Hammer Lug Crimper Tool

[Spencer Was Here]

I somehow ended up with two different hammer lug crimper tools over the years. Both of which work fine, but they both leave an indentation which looks like a plus sign.

Plus signs indicate a positive battery terminal, so to avoid confusion I would like to find a hammer-struck crimper tool that leaves an indentation that instead looks like a minus sign for use on lugs that will connect to the negative battery terminal or ground.

I've done periodic Internet searches over the last couple of years, but it seems that all of these $20 - $30 tools are knock-offs of each other and all have the plus sign. I assume the plus sign was originally done to make an effective crimp as opposed to identity polarity, but regardless, I'm willing to settle for the possibility of a 0.5% less effective crimp which instead leaves an indentation of a minus sign.

Do any of you know where I may be able to find a crimper which leaves a minus sign indentation?

 

[mike93lx]

Can you modify one of your's to accomplish this?

 

[PCustoms]

Can you just put colored heat shrink over the crimp to hide the plus? Red and black would make it fairly obvious.

If I was going to buy a new tool it would come with proper crimp dies and not require a hammer, the mini hydraulic crimp tools are under $100

 

[ste6168]

I crimp on the bottom side of the lugs and use heat shrink, makes for a cleaner looking crimp when it’s on the bottom. I don’t use a hammer type, but a die less box crimper. Same + sign there, though.

 

[rlitman]

Get a hydraulic hex crimper and some red and black heat shrink.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I crimp on the bottom side of the lugs and use heat shrink, makes for a cleaner looking crimp when it’s on the bottom. I don’t use a hammer type, but a die less box crimper. Same + sign there, though.

Everyone would own a roll of red and a roll of white electrical tape. Heat shrink is better but then you need multiple sizes.

 

[u2slow]

If I was going to buy a new tool it would come with proper crimp dies and not require a hammer, the mini hydraulic crimp tools are under $100

I just upgraded to a hyd hex die crimper. HF type stuff, but at $50 I caved.

 

[unslow1]

I have heat shrink and electrical tape in various colors. Just putting a black dot with paint or a Sharpie on the + would probably last for years.

 

[ste6168]

Everyone would own a roll of red and a roll of white electrical tape. Heat shrink is better but then you need multiple sizes.

True, electrical tape will work fine, but I wouldn't use electrical tape on a customer boat. Heat shrink is part of the job, for me, so carrying an assortment of colors and sizes is the norm. Depends on the use case, I guess. I carry electrical tape in several colors... Only real time I use it is taping wire to pull string/rod, taping up one side of jumper wire for when batteries are wired in series (not needed, but I like to do it to prevent confusion for customer when swapping batteries down the line), and occasional other things... Then again, I just use the proper color wire, if you're simply relying on heat shrink/terminal marking/electrical tape only, I think you're just setting yourself or someone else up for failure at a later time.

 

[unslow1]

I know several months ago the Advance Auto stores in my area started carrying only the black battery cables. The ones that were for positive cables are still black but with about an inch of red heat shrink included in the package. I knew I still had some red ones so I went home and dug around a bit until I found them. Does anyone know if the other parts stores have followed suit?

 

[Two Speed]

I somehow ended up with two different hammer lug crimper tools over the years. Both of which work fine, but they both leave an indentation which looks like a plus sign.
[...]
Do any of you know where I may be able to find a crimper which leaves a minus sign indentation?

Got a welder? bit of weld in two of the cross hairs, some filing and you got your - instead of X. Come to think of it, I've never seen anything but an X.

 

[mwalsh9152]

Get a hydraulic hex crimper and some red and black heat shrink.

this. Hammer crimpers are garbage in my line of work.

 

[dscheidt]

I know several months ago the Advance Auto stores in my area started carrying only the black battery cables. The ones that were for positive cables are still black but with about an inch of red heat shrink included in the package. I knew I still had some red ones so I went home and dug around a bit until I found them. Does anyone know if the other parts stores have followed suit?

I saw red cables at autozone not long ago. I wasn't shoping for them, so I didn't pay much attention other than to notice the big empty spaces on the rack.

 

[Schurkey]

I would be concerned that a "-" crimp would lead to cracking of the copper terminal.

However, if you've got two of 'em, take a cutoff wheel to the + until it looks like a - and see what happens.

Crimping on the underside, and covering with appropirate colored heat-shrink seem to be a more-viable solution to me.

 

[jimindm]

IMO if you are using a hammer type crimper, most likely you are doing it sort of off the vehicle. I have really never had good luck using that type of crimper on the vehicle. That would be a place for a different style for sure.

I mostly use color matching wire. Red cable for positive, and black for negative. Have also used the heat wrap and tape for color choices.

 

[Schurkey]

IMO if you are using a hammer type crimper, most likely you are doing it sort of off the vehicle. I have really never had good luck using that type of crimper on the vehicle. That would be a place for a different style for sure.

That was exactly why I bought the hydraulic crimper. The hammer-type works fine for me if I'm building a cable on the workbench. They're totally-useless "on the vehicle" because there's no sturdy surface to put the crimper that won't be damaged by the hammer impact.

Downside with the cheap hydraulic crimper is that the dies are metric in an SAE country; I've usually got to go one size larger to start the crimp, then finish with the next-smaller die. The crimps are not pretty when I'm done, but they seem entirely secure. A better hydraulic crimper would probably take care of this issue.