[steve]

whats the right way to crimp these at home ? these are for batt. cables.

[steve]

sorry . pic

[Murf'sDad]

The last time I used those style terminals I soldered them directly to the cable by cleaning everything, filled the end of the terminal full of flux, inserted the cable, heated it up and melted solder directly into the terminal pocket. Crimping and soldering would probably be better but at the time I didn't have access to a big enough crimper.

Stewart

[limejudge69]

With a BFH

[77 TRASHCAN]

Napa makes solder pellets that you can insert in those cable lugs, to solder the cables into the lugs, no crimping needed.
Cut back the insulation to the length you want in the terminal. It may take more than one pellet, some lugs have a void in the end, it fills up w/ solder, Solder off a roll would work also...I usually use heat shrink over the connection...Easy...
Wear gloves when you heat up the lug w/ torch.

[Cliff R]

+1 on the BFH deal, using a custom ground punch with a wide rounded end on it. Then I solder them to help improve continuity between the parts......Cliff

[triathlonx13]

I just bought this one..... works good.

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performan...80567/10002/-1

.

[Half-Inch Stud]

The photo above is kind-of how half my cables were done.
The other half was done by a draw-bar crimp at the welding cable shop.

I tried soldering some of the crimps: seems unnecessary (from a fella that solders nearly all my car wiring).

[t/a 79]

I use a tool i bought from home deoot it is for swaging (sp?) or crimping sleaves on cables it looks like bolt cutter has several sizes on it it will crimp those fittings from 8guage on up to 1 guage. nice solid crimp and easy to solder. It works a lot better(for me ) than the hammer crimping tool

[gtome]

Originally Posted by limejudge69

With a BFH

Thats how I did it. First I tried some huge channel locks I had, but still ended up useing a hammer to be sure. Didnt look very pretty though.

[steve]

thanks guys. maybe time to invest in a tool !

[screamingchief]

I use the hammer crimp tool with a BFH.

FYI: some of these crimp tools may need minor "adjustment" (ie:minor grinding) so the crimp mandrel/punch fits into the V portion better.

I also solder my connections as well (be sure to use some liquid flux as well if not using those solder pellets),then heatshrink the connection.

Never any problems with durabillity.

And I also check mine for resistance (never any to speak of).

Agree the big "bolt cutter" style crimpers are nice,but more $$$ for sure.

And yeah,there are always local places that can do the crimp/solder stuff for you if your not into the whole DIY thing.

HTH

Bret P.

[Schurkey]

Originally Posted by screamingchief

I use the hammer crimp tool with a BFH.

FYI: some of these crimp tools may need minor "adjustment" (ie:minor grinding) so the crimp mandrel/punch fits into the V portion better.

I own the hammer-crimping tool similar to what has been posted previously. Works great; but then it's 20+ years old and not a Chinese import. I won't vouch for "new" tools; but really--how difficult can it be to build a crimper powered by a hammer?

I used a hydraulic cable crimper at my former employer; really wonderful and tremendously expensive.

Originally Posted by screamingchief

I also solder my connections as well (be sure to use some liquid flux as well if not using those solder pellets),then heatshrink the connection.

Never any problems with durabillity.

Haven't soldered my crimps; I think I'll try that next time. Clearly this is a place where you DO NOT use acid flux. Yes, heat shrink tubing is a gift from God.

Originally Posted by screamingchief

And I also check mine for resistance (never any to speak of).

That interests me. What are you using to check resistance of a bigass battery cable?

First Guess: You'd learn more from a voltage drop test where the cable is carrying ~200 amps during the test instead of the low current of an ohmmeter.

[screamingchief]

Originally Posted by Schurkey

I own the hammer-crimping tool similar to what has been posted previously. Works great; but then it's 20+ years old and not a Chinese import. I won't vouch for "new" tools; but really--how difficult can it be to build a crimper powered by a hammer?

Just telling them to check how well their specific tool crimps before diving in head first with it,sometimes the "punch" portion just does'nt line up all that well with the "V block" portion of the tool,so I'm glad yours was fine,but I have used more than a few of these tools thru the years,and in my experience it's often a bit hit-or-miss just how well these tools will make a good/straight/solid crimp,I mean after all they get the snot smacked outta them as SOP,so I was just pointing out that from time to time it's a good idea to make sure the thing is indeed making a good strong crimp,one that is centered nicely on the lug your crimping,but hey that's just some friendly advice to others here,advice they're free to heed or ignore,no sweat off my back.

Originally Posted by Schurkey

Haven't soldered my crimps; I think I'll try that next time. Clearly this is a place where you DO NOT use acid flux. Yes, heat shrink tubing is a gift from God.

Honestly,I dont even think they sell the stronger acid based flux anymore,seems the EPA frowns on that sorta stuff,we used to use that kinda stuff back when I was making pellet guns for Benjamin/Sheridan,but even back then they made us switch that strong acid based flux out for the "newer" breed of milder flux.

And that was like 20 years ago.

Anyhow:FYI Those solder pellets contain rosin,so one way or the other,if you solder the connection,your gonna to be using some sorta anti-oxidation agent in there to assure that the metal is clean & so the solder will flow nicely and bond to the metal properly,be it via the Rosin in those pellets,or from a mild liquid flux (often both are recommended).

Even Rosin can be mildly acidic once it's heated to soldering temps.

Anyhow,try doing it without such,and the odds are your gonna have a big 'ol mess on your hands.

Originally Posted by Schurkey

That interests me. What are you using to check resistance of a bigass battery cable?

First Guess: You'd learn more from a voltage drop test where the cable is carrying ~200 amps during the test instead of the low current of an ohmmeter.

Yeah,maybe I should have been clearer on that,yes I check for any voltage drops after everything is assembled & in use.

So is the third degree over now???



Bret P.

[Tom Vaught]

I soldered/ shrink tubed my connections after I had a welding shop crimp the ends on the cable I bought from them. I figured out the lengths, bought the 00 welding cable, and the correct ends. They installed the ends for free.

At least in the Detroit area, good welding shops supply a lot of guys welding trucks their cables as they see constant wear.

Tom Vaught

[t/a 79]

Originally Posted by steve

thanks guys. maybe time to invest in a tool !

Go to home depot get one of the cable crimpers you will not regret it makes very nice clean predictable good looking crimps. bought mine 5 years or so ago found a lot of uses for it over the years

[David Jones]

I drilled a hole in one side of mine and then used the BFH approach. After that I heated the whole deal with a torch and worked solder into the hole.