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Crimping battery cable tool

SuzukiGS750EZ

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Apr 26, 2012
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Hey guys. I'm going to be making 1/0 ground cables for my car soon. As well as 4ga. What's a consistent but inexpensive tool to crimp on lugs? I normally use a vise with the 4ga or solder but with the 1/0 I want to crimp. By the time I heat up all those strands I fear I'd ruin the wire.
 
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tarmy

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May 28, 2014
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Get the Amazon hammer type...used mine many times for all kind of battery cables...if you have boats you will know why!
 

californiaHank

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Nov 20, 2015
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Get the Amazon hammer type...used mine many times for all kind of battery cables...if you have boats you will know why!

+1

As a side benefit, it's fun to use and a good excuse to buy a good BFH (Big F****** Hammer) if you don't already have one (or have a strong vise handy). Get extra terminals to practise on before you hammer crimp expensive/critical heavy cables. It's not a hard tool to use, but it may take you a couple of tries before you get your first good, reliable, professional looking crimp on really heavy wire.
 
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yugami

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Jun 3, 2020
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Michigan
The hammer type do a good job.

I used to work for a company that did generator wires for one of the largest passenger planes, huge hydraulic press and special die tooling to do a specific . I had to cross section those and examine them a couple times, amazing how good they where.

The hammer ones aren't quite that good but they're still pretty good, and a car battery cable doesn't require quite the same level as a airplane generator.
 

signcrafter

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May 9, 2012
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I just bought a couple of battery terminal crimpers. I bought one of the hydraulic crimpers with a bunch of dies for closed barrell crimps and got an iwiss crimper for open barrell factory battery terminals. Bought both from amazon, hydraulic was like 60 bucks and iwiss was about 45 if I remember right.

I havent used either one yet but both look well built, especially the iwiss.

20210107_072101.jpg

20210107_072106.jpg
 
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thr3squared

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theoldwizard1

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Feb 22, 2011
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A decent hammer crimper works amazingly well ! Don't be afraid to swing the BFH !

TE Connectivity sells all of their products online. These are top quality commercial connectors and Last time I checked) they sell small quantities with FREE shipping ! Search for their on line store for uninsulated Solistrand (product line), wire size and hole size.
 

rlitman

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At work, I use a Chinese hydraulic crimper. I actually have two. One small 8 ton, like the HF style, and a larger 16 ton (IIRC). I bought the small one for my own battery cables on eBay for under $20, and it's served me remarkably well, but I have a few 4/0 connectors at work at are out of it's reach, so we picked up the bigger one for under $40.

More important than the crimper is the connector. I use FTZ Power Lugs, and I wouldn't use ANYTHING else (ok, I would, but I haven't yet found anything close). These take two crimps. In order to not have squeeze out, I'll crimp them to just barely hexagonal, then rotate one corner in the die and finish the crimp.

Then, match this up with some quality, thick, double walled adhesive lined heat shrink tubing.
 

Honest Bob

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Easton, PA
Have you checked out the hammer type crimpers? I need to make a few cables a year, and have one of these. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E1UUVT0/?tag=atomicindus08-20

a buddy has one of the cheap hydraulic crimper, bought off of amazon or ebay. It does ok.

I bought one of these and it works really well. I was back and forth over a harbor freight hydro one but went with the hammer one after reading the die sizes are weird (in typical harbor freight fashion).
 

zmotorsports

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Oct 20, 2009
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Northern Utah
The new hydraulic ones look awfully nice. Same principle as my Mastercool brake line crimper but I have an old Deka long handled manual battery crimper tool that I've had for about 20+ years that just keeps working perfectly so I doubt I'll ever step up to the hydraulic style.

The Deka's are pricey and not what I would call cheap but I've seen some decent deals on some very slightly used ones if you keep your eyes open. They are a high quality tool but not something most people use very often. I use mine quite a bit on RV's now and on race cars/street rods/sandrails years ago.
 

Copymutt

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Colorado
Not sure your lug diameters, but this worked for me last week making up control cable hook ends.
Repurpose your flaring tool as a crimper. OK to tap w/ a hammer after seating the lug.:beer:
image.jpg
 
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skruft

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May 9, 2011
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For that size I use a T&B or Burndy manual crimper. It is long enough that there is no huge effort. Today I would probably get hydraulic.
 

finn

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Mar 27, 2005
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The UP, God's country
I I am like many other people, I crimp a couple of cables every two or three years. The manual hammer crimped isn’t very glamorous, but it works.

Mine cost $16 a number of years ago

If you crimp cables monthly, a hydraulic may make sense.
 

