Someone just mentioned to me that there’s a new way to use ferrules touted by some industry influencers–specifically, that the proper installation of ferrules over wire is to slide them over the end of the wire, heat shrink them in place and then insert them in the screw terminal and finally…
TO USE THE TERMINAL SCREW TO CRIMP THEM.
No. This is not how they work and this is not how this should be done.
The reason ferrules exist is to eliminate the problem of wayward strands and broken strands in cinch (screw terminals). They’re made of copper and coated with tin. The objective is to collect all the strands and crimp them tightly in place without breakage. The objective of the cinch terminal is to hold the wire in place.
Cinch terminals are not crimpers.
There are specific crimpers or specific dies for multipurpose crimpers for these terminals, just as there are specific crimpers for coaxial cables, molex connector pins, insulated and uninsulated terminals for other wire to terminal connections.
Why we in car audio seem to need to muck up every well designed process either for convenience or to prevent us from buying the right tool to be displayed in a $60,000 Snap On tool box is beyond me.
Ferrules should be crimped.
End of story.
Here’s a catalog that explains much of this and also includes a handy guide for choosing the right ferrule for the job and also the right crimper.
