Just lost a whole afternoon to a bad coax crimper

I was replacing a GPS antenna connector on a King Air last week and grabbed my old coax crimper from the bottom of my toolbox. It looked fine, but the die was worn out and didn't make a proper crimp. I didn't catch it until after I buttoned everything up and the system failed the test. Had to redo the whole run with a new tool, which cost me about 4 hours of labor. Anyone have a go-to brand for crimpers that last more than a year?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesley_adams19d ago

Lost a day to a bad torque wrench once.

daniel_martin19d ago

Hidden tool failures are the worst, man.

jennifer_jenkins19d agoOG Member

Worn out die" is the worst kind of surprise. I had a pipe cutter that seemed fine until it left a burr I couldn't see, caused a slow leak behind a wall a week later. That kind of hidden tool failure just eats up your day.