three times before he gave up and borrowed my good one. Cheap tools always seem to cost you double in time and frustration.

the_john17m ago

Oh come on, is it really that bad? I mean yeah a $12 crimper isn't gonna be great but I've used some real junk from harbor freight before and it mostly worked fine (for like a year actually). Maybe your buddy just got a dud or wasn't using it right, you know? I feel like people love to act like cheap tools will ruin your whole life but half the time it's just user error or bad luck. Plus if he's just doing side work for himself, who cares if a connector looks ugly as long as the signal passes through?