LoDan Electronics, Inc. is a competitive global manufacturer of custom cable assemblies, wire harnesses, and electromechanical assemblies

LoDan Electronics, Inc. has built its business on long term relationships with customers and suppliers

5 Important Facts to Know About Cable Assembly Testing

When creating electrical circuits with custom cable assemblies, one of the most labor-intensive and error-prone parts of the production process is in crimping and connecting wires to component terminals. When soldering cable or wire to a terminal connector, there is a precise set of steps to produce a quality electrical connection with a long and durable service life.

Checking the quality of the work done in this process is one of the most important components of manufacturing electrical products. Here are a few things to think about when deciding on a method for testing the electrical connections in your products.

One thing that will make the selection process easier is to understand the formula behind a quality electrical connection. A good connection is the result of the choice of a quality wire, the careful soldering of contacts, terminals and other fittings, and the proper maintenance and selection when using a crimping press.

Often it requires high level training of your production technicians to perform the wiring, soldering, terminating, and programming needed to create the best circuit to meet your product specifications safely. Here are some of the most common processes involved in creating the best circuit, as well as best practices to look out for.

1. Crimp Height – The height of a crimped terminal connection can be a vital metric for determining if the tool used to create the crimped connection was properly set to the right die cavity. If the die is set correctly, it means that only the minimal amount of pressure needed to create a secure connection was used. This is an easy to measure and non-destructive test to perform, however it is not sufficient, by itself, to determine the pass/fail quality of a wire connection.

2. Crimp Pressure – Crimp pressure is another common indicator that can indicate the proper set up of equipment, and provide a measure of the technician’s skill. A pressure monitor is used on the press to make sure that the pressure of the die does not destroy the internal wiring or cause fraying. However, pressure monitors are far from a standard feature on most common wire presses, and are often prohibitively expensive for smaller operations.

3. Pull Testing – A great test for determining the strength of a cable assembly in terms of electrical reliability and mechanical durability is to test the minimum tensile value of a sample of your wire or cable product. While it may be difficult to comprehend, the tensile strength of a wire (meaning the force required to pull the wire apart from each end) is a great indicator of electrical quality.

The device used to perform a pull test is fairly simple and inexpensive. To perform the test, the ends of a wire are placed in vices and stretched until they break. Training to use this device as well as maintenance are also quite easy. Many in the industry consider the pull tester to be an essential part of their quality control department.

To find out more about pull testers and other ways to maintain the electrical and mechanical quality of your products, head over to lodanelectronics.com now!