Locator

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Sep 16, 2015
Messages
47
At work, I use a Chinese hydraulic crimper. I actually have two. One small 8 ton, like the HF style, and a larger 16 ton (IIRC). I bought the small one for my own battery cables on eBay for under $20, and it's served me remarkably well, but I have a few 4/0 connectors at work at are out of it's reach, so we picked up the bigger one for under $40.

More important than the crimper is the connector. I use FTZ Power Lugs, and I wouldn't use ANYTHING else (ok, I would, but I haven't yet found anything close). These take two crimps. In order to not have squeeze out, I'll crimp them to just barely hexagonal, then rotate one corner in the die and finish the crimp.

Then, match this up with some quality, thick, double walled adhesive lined heat shrink tubing.

Where do you buy the FTZ terminals?

Thanks.
 

seber

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May 31, 2016
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I use a manual long handled crimper. It was cheap and there is nothing to go wrong. Other than storage space there is no downside.
 

gte718p

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Mar 12, 2009
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I have done thousands of battery connections. I work with EVs. The hammer crimpers work, but they take some practice to use properly. I have one and use it regularly, but I see many many crimp issues from people using them. If you go that way, get extra lugs and practice. You want to cross section the lug and have it look solid.

The HF crimped is great. The die sizes used to be off, but it has been 10 years. Hopefully they have fixed that by now.
 

rlitman

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I have done thousands of battery connections. I work with EVs. The hammer crimpers work, but they take some practice to use properly. I have one and use it regularly, but I see many many crimp issues from people using them. If you go that way, get extra lugs and practice. You want to cross section the lug and have it look solid.

The HF crimped is great. The die sizes used to be off, but it has been 10 years. Hopefully they have fixed that by now.


They’re not “off”. They’re sized for metric (mm-sq) wire, rather than AWG. You can get a chart for comparison.
 

rlitman

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Waytek also carries battery lugs, not the FTZ brand but similar.


Nice stuff there. I’m going to bookmark that.

For my part, I don’t use battery terminals though. Just bolt on lugs. On batteries, I use the same bolt on lugs with mil-spec terminals. That way, if the terminal ever fails, I don’t need to replace the crimp.
 

MeentSS02

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Aug 12, 2010
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Dayton, OH
I have done thousands of battery connections. I work with EVs. The hammer crimpers work, but they take some practice to use properly. I have one and use it regularly, but I see many many crimp issues from people using them. If you go that way, get extra lugs and practice. You want to cross section the lug and have it look solid.

The HF crimped is great. The die sizes used to be off, but it has been 10 years. Hopefully they have fixed that by now.

It has not been fixed, and it is not a metric vs. AWG issue. They are clearly marked for AWG, but are still too small, which causes this:

12-My-Crimp-Cross-Section.jpg


That said, the crimps I've made with that tool are currently in service on two vehicles. They aren't ideal, but they do work.
 

59 wagon man

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hollywood fla
hydraulic is more practical. think about if you had an existing cable which is a b^^tch to remove and the end broke off. with the hydraulic you can make the repair in place maybe tough to swing a hammer and hold the crimper. just my .02 , i do own the hf model and have had it for 10 yrs now
 

astroracer

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Jun 22, 2005
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I have had these HF style hydraulic crimpers for 5 or 6 years now. I built this mounting plate right after I got it. :)
MVC006F-vi.jpg
Trying to hold it one hand and keep a cable and fitting together and aligned in the other was next to impossible! I clamped it in a vise for a while but tired of it slipping around.
I made a mounting plate out of some 1/4" scrap, drilled and tapped the head of the crimper and bolted on the plate.
MVC068F-vi.jpg

MVC077F-vi.jpg

MVC017F-vi.jpg
Now I can clamp it to any bench or, as you see here, right to the vehicle I am working on. Much better!
Mark
 

signcrafter

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May 9, 2012
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12,320
hydraulic is more practical. think about if you had an existing cable which is a b^^tch to remove and the end broke off. with the hydraulic you can make the repair in place maybe tough to swing a hammer and hold the crimper. just my .02 , i do own the hf model and have had it for 10 yrs now

That was my thought when I was searching last week. I have a hammer style crimper for the last 20 or so years and it works good in certain situations. Used to use it when I was into car stereos and had several extra batteries in my vehicle and made my own power wires. But I wanted to replace a factory terminal on my truck and it was an open barrel type. You can't just put the hammer crimper on your truck and start whaling away on it. So I bought the hydraulic version for barrel crimps and the iwiss bolt cutter style for open barrel crimps.

