Which Vial Crimper Do I Need? - Laboratory Precision Limited

A question we hear many times a day but the answer is not necessarily a simple one. We will usually answer this with some questions about your assembly.

What type of cap are you using?

There are many types and sizes of crimp on caps available and it would be easy to assume that one size fits all or, near enough is good enough. This, however, is not the case. Pharmaceutical sizes are generally termed as 11mm, 13mm, 20mm, 28mm and 32mm with some variations in between. Some caps are of varying diameter and skirt length and some have plastic tops. These differences have to be catered for in the manufacturing of the crimping tool so a drawing or samples of the customer’s caps are important to ensure that we supply a compatible crimping tool.

If you are using spray pump caps for nasal medications or cosmetics, a multi-fingered split-collet type of crimper may be required, especially when the cap skirt is long and is therefore required to be laid against the neck of the bottle.

How well does the cap, stopper and vial fit together?

Some manufacturers supply caps which are smaller in diameter than US and European standard sizes. They can also be short in skirt length so care should be taken before trying to mix and match as the vials and stoppers may not be a suitable fit for the assembly. If the cap is not long enough, it won’t fit! If the diameter is wrong, it will look untidy or even jam the tool. Sorry about that but you get my point. The best fitting tool along with quality compatible components is the key to a secure seal and there is no substitute for a quality crimper.

We at LPL stock regular size crimpers and de-cappers along with compatible vials caps and stoppers. We also manufacture many special crimpers and de-cappers so please contact us for details.