<div dir="auto"><div>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".</div><div dir="auto"> </div><div><br></div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature">Eric Smiley, Design Manager<br>Viridian Solar<br>250.703.6004</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Sep 3, 2025, 11:57 Kent via RE-wrenches <<a href="mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org">re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
<div>
<p>William,</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>I doubt that the indenter crimper will do a decent job with large
ferrules.</p>
<p>I do like your thin piece of copper solution. Not UL approved but
I dare say wrench approved.<br>
</p>
Kent Osterberg<br>
Blue Mountain Solar
<p><br>
</p>
<div>On 9/2/2025 8:55 PM, William Miller via
RE-wrenches wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Friends:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Thank
you for all of your input on this question. I feel it only
right I report back how this turned out</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">I
tried a crimper like this:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""><img id="m_-3027188853608436685Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:part1.ckMMws70.XmI9tOuD@coveoregon.com" alt="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" width="393" height="505"></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">It
left a jagged ridge on both sides of the ferrule where the
dies met.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">The
crimper below was suggested but I have not tried it:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""><img id="m_-3027188853608436685Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:part2.wpEyAfdv.gyDRISyt@coveoregon.com" alt="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/716TxXmojoL._SL1500_.jpg" width="504" height="336"></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">This
was suggested but I have not tried it either:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""><img id="m_-3027188853608436685Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:part3.VBr8h0UX.Bbv0Xylh@coveoregon.com" alt="image0.png" width="295" height="641"></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">I
had tried a similar crimper to the two above but it expanded
the width of the ferrule beyond what the lug would accept.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">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. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">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.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">I
hope this feedback helps someone, someday.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">William</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Miller
Solar</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">17395
Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">805-438-5600</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><a href="http://www.millersolar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">www.millersolar.com</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CA
Lic. 773985</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset></fieldset>
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