That retired Delta guy who changed how I look at crimp connections

Back in 2018 I was working a night shift at a MRO in Savannah and this old timer, maybe 68 years old, came by my bench just to chat. He had worked on DC-9s for Delta back in the 70s and 80s and he noticed I was using a standard ratchet crimper on some D-sub pins. He pulled out this beat up M22520/1-01 from his bag and showed me how the military spec crimpers give you a way more consistent gas-tight connection. He said "son, every bad crimp I've seen has been from a tool that cost less than $200." He spent 20 minutes teaching me the proper indent depth and wire strip length. I still think about that conversation whenever I'm on a deadline and tempted to rush. Has anyone else had an old school tech just drop knowledge like that out of nowhere?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith_rivera1923d ago

I still use the cheap one and my crimps look like a raccoon chewed on them.

vera_palmer28d ago

Man I read something about this exact thing a few months back. There's a study from one of the aerospace engineering journals that tested different crimp tools and the gas-tight connection consistency. The military spec tools beat the cheap ones by like 40% in pull test strength. That old timer knew what he was talking about. It's crazy how something as simple as a good crimp tool can make or break a plane's reliability. I bet that guy saw tons of failures from people rushing with cheap tools. Worth remembering next time you're in a hurry.

veraj5327d ago

Hold on, is it really that serious? I mean yeah a good crimp is important but Ive seen planes fly for years with perfectly fine connections made with the $50 Home Depot special. Half the time the issue is just people being sloppy with the wire strip or not pushing the pin in all the way, not the crimper itself. Like that 40% number sounds dramatic but in practice what does that actually mean? A connection thats 40% stronger than still way over what it needs to be for most applications. I bet that old timer was just set in his ways and had a bias for the expensive stuff he used his whole career.