I have had these HF style hydraulic crimpers for 5 or 6 years now. I built this mounting plate right after I got it. :)
MVC006F-vi.jpg

Trying to hold it one hand and keep a cable and fitting together and aligned in the other was next to impossible! I clamped it in a vise for a while but tired of it slipping around.
I made a mounting plate out of some 1/4" scrap, drilled and tapped the head of the crimper and bolted on the plate.
MVC068F-vi.jpg


MVC077F-vi.jpg


MVC017F-vi.jpg

Now I can clamp it to any bench or, as you see here, right to the vehicle I am working on. Much better!
Mark

Thanks for sharing. I just got a hydraulic one off amazon and will copy your plate mod. Did you just drill and tap?
 

Renegade1LI

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Mar 11, 2018
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long island ny
I’ve had this set for years, i think it was made by klein, rotate the correct dies and crimp, fast and easy, does from #4 to 4/0 plus lugs.
 

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MeentSS02

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Aug 12, 2010
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Dayton, OH
Anyone willing to make a crimp with their preferred tool and cut it apart so we can see the cross section?

I was happy with my HF hydraulic crimper, even after cutting it apart and seeing how nice and solid the copper was. I didn't realize the "wings" it created were an issue until someone pointed it out to me that knew better. That's when I realized that I didn't even know how to tell if the crimp was good or not, and it took me quite a bit of digging online to see what a good crimp looked like.

I've been wanting to find a replacement crimper since then, but I don't want to buy another one only to find out it does something similar or worse than what I already have.

The answer for me could be as simple as using a die one size larger than I think I need for the first crimp, and go from there to see if I can keep it from making those wings like shown above. Maybe I'll do some experimenting and see what I can come up with since I have a few extra terminals and some extra wire laying around.
 

rlitman

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It has not been fixed, and it is not a metric vs. AWG issue. They are clearly marked for AWG, but are still too small, which causes this:

12-My-Crimp-Cross-Section.jpg

That said, the crimps I've made with that tool are currently in service on two vehicles. They aren't ideal, but they do work.

Your problem is twofold.

First, you didn't rotate your crimp. ANY two-piece hex crimp die will cause that sort of squeeze out. It's the nature of how ALL two-piece dies squeeze metal, and has nothing to do with sizing. With this sort of crimper, the only option is to start squeezing until you're about 3/4 there, then stop, retract the dies, rotate the piece 60 degrees, and resume crimping.

The alternative is to buy a crimper that uses 4 or 6 dies.

Second, yes, the real problem is entirely a metric vs AWG size issue. Too many people here don't seem to understand what a crimp is and how it works.

An un-crimped wire is like a log rack stacked with rounds. There is an awful amount of air space between every round log, and no matter how you stack the logs, that space will remain. If you add up all of the cross sectional areas of just those rounds (without counting the space wasted by air), you will get an area that is the maximum cross sectional area of the ideal crimp. The actual shape of the crimp is largely immaterial. What matters is that all of the air is squeezed out, and nothing but copper remains.

So, what's that area? The cross sectional area of the copper wire, of course. Here, I'll point out that the strand count doesn't matter. Wire gauges already only tell you about how much copper is in there. A 12 AWG wire will have the same cross sectional area of COPPER, no matter how many or few strands it contains. The actual diameter WILL vary, since stranded wire has those pesky air spaces that solid is already missing.

So how does this matter to you?

Well, the dies on these Chinese hydraulic crimpers are sized so that the closed hexagon they form has the cross sectional area of a metric sized wire plus the cross sectional area of the matching lug. When crimped onto an AWG sized wire, a die too large may leave you with an incomplete crimp that still has air gaps (TOTALLY unacceptable), and a die too small may squeeze the copper hard enough to reduce it's final cross sectional area under the crimp to be significantly smaller than the ideal amount. That can (if WAY overdone) lead to localized heating. But in reality, it's not a big deal.
 

MeentSS02

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Aug 12, 2010
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Dayton, OH
Thank you for shedding some light on this issue. I don't do anything like this for a living, so any insight into this is helpful.

So in your opinion, is the crimp I showed above passable or not? I'm guessing it falls into the "not a big deal" category, but I don't have enough expertise to pass judgment.
 
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S

SuzukiGS750EZ

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Apr 26, 2012
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I don't want to spend a lot of money on a tool for this as me using 1/0 for grounds and crimping 4ga only happens once or twice a year, at most. I don't want to buy something that won't work at all but I don't need anything too too fancy.
 
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