[RE-wrenches] Ferrules for large fine-stranded wire.

Wed Sep 3 17:42:57 PDT 2025

I've used the yellow hex crimper you showed in the picture. I found that if
I did two crimps, rotating between each crimp and not completely bottoming
out the first crimp, I didn't get "wings".

Eric Smiley, Design Manager
Viridian Solar
250.703.6004

On Wed, Sep 3, 2025, 11:57 Kent via RE-wrenches <
re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:

> William,
>
> If the only reason the ferrule wouldn't fit after using the hex crimper
> was the ridge left where the dies meet, you could rotate the cable 120
> degrees and crimp the ferrule again.
>
> I doubt that the indenter crimper will do a decent job with large ferrules.
>
> I do like your thin piece of copper solution. Not UL approved but I dare
> say wrench approved.
> Kent Osterberg
> Blue Mountain Solar
>
>
> On 9/2/2025 8:55 PM, William Miller via RE-wrenches wrote:
>
> Friends:
>
>
>
> Thank you for all of your input on this question.  I feel it only right I
> report back how this turned out
>
>
>
> I tried a crimper like this:
>
>
>
>
>
> [image: HYCLAT 10 Tons Hydraulic Crimping Tool Battery Cable Lug Terminal
> Crimper with 9 Pairs of Dies, 12 AWG to 2/0 AWG Wire Crimping Tool]
>
> It left a jagged ridge on both sides of the ferrule where the dies met.
>
>
>
> The crimper below was suggested but I have not tried it:
>
> [image: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/716TxXmojoL._SL1500_.jpg]
>
> This was suggested but I have not tried it either:
>
> [image: image0.png]
>
>
>
> I had tried a similar crimper to the two above but it expanded the width
> of the ferrule beyond what the lug would accept.
>
>
>
> Here is what several of you suggested:  Slip the ferrule over the strands
> and insert it into the lug and let the set screw do the crimping for you.
> We tried this but the 4/0 ferrule when not crimped would not fit into the
> battery lug on a fortress Envy 12.  The Envy 12 installation manual
> indicates a wire range of 1/0 to 3/0 and the placard inside the wire
> compartment door says up to 4/0.  The lug seems tight for 4/0.
>
>
>
> Here is what we did:  Back in the days of the Trace DC250 (maybe 1988-ish)
> we had trouble wrangling all of the strands of a fine-stranded 4/0 battery
> cable to all fit in the lug without a bunch of strands poking out.  I found
> some thin (~35 gauge) copper sheet at a local hobby shop.  I would clean
> and polish it shiny and cut a little strip of the sheet slightly wider than
> the strip length and long enough to wrap about 1-1/4 times around the
> strand.  I would wrap it tightly around the strands and hold it temporarily
> in place with a thin cable tie.  I bent the end of the sheet into a
> chamfered shape to help guide the assembly into the lug.  After I got it
> started I would snip the cable tie, fully insert the cable and tighten the
> set screw.  I never had one of these connections fail.  This is what we did
> on the Envy 12 battery cables.
>
>
>
> The next day we removed all of the set screws and inspected the
> connections.  They all looked great:  The copper sheeting had not twisted,
> it had a nice, shapely dimple and, peaking up into the lug, the cable
> looked to be well seated.
>
>
>
> I hope this feedback helps someone, someday.
>
>
>
> William
>
>
>
> Miller Solar
>
> 17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422
>
> 805-438-5600
>
> www.millersolar.com
>
> CA Lic. 773985
>
>
>
>
>
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