Recommendation for large gauge electrical crimper

Trevlaw

Trevlaw

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Wondering if anyone has experience with larger sized electrical crimpers, maybe somewhere around 8ga to 2/0 or so. I'm trying to make some nice battery and electrical cables for my Jeep truck LS swap. Hoping to find a nice industrial quality tool that is compatible with standard connectors I can get around town as well as nicer pieces from non-local suppliers.

I originally bought a tool from Quick cable, their smaller Cub Crimper which they say can do up to 1/0 with their nicer cast copper magnalugs. Instructions were shit, the die sizes didn't seem to be large enough for anything larger than 4 gauge. Was able to get a decent looking hex crimp on the 4 gauge connectors, but the larger 2 gauge ones leave a giant wing off to the side. Been trying to contact them to see if I'm doing something wrong, but after several emails and phone calls with nobody getting back to me, I'm just going to try to return it.

Been eyeing something from TemCo now, but they have several different styles. Hoping someone more knowledgeable than I might have some insight on the hex crimper that uses the various die sets, versus their dieless indent crimper. The one adjustable die seems like it would work well for varying sized connectors even of the same gauge size, and not having to fiddlefuck around with 32 dies would be nice.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/temcoindustrial.com/amp/tools/cutters-crimpers/crimpers/
Anyone have any ideas or experience with this type of stuff.
 
Well in case anyone looks at this in the future.

It seems the TemCo crimpers are just a blue version of the harbor freight ones. The guy that wrote this writeup had another post I saw where he talked to TemCo and they admitted it was the same tool, just a different color, with metric dies that aren't even the right size for the larger sizes.

I would get the FTZ 94284 tool he recommends in the writeup, but they're out of stock everywhere. I've currently got a low-ball offer on some Amp Rota-Crimps on eBay that I'm not expecting to be accepted, but you never know. If not, there's a pair of used Thomas & Betts TBM8 crimpers with all 8 dies for sale near me for $225 I'm going to pick up Monday. Hopefully those will work a lot better than the rebranded Chinese crimpers I got from Quick cable.

https://marinehowto.com/making-your-own-battery-cables/
 
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I have these from amazon..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0811VYCQ6/?tag=wranglerorg-20
I think they are the same as any number of Chinese products that do the same thing. I've been pretty happy with them for what I've used em for. 8 ga, 2 ga, 0 ga. etc. The dies seem to crimp well, it comes with a bunch of em, and I've not had anything pull off yet. The worst thing about the kit is they label the dies with the metric equivalent of AWG sizes (or a random number) so you need the little decoder sheet included...
 
Mike_H said:
I have these from amazon..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0811VYCQ6/?tag=wranglerorg-20
I think they are the same as any number of Chinese products that do the same thing. I've been pretty happy with them for what I've used em for. 8 ga, 2 ga, 0 ga. etc. The dies seem to crimp well, it comes with a bunch of em, and I've not had anything pull off yet. The worst thing about the kit is they label the dies with the metric equivalent of AWG sizes (or a random number) so you need the little decoder sheet included...
Click to expand...
I use that crimper as well - mine’s yellow. As you said, once you get past having to do a bit of conversion on the die sizes, it works great.
 
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NashvilleTJ said:
I use that crimper as well - mine’s yellow. As you said, once you get past having to do a bit of conversion on the die sizes, it works great.
Click to expand...
That's funny. Mine is yellow too, but when I pulled up the link from my orders on Amazon, that was what came up? Anyway, Its kinda like that Smittybilt XRC copycat bumper that EVERYONE imports...they are all the same, but for the name brand.
 
I have the HF one. It’s been fine the several times I’ve used it building my camper and routing new cables on the 12v side.
 
I have the yellow version too, I think it's the same as the one Harbor Freight sells, but I got an open box deal on Amazon and only paid 30 bucks for it. I've used mine a couple dozen times, so it's paid for. Not the greatest dies, but for the money you can't go wrong.
 
Like the others, I have the cheaapo hydraulic crimper. I got mine at harbor Freight, and it is a lot of tool for the money. I used it to make new cables for the batteries in my RV (2 chassis, 4 haouse). I had to practice a little, but once I got the hang of it, the crimper worked great.

Here is a really good article on making battery cables that discusses crimping tools:
https://marinehowto.com/making-your-own-battery-cables/

Original cable
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new cable/connector
i-hdjx7qd-X3.jpg


Finished version
i-fGW69hG-X3.jpg



finished!
i-vXzswW4-X3.jpg
 
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Mike_H said:
That's funny. Mine is yellow too, but when I pulled up the link from my orders on Amazon, that was what came up? Anyway, Its kinda like that Smittybilt XRC copycat bumper that EVERYONE imports...they are all the same, but for the name brand.
Click to expand...
And of course, Yellow is just so much better….

🙃
 
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Here is how I set up to use the hydraulic crimper. I needed an extra hand to hold the wire in the lug while I pumped. The crimper would be hard use under the hood of a car. also, lug selection is important. The stuff I read (for RV batteries) recommended using the power lugs. I found the 2/0 lugs too thick to stack on a battery terminal. I ended up using flared lugs for the 2 guage connections (battery to battery) and the power lugs for any connection that might carry the combined current of the batteries.

If you have the reading time, here is the thread from an RV forum where I learned the most.
https://www.irv2.com/forums/f104/the-battery-cable-debate-524064.html?highlight=battery+debate

i-dLTrgL6-X3.jpg



86-d426ae58cef3_1.6e9696f7034ca43592ffd438d9eda7ca.jpg
 
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