Wasted $200 on a bad coax crimper from eBay

I bought a cheap coax crimper off eBay last month for about $40 to save money on a small antenna install. The tool felt flimsy right out of the box but I figured it'd work for a couple connectors. Well after crimping maybe 10 BNC connectors the die got misaligned and started crushing the connectors sideways. Then I tested the cable with my multimeter and half the lines showed open circuits. Had to replace all the cables and connectors which cost me around $200 in parts and an extra Saturday. Has anyone else gotten burned by a tool that seemed like a deal but ended up costing more?

2 comments

2 Comments

hill.margaret6d ago

I saw a YouTube video last year where a guy tested a bunch of cheap crimpers from Amazon and eBay and it was about a 50/50 split on whether they even worked right out of the box. One of them actually crushed the connector so bad it looked like a squashed bug. It's wild how much people are willing to gamble on tools that can wreck their whole project. You basically paid $240 to learn a lesson about buying the proper tool the first time.

cora5186d ago

Yeah $40 for a crimper is actually not bottom of the barrel cheap. The real junk ones are like $12-15 on eBay. The $40 ones are usually okay for occasional use if you get a decent brand. I think you got unlucky with a dud or a counterfeit. Those BNC connectors are unforgiving too, even good crimpers can mess them up if you don't use the right die. I've used a $25 one from amazon for years with no issues, but I also test every single connection before I walk away.