I need to make a few battery cables and need a lug crimper. At most I'll make a couple dozen cables in my lifetime so looking for that 'git-r-done' tool that I can use then stuff in the back of the toolbox for a couple years before next use. 2/0 is my cable of choice for my projects on typical mid-size equipment (old-school Cummins NHC-250's and Cat 3306's) but would like to go down to 2 gauge for lighter automotive and misc jobs so the tool needs that range. I'm thinking the hammer-crimper is best at ~$20 delivered to my door because it's simple, small and effective but wanted to know if anyone didn't like this type of tool. The only drawback that I can think of is you really can't use it to repair cable already installed on a machine but all of my cables will probably be assembled new then added to a machine.
I have one similar that is an LS Starret branded unit. Used it well over 40 years for cables up to and including 4/0AWG but mostly for automotive and truck use. 2/0 welding cable is very common usage for these and they work well. Be sure to use shink tube over your crimp covering any of the bare conductor into the lug crimp area and back onto the cable jacket to keep corrosion at bay.
I've had one of these for many years now. It was cheap and it just keeps on working. 16 Ton 11 Dies Hydraulic Wire Crimper Crimping Tool Battery Cable Lug Terminal | eBay Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 16 Ton 11 Dies Hydraulic Wire Crimper Crimping Tool Battery Cable Lug Terminal at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products! www.ebay.com
I have that exact one also. The way the diesets are marked it will take a few "test" crimps to finalize which dieset is best for the application. I have stamped the ones I use most often with the appropriate sizing for lugs onto cable. Don't rely upon your memory for this unless used consistently and often..... I have an electric "Burndy" left over from work but the battery pack is bad from age. A lot of $$$ to get operational again but it will do 750mcm without struggle.
I have a hammer one, works well for the extremely limited use it gets. I have used it in the vice and/or press before instead of with a hammer as well.
Hammer crimper will do you good, I have that same one bouncing around in the truck and use it often. Works great and takes up WAY less space than my big blue adjustable Temco.
Sounds like the hammer crimper is the right choice. After looking a bit deeper in these, every one focuses the force into a point on the lug instead of a line down the lug. Anyone know of a crimper that is more of a line or blade instead of a point? Or does it matter?
Bowman had a hand operated crimper that was really good but kind of pricey. If I recall it was similar to big bolt cutters. There's a few different brands of them. Mac has a crimper that uses a bolt like a C clamp that could be a good option if you want to work on cables on the machine.
I have an S&G Tools one that is similar to a set of bolt cutters. Crimps very well and has rotating dies, it’s pretty much a clone of the pricey brands of the same style. Does take two hands to operate so you will need a vice or helper to hold the cable. Also a little clumsy. I mock up and mark my cable and terminals then carefully crimp.
I think the S&G with rotatable jaws was similar to the one I remember Bowman sold.
the place I started wrenching always had us use solder slugs and heat shrink. they worked very well. Drop the solder slug into the terminal, heat it up, and jam the cable in. Put heat shrink over it and install. Don’t remember ever seeing green corroded cables.
I've used both the hammer tool and actual crimp tools. For the odd time I need to crimp a cable the hammer tool is my go to. Fits easily in just about any drawer of a toolbox and they're cheaper than a crimper tool.
The reason I bought the hydraulic crimper is because I tried the hammer tool and it did not work for me. I guess I must have been doing it wrong.
The hydraulic one can be a lifesaver in a cramped location.
With a properly ground blunt chisel and a nice piece of steel I have used an air hammer, in very difficult to get to places.
Here is mine, don’t know how strong you are, but I have no problems on 4/0. Made by Klein tools, there is others out there with larger handles.
I like that punch pin style, better than the hammer style. They also make a hex style. But the hydraulic one I posted beats them all. It smashes the metal like play doh. Here is a unit I crimped a battery cable on, both ends. Several years ago, back in shop today for regular maintenance.
With the Klein style crimpers, they need to be calibrated before use. I used a T&B crimper with interchangeable dies and there is a range for the distance between the handles with just the weight of the handle to insure the correct amount of compression is applied to the crimp. It is surprising how often the handles were just out of spec after riding around in a truck for a few months. Cam
If you mash that big ole pin into the shell, and the right size wire is tightly filling it, it is going to get crimped, calibrated or not. Another thing, I don't fool around with those thin copper crimp lugs. See the ones in my pictures above, thick copper/brass.
Those thick ones take a lot of pressure to squish which probably makes the hyd. Crimper the easiest to use on them.
The hydraulic crimper @Birken Vogt showed is the best. They have 6 sided dies and make beautiful crimps. The 4 sided dies do not look nearly as nice. The hammer ones look like a farmer installed them. Also if you are crimping the terminal for a quick connect, usually the hammer ones squash them too much to fit into the housing. Hydraulic ones are under 100$ on amazon.
That is true, the hydraulic 6 sided ones kind of make the whole barrel smaller evenly. If you step from a larger hex to a smaller one and rotate the terminal to crimp from multiple sides you can really put the mashing on it also. The picture I showed, the engine block lug is done in such a way that the brass kind of flowed out the sides while the battery end is done more uniformly. Both methods I have seen on good factory crimps but I have also seen a lot of detent/pin puncher types from the factory.
Ancor marine lugs here till I get to MCM sizes like on my forklift battery. A 250 MCM for a 262 MCM DLO, actually managed to get the 4/0 adjusted out right to crimp it.
If I get the end of a wire with strands that are unruly or out of place, I can put the strands in the hex crimper to straighten them up before stuffing them in the shell. Another trick I saw but have not tried yet, is to use a zip tie to straighten them near the cut, slide the connector on and push the zip tie back down to get all the fine strands lined up. Then cut the zip tie as the connector reaches near bottoming out before crimping on.
I stripped the wire leaving 1/8 inch piece of the jacket on the wire to keep the strands together until the lug was started then split it to remove it On those difficult ones. Cam
That is also a very good idea. Last time I had to do this with a mess of these big cables in the middle of a snow storm (actually it was not snowing at the time but my feet were cold and wet) with the sun gone down on Friday night, flashlight inadequate, my ratchet cutters had broken so I was making ugly cuts with a sawzall, nobody was available to help me in the middle of this storm and I was not having a fun time trying to stuff all the tiny strands into the connectors I had scrounged, and it was for the 911 dispatch center. Got it done though. This all happened because when they sent someone to get the portable trailer generator from where it was, they drove off without disconnecting the cables from the wall, and ripped everything to bits.