[RE-wrenches] Battery cable crimper

[Larry Crutcher, Starlight Solar Power Systems]

Ray, 
This might be a "great mind think alike" moment..…I own all 4 of those crimpers also. But, the best money I ever spent was on this Husky battery operated monster. I can reach into an area when replacing a lug that you could never reach with other crimpers.

Larry
 
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On Apr 30, 2014, at 11:08 PM, Ray Walters <ray at solarray.com> wrote:

Here's all the battery lug crimpers I tried over the years in order of the best to worst connections they produced:
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Yes, believe it or not: the venerable Hammer crimper makes excellent connections.  Its also Cheap, but its Slow, cumbersome, and can't be used in a J box.
The V and indent connection with the thin wall lugs makes the ideal battery and DC connections.  They look just like the crimps from Outback, Trace, Midnite,etc.  I've cut them open on a band saw, and the fine strands are practically fused together into an almost solid cross section of copper with no voids, but no tearing of strands at the edges either.
This crimper goes out on most jobs, as it fits in the bottom of the tool box.
<fhibhicd.jpg>
The Greenlee indentor crimper makes the same V  crimp connection as the hammer crimper, but is faster, and can be used up in a j box.  More expensive, and adjuster readings can't be counted on.  I tighten the adjuster until I can just pull the handle down with putting some body weight into it, but not so much that I'm standing on it or straining the tool.  Depending on the cable and lug combination, the setting may be 2 sizes smaller with thin wall lugs.
Overall, this is what we use most of the time.  I found that this set in a drill vice makes a good bench crimper, when you need to do a batch of battery jumpers.

<fcafcjdi.jpg>
I used this one for many years, also a V crimper, but has different dies.  Crimp quality was not as good, as the dies tore into the lug some.  Also changing the dies took time, and we once lost one of the dies, and it took months to get a replacement.  Not adjustable for different lug and cable combos.

<bfdddceg.jpg>
The "UL" Hex type crimper that you will find at regular electrical supply houses.  Quite expensive, but I am not a fan.  The dies bend slightly under pressure and so the hex crimps are not aligned with each other.  The dies tear the lugs, leaving sharp edges that can tear heat shrink, and there is no adjustment available to account for different cable and lug combinations.  
We have  X flex from Cobra, MTW from Quick Cable, and some DLO from another supplier.  All are UL listed 4/0 and all somewhat different in diam. and how the strands crush.  I have had a connection failure with this tool, and cutting through a cross section of the lug was not as solid a crimp as the V type.  I removed this tool from our shop, to avoid mistakes.
I'm sure with regular Class B stranded THHN, and the heavy wall, color coded lugs, that this is a good tool, but for battery connections, it does not work as well with thin wall lugs.
Finally, I do not recommend the heavy wall, long barrel lugs on batteries.  The square lug end is just too big and thick, and can't bolt to battery terminals in some cases.  We have had to grind away a corner for instance to have the heavy wall lugs land on an battery Flag terminal.  
The heavy terminals some what negate the advantages of flex cable in the first place.
R.Ray Walters
CTO, Solarray, Inc
Nabcep Certified PV Installer, 
Licensed Master Electrician
Solar Design Engineer
303 505-8760