Elpress DUAL Crimping System

Fri 19th Jul 2024

In challenging industries and environments, like Traction, Rail, Wind & Telecom, the demand for robust and reliable solutions is growing. In such applications, joints and connections are exposed to extreme electrical and environmental conditions, as well as corrosion, mechanical resistance, static loads, shocks and vibrations. To address a particular customer’s need for high-quality safe connections in such an application, Elpress introduced the Patented DUAL Crimping System.

Elpress Patented DUAL Crimping System

The Elpress DUAL Crimping Technique was developed to meet the most demanding requirements and to produce an optimal crimping result in the toughest applications. The DUAL technology combines the desired properties and benefits of a hexagonal crimp along with those of an indent crimp. This makes it ideal for challenging environments. The crimping sequence occurs without separating the dies, ensuring the conductor strands remain undamaged and their properties uncompromised.

DUAL technology is perfect for particularly severe conditions, such as those experienced by trucks, wind turbines and trains. In these conditions, apart from electrical and environmental properties, connections and joints are also exposed to corrosion, mechanical resistance and vibrations.

Designed for flexible Cu conductors (IEC 60228, type class 5)
Ideal for harsh environments, providing excellent corrosion resistance, mechanical durability and vibration resistance
Meets IEC / EN 61238:1 and offers outstanding resilience to high temperatures and thermal stress
Meets the requirements for corrosion resistance according to DIN V 40046-37
Meets the requirements for vibration according to EN 50155
Meets the requirements of mechanical strength according to SEN 245010

Crimping Sequence

Contact Crimping of the DUAL Crimping Technique takes place in a two-stage movement:

First, a hexagonal crimp takes place that provides optimal symmetrical contact with the conductor. This means that no wires break or come apart.
An indent crimp then follows, improving the electrical properties by up to 30% compared to conventional crimping methods.

The crimping sequence occurs without separating the dies, ensuring the conductor strands remain undamaged and their properties uncompromised.

Elpress-DUAL-Crimping-Sequence

Meeting Rigorous Standards

Elpress acknowledges the challenges that come with demanding applications and aims to ensure their terminals and connectors not only meet, but exceed the relevant requirements:

Electrical Properties – IEC 61238-1:2018: This relatively new standard corresponds to, and often supersedes, most earlier European standards. It outlines the test methods and requirements for compression and mechanical connectors for power cables, applicable to both insulated conductors (rated voltages up to 1 kV) and non-insulated conductors (up to 30 kV).
Environmental Requirements – DIN V 40046-37:2006: This German standard includes a very tough test where hydrogen sulphide is used as the aggressive substance on contacts and connectors.
Static Loads – Swedish Standard SEN 245010: Static Loads normally form part of established electrical tests and this is also the case in the above IEC-Standard. In Standard Tests, the load limits are often rather low. In contrast, the SEN 245010 features relatively high load limits and is, therefore, more stringent.
Vibration Tests – EN 50155: These tests are hard to carry out in a representative manner. This is due to the very different load patterns that every application may give. The Elpress DUAL system passed the EN 50155 European Testing for shocks and vibrations in railway applications.

Finally, to achieve the best crimping result possible while adhering to the relevant standards, all components of the Crimping System should be from the same manufacturer. Users must install Elpress Crimp Terminals & Connectors using the correct Elpress Tool, as they did when passing the aforementioned tests. Using an Elpress product along with a non-Elpress one will result in a crimp that doesn’t conform to those standards!