Where to buy crimped battery cable

rjxj wrote:

glennts wrote:
Hammer Lug crimping tool: http://amzn.to/1nGfDx8

Why pay a high price for a tool you may only use once. This does the job for only $20 and once you are done, you don't have to worry about it taking up much storage space.

Have you used one of those? They are terrible and under high inverter loads you would risk melting the end and damaging the terminal post. Sorry

X2 !

Hammer crimps are a crime against copper wire and ring terminals.

Leverage crimpers can be found in the 22$ range, but I am not sure the quality of them or their crimps, but they have to be better than a hammer dimple crimper, no matter the size of the hammer.

http://www.amazon.com/ProDeals%C2%AE-Shaped-Crimping-Pliers-Crimper-Wire/dp/B013QPV81U/ref=pd_sim_sbs_328_13?ie=UTF8&dpID=41cCXxmGKyL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=1GPBB1K9GRGVY4AKZSZV

A bit late but I crimped 2 2 gauge ends this weekend. I used a huge bolt cutter to cut the wire and used the stop on the handle side as the crimp. The hardest crimp was stripping the covering back. Seemed to be solid.. find out over time I guess.

A little late for this thread but here is good info on making your own cables.

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/battery_cables

LINK

mikegt4 wrote:
A little late for this thread but here is good info on making your own cables.

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/battery_cables

LINK

This guy did a very good review right up to the review of the Harbor Freight crimper. He went out of the way to use only one die in the box and if it didn't work it didn't work. I have 4/0 crimps all over the coach done with TWO different sized dies that I would put up against anything he did with his favorite crimper. Does it take longer? Yep.. But it's still an ultra sanitary crimp, and there are plenty of us on this form that have the procedure down flat.

MaineSail used the first version of the HF crimper, whose black colored dies were adequate only upto 4awg ring terminals, unless one considers 'ears' adequate.

Later versions have upgraded die sizes 'silver colored' to better reflect reality.

I have one of the former and have used a grinder and a file to get a nice looking crimp on 2awg thick walled ring terminals, and will grind out other sizes as the need arises. Wish I had a template to scratch on the die as a guide, rather than a file and guess and hope procedure I used for the 2 and 6awg dies I did file out.

Better too big than too small. Some folded aluminum foil works pretty well at getting full compression when they are too big, and remains stuck to the die.

Easy to make a bad crimp with HF. And just as the link explains to rotate the fancy crimper same can be done with HF and it turns out good. Yes the dies are not properly marked but you don't have to make huge ears to discover the issue and adjust.