Just figured out why my coax crimps kept failing after 6 months

I was redoing a connector on a King KX 155 navcom unit and the old one looked fine, but the center pin had a tiny bit of play. My lead tech saw me about to crimp a new one and said, 'You're still using the old die set, right? Check the gauge on the barrel.' Turns out I'd been using a die marked for RG-400 on what was actually RG-142, which is a hair smaller. The crimp looked tight but wasn't making full contact, so it would work loose over time. Anyone else run into this with the newer spec cables?

2 comments

2 Comments

seth_rivera5721h ago

Oh man, that's a solid catch. I totally would have just blamed a bad batch of connectors or something. I used to think a crimp was a crimp, you know, as long as it looked tight and passed a tug test. But after having a VOR needle get a little swimmy on me, I learned the hard way that the tiny specs really do matter. Your tech just saved you a future headache for sure.

hall.nora19h ago

Right? It's wild how a tiny thing like that can cause a big problem later. Did you ever get a proper crimp tool after that VOR issue? I finally broke down and bought the right one for each connector type. It feels like overkill until you realize every single crimp is perfect now. Total game changer for peace of mind.