I picked up these 16 Ton Hydraulic Wire Battery Cable Lug Terminal Crimper Crimping Tool for $40 on a Black Friday special.
[img=250x250]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51l68RVX9YL.jpg[/img]
I had no idea if it was a good choice or not, especially after reading all the "Greatest Ever!" and "Chinese Junk!" reviews. Turns out I'm really glad I got them...I've had to crimp 16 lugs so far and being able to do it myself has made this so much simpler and better. I see the price is back up to $55, but I'd still call it a deal. I've actually had two people want to buy them off me (I'll probably sell when finished)...I think it'd be easy to sell'em for 50% off to the next person.
Here's a lug I cut open because I wanted to see what it looked like inside the crimp. The #1 awg is made up of around 20 wire strands:
[img=350x400]http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/...-48db-b853-2bbd1e8b906f_zpsy3wjt5kf.jpg[/img]
[img=450x350]http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/...ads/IMG_20170218_120259_zpsmekdhbol.jpg[/img]
As you can see, the copper was cold-fused into a solid piece. If you look closely you can see that I over-crimped the lug and created little flares/flanges where lug squeezed between the dies. Turns out the copper squeezed in too, so thinking it's not a weakness.
The reviews that criticized this product because the included die sizes don't match any known wire gauge standard, and the two halves don't align perfectly, are certainly correct from what I can tell. However, simply by paying attention I found it easy to get crimps that look fine...and now I can see they are functionally good too.
[img=250x250]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51l68RVX9YL.jpg[/img]
I had no idea if it was a good choice or not, especially after reading all the "Greatest Ever!" and "Chinese Junk!" reviews. Turns out I'm really glad I got them...I've had to crimp 16 lugs so far and being able to do it myself has made this so much simpler and better. I see the price is back up to $55, but I'd still call it a deal. I've actually had two people want to buy them off me (I'll probably sell when finished)...I think it'd be easy to sell'em for 50% off to the next person.
Here's a lug I cut open because I wanted to see what it looked like inside the crimp. The #1 awg is made up of around 20 wire strands:
[img=350x400]http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/...-48db-b853-2bbd1e8b906f_zpsy3wjt5kf.jpg[/img]
[img=450x350]http://i465.photobucket.com/albums/...ads/IMG_20170218_120259_zpsmekdhbol.jpg[/img]
As you can see, the copper was cold-fused into a solid piece. If you look closely you can see that I over-crimped the lug and created little flares/flanges where lug squeezed between the dies. Turns out the copper squeezed in too, so thinking it's not a weakness.
The reviews that criticized this product because the included die sizes don't match any known wire gauge standard, and the two halves don't align perfectly, are certainly correct from what I can tell. However, simply by paying attention I found it easy to get crimps that look fine...and now I can see they are functionally good too.
