I have this one and like it. It’s not perfect but you can crimp on the cable lug in pretty tight spaces.
The two “teeth” on the tool are sharp and rip into the copper lugs. I ground mine down so they aren’t so sharp and pointy.
Soldering battery cable and why it is very bad
- Thread starter mrblaine
- Start date
The two “teeth” on the tool are sharp and rip into the copper lugs. I ground mine down so they aren’t so sharp and pointy.
Thank you. I also have the Klein crimper and really like it. I've been considering getting one for bigger cables, but don't need anything too expensive since I don't make them frequently enough.
I truly appreciate the offer. I will probably just buy one. I have a portable 12V battery I'd like to take with me when camping and need to make a few cables (for a fridge and an inverter). I may need the crimper in the future for a solar panel or two as well. Thanks again.
Old_Crow
TJ Enthusiast
My father-in-law rebuilt the entire engine in his '72 Impala because when he washed the old engine, the double wall exhaust crossover pipe had the inner wall collapse. He didn't notice it when he had the engine out, so the new engine wouldn't start either. He finally gave up and called me. It took like 10 minutes to figure out his problem. Unbolted the pipes from the manifolds and it started right up.
That's NOT recommended by most crimp manufacturers. Most crimps are engineered to be used with loose strands.
@toximus - Greenlee has a bunch of styles for crimping tools, made in the USA as well.
https://www.greenlee.com/
Lugs have had a ton of debate in the car audio world, and a quality made copper lug is all you need. No need to pay up for silver or gold unless it's a personal preference.
I've always used a cheap set of crimpers for battery terminals and never had an issue. Crimp, braided sleeve and heat shrink.
I'm in the middle of a project that requires lots of crimping!
https://www.greenlee.com/
Lugs have had a ton of debate in the car audio world, and a quality made copper lug is all you need. No need to pay up for silver or gold unless it's a personal preference.
I've always used a cheap set of crimpers for battery terminals and never had an issue. Crimp, braided sleeve and heat shrink.
I'm in the middle of a project that requires lots of crimping!
OP
I have a version of that Amazon crimper. They work but they suck since the dies are all the wrong size.
In the electrical world we crimp a LOT of wires. Everything is designed around a foot pound setting that stops the user from over crimping the wires. Over crimping can actually be detrimental to a good connection that will last under a heavy load. All the crimp tools I’ve ever used were setup using dies to crimp a certain size wire at a certain setting.
When I got into Amateur Radio and started to build my own feedline cables they had specifications for a mechanical and soldered connection. The design intent was to cut down on db loss and help mitigate heat when transmitting.
I said all that to say that a properly crimped connection is electrically as strong as a soldered connection when the only concern is transmitting power to a load. If you size your wire properly or even oversize it a crimped connection is fine.
A soldered connection helps with micro voltages, sound quality, and preventing db loss. We haven’t used soldered connections in the electrical trade in decades. As best I recall it faded away in the late 60s, early 70s.
There is a time and a place for either method. Use them accordingly.
When I got into Amateur Radio and started to build my own feedline cables they had specifications for a mechanical and soldered connection. The design intent was to cut down on db loss and help mitigate heat when transmitting.
I said all that to say that a properly crimped connection is electrically as strong as a soldered connection when the only concern is transmitting power to a load. If you size your wire properly or even oversize it a crimped connection is fine.
A soldered connection helps with micro voltages, sound quality, and preventing db loss. We haven’t used soldered connections in the electrical trade in decades. As best I recall it faded away in the late 60s, early 70s.
There is a time and a place for either method. Use them accordingly.
And the mail-spec requires the gold to be removed from the inside of the terminal before soldering… on those style connectors.
Lots of ham radio guys are engineers. One guy in the club worked for Beckman here in Southern CA and did a club presentation on this very subject. Beckman developed the first air bags for Ford back in the late 80's (I think) or early 90's. They were having a problem with actuation failures. The automotive world is already aware of the advantages of a crimped connectors over soldered due to the reasons Blaine already stated. What they found after crimping and cutting apart connections using diamond blades and a microscope is that the crimps were failing due to wrong tooling. The soldered connections were even worse. Once they determined the right crimp die for the right connector and all failures went away.
I solder circuit boards and crimp wire connections, including up to 14.4KV wire at work. But we also use the correct dies.
I solder circuit boards and crimp wire connections, including up to 14.4KV wire at work. But we also use the correct dies.
Tinned wire is still loose strands. If you end up with a wire encased in a blob of solder, you did it wrong.
https://www.assemblymag.com/articles/95618-options-for-tinning-wire
excerpt from above article:
Both the IPC-J-STD-001 Rev E section 5.1.3 and IPC/WHMA-A-620 Section 4.4. standards recommend that tinned wire not be used in crimp terminations, under screws (such as in terminal blocks) or when forming mesh splices. The reasoning behind these standards is that downward pressure from the crimp, screw or splice will break the solder joint. This, in turn, can leave an opening within the strands, which then become susceptible to vibration, loosening and corrosion. Untinned wire also provides a better gas tight joint.
I think you guys are talking about two similar, but different things. Many manufacturers of cable tin the individual strands. This can be referred to as tinned cable.
Some people have been taught to apply a thin coating of solder to the end of the cable, encasing all of the strands into one chunk of solder prior to crimping. This can also be referred to as tinned cable.
The first case is fine and will work well with proper crimping equipment and parts.
The second case is rarely, if ever, recommended and certainly not for crimped connections.
When I was in Uncle Sam's Canoe Club (69-75) we had a bunch of equipment that used large Amphenol connectors, sometimes with 100 conductors. The back of the connector was covered with little solder cups. We had a special soldering machine, made by Pace (I even went to their soldering school) and used electrical tweezers to heat each cup in order to solder the wires in place. Try that on a ship, sometime! However, every one of those connectors had a large, clamp-style strain relief just behind the connector body. A large piece of hard rubber and armor braid went into that strain relief clamp along with the cable bundle. Never had a problem with soldered cables.
We also had some small boats on board that had problems. One of the enginemen came into the ET shop asking me how to solder battery cables. I got out some crimp-ons and the large crimping tool and fixed his cables. No more problems.
Some people have been taught to apply a thin coating of solder to the end of the cable, encasing all of the strands into one chunk of solder prior to crimping. This can also be referred to as tinned cable.
The first case is fine and will work well with proper crimping equipment and parts.
The second case is rarely, if ever, recommended and certainly not for crimped connections.
When I was in Uncle Sam's Canoe Club (69-75) we had a bunch of equipment that used large Amphenol connectors, sometimes with 100 conductors. The back of the connector was covered with little solder cups. We had a special soldering machine, made by Pace (I even went to their soldering school) and used electrical tweezers to heat each cup in order to solder the wires in place. Try that on a ship, sometime! However, every one of those connectors had a large, clamp-style strain relief just behind the connector body. A large piece of hard rubber and armor braid went into that strain relief clamp along with the cable bundle. Never had a problem with soldered cables.
We also had some small boats on board that had problems. One of the enginemen came into the ET shop asking me how to solder battery cables. I got out some crimp-ons and the large crimping tool and fixed his cables. No more problems.