Battery Cable Crimp Question

NinerBikes wrote:
Closed end lugs, a proper crimping die and tool

I agree. The big question is what works together?

We already have BoonHauler proving that some crimper/lug/cable combinations simply don't work together.


We have SCVJeff with good quality results from an EBay crimp tool and a specific lug cable combination.


I called Quick Cable and asked them for the measurements of their crimp die, they wouldn't provide one. They said that their tools work with their lugs and that, if I wanted to use a different manufacturers tool, I would need to buy lugs and cables and do a pull test. This left me with the impression that they are not building to any industry standard.


I know that the Greenlee tool, which looks very similar to the Quick Cable tool, is certified to work with a number of lug series, none from Quick Cable or FTZ. Now maybe it's just that Quick Cable and FTZ are non standard and Burndy/Greenlee and other do adhere to standards? I'm just not sure.


I would feel more comfortable if I could establish that the hex dies provided by the different manufacturers are in fact the same size - so that some industry standard exists. As it stands now, to do a simple job like fix my battery cable it appears that I have to:

a) find a piece of the exact brand / size cable that was used for my battery (for destructive testing)
b) buy a crimp tool
c) buy lugs
d) do a 6 gauge pull test to 100Lbs

If d does not work, then figure out what need to change - lug, tool, cable? The whole process seems frustrating, time consuming and potentially expensive.

I just can't believe it's really that hard.

If anyone else out there has a crimp tool and a way to measure the die across the flats send me a PM or post the measurements here and I'll keep updating the table here:


Die Measurement Table