snopercod
Well Known Member
I mentioned on the Taxi Testing thread that a Nicopress sleeve on my rudder cable let go on me during taxi testing. After searching the forum, I didn't find any information on properly crimping those sleeves, so I thought maybe folks could learn something from my foolish mistake. That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger
Here is the 3/32" copper sleeve that failed on me.:
Here is the $54 A-T-S tool (which I have since tossed in the trash) that I originally used to make that bad crimp. I freely admit that I may have not used the tool properly somehow but you can see that it only indents the sleeve on one side by design:
Here is the proper tool for crimping Nicopress sleeves ($325 Locoloc hand swager) which a friend loaned me (go/nogo gauge not shown):
Here are the 3/32" tin plated Nicopress sleeves which are recommended for use on stainless cables:
...and here is what good crimps are supposed to look like:
Notice that I used two crimps in series, which some folks say reduces the strength of the assembly. I accepted the possibility of a minor reduction in the 920 lb. breaking strength in favor of the redundancy. I'm funny that way. Flame away...
Here is the 3/32" copper sleeve that failed on me.:
Here is the $54 A-T-S tool (which I have since tossed in the trash) that I originally used to make that bad crimp. I freely admit that I may have not used the tool properly somehow but you can see that it only indents the sleeve on one side by design:
Here is the proper tool for crimping Nicopress sleeves ($325 Locoloc hand swager) which a friend loaned me (go/nogo gauge not shown):
Here are the 3/32" tin plated Nicopress sleeves which are recommended for use on stainless cables:
...and here is what good crimps are supposed to look like:
Notice that I used two crimps in series, which some folks say reduces the strength of the assembly. I accepted the possibility of a minor reduction in the 920 lb. breaking strength in favor of the redundancy. I'm funny that way. Flame away...
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