Best Professional Level Crimper for Open Barrel Terminals?

Hi Guys, first post here. I recently completed the Fundamentals course and am now taking the Club Level. Loving the wealth of info and it's been worth every penny.

I have been getting more wiring jobs lately and wanted to start upgrading my tooling starting with the ones that I use the most. I have mostly been doing engine harnesses and my biggest struggle has been getting repeatable quality crimps on OE-style open-barrel terminals with rubber seal (injectors, TPS, etc.). I have been using the standard Tool Aid red and blue handle crimpers with decent results, but about 1 out of every 10 terminals ends up uneven and requires some fiddling to get a proper crimp. I purchased the delphi 12085271 tool and was not impressed at all.

I would like to upgrade to a professional-level tool that would give consistent and reliable crimps. Budget is a factor, but willing to invest in something if it's worth the price. I have been looking at the Pressmaster MCT and the Rennsteig PEW12 as I have heard great things about both, but also open to other options. The Pressmaster is the more affordable of the 2 and I can stomach the price of the dies a little more, but if the Rennsteig is a superior tool, I will most likely bite the bullet and pick it up. Thanks in advance for any recommendations or experience you can share.

-Russell

The 12085271 is what most would use for crimping multiple wires into open barrel splices, so it is way too big for a single sensor wire/terminal.

I cant really think of any professional level tool that will do a wide range of common sealed terminals, you will usually find most professional level "one shot" tools will have a specific die set for each terminal family. So for example for me the most common sealed terminals I use would be JPT for injectors and temp sensors, GT150 for pressure sensors and Microtimer for LSU, those would need a PEW12 and 3 die sets. And changing the dies in a low volume situation is a pain in the arse so you would really want 3 handle sets too...

The 1026CT is pretty hard to beat as a universal tool (I think what you are referring to as your toolaid red).

I have found a Chinese tool that does a decent job on about 50% of my most common sealed terminals and for the rest I stick with a 1026CT. I don't do much OEM stuff like sumitomo or Yazaki though so cant say how suitable it is for that.

This tool uses a cheap iwiss handle but has custom wirecut dies, I haven't seen it anywhere else: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002886249553.html

Hey Adam, great insight. Those are the equivalent of the red manual crimpers I'm currently working with. I am learning a bit of the finesse to holding the terminal while crimping so they don't twist and come out funky the more I use them. Don't think I'm doing quite enough work to justify $1k in Rennsteig tooling yet, but maybe down the line.

And that chinese crimper is a great find. I'm actually going to order that one right now. It's rare you find cheap tools that actually work well.

Thanks again for the info! Cheers