Connectors and crimpers

[john61ct]

Not welding gear, tinned marine spec is the way to go against corrosion.

But bring all your wire / terminals just use their crimping tools, great

 

[PSea]

ProMariner Pronautic P is the same as his ProCharge Ultra.

Big Magnum, Victron, Mastervolt inverter/chargers.

__
For DCDC also checkout

KISAE ABSO
Enerdrive ePOWER

Thanks john. Do those other brands offer completely custom charging profiles and work w LiFePo? Any particular brand you'd recommend that has a better feature set vs Sterling?

 

[john61ct]

Yes and yes

but no, Sterling's the best especially for international support.

 

[john61ct]

You still need to determine your stop-charge algorithm for LFP to get good longevity, kinda controversial don't follow vendor specs.

But needs its own thread.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Not welding gear, tinned marine spec is the way to go against corrosion.

But bring all your wire / terminals just use their crimping tools, great

Depends I guess. One of the local shops I go to stocks really nice lugs, Thomas & Betts narrow tongue tinned with the colored die groove rings, along with the plain copper ones.

 

[Photobug]

"But according to his website he no longer endorses this model or at least has it listed as a subpar crimper."

Mind providing a link? I think this one is a relatively new offering designed by mainesail. I have all the dies as well.

I am pretty sure I purchased my crimper based on a recommendation from Mainsail's old website. At the time it was probably the best compromise of a crimper frame. If you look on his current site. https://marinehowto.com/marine-wire-termination/ About 2/3 the way down. you'll find, "A Tale of Five Off-Shore Crimp Tools".
He has a picture of 4 that have quality issues only recommending the Ancor. Now he has his own he is marketing that he recommends. I will consider purchasing it.

 

[PSea]

Yes and yes

but no, Sterling's the best especially for international support.

Important to me as I may venture to some foreign destinations. Much appreciated.

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

When it comes to crimping battery cable lugs you need to know if the crimped is for thin or thick wall lugs. 2 awg lugs are same id but can vary on the od. Crimp a thick wall lug in a thin wall crimper you will overcrimp everytime. Opposite is true using thin wall lugs in thick wall crimper. You will undercrimp and will fail pull test.

Quality lugs and crimpers are color coded. Match lug color band or bands to die color marking.

Yes HF and NT are not quality crimpers. Dies are metric and must use an undersize die and stop before a complete cycle to prevent overcrimping. Not recommended for novices.

I am hesitant to buy anything from blog links or sites that try to be informative in nature but offer an online store with limited number of items.
Amazon pay bloggers for linking to the recommended items. Some guys write BS off the top of their head and saturate it with links to Amazon items.
Just click one of those links and look at all the info you just furnished in the address bar. If you want to buy then start at the item and delete everything up to the item number.

 

[PSea]

When it comes to crimping battery cable lugs you need to know if the crimped is for thin or thick wall lugs. 2 awg lugs are same id but can vary on the od. Crimp a thick wall lug in a thin wall crimper you will overcrimp everytime. Opposite is true using thin wall lugs in thick wall crimper. You will undercrimp and will fail pull test.

Quality lugs and crimpers are color coded. Match lug color band or bands to die color marking.

Yes HF and NT are not quality crimpers. Dies are metric and must use an undersize die and stop before a complete cycle to prevent overcrimping. Not recommended for novices.

I am hesitant to buy anything from blog links or sites that try to be informative in nature but offer an online store with limited number of items.
Amazon pay bloggers for linking to the recommended items. Some guys write BS off the top of their head and saturate it with links to Amazon items.
Just click one of those links and look at all the info you just furnished in the address bar. If you want to buy then start at the item and delete everything up to the item number.

I can assure you mainesail does not fall into this category. He's been helping sailors and posting in those forums for years. He's as solid as they come.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Caution if having a welding supplier make up terminals.
They are not always focused on electrical perfection, Just make something that works.
Often as not, they use some wrench’tard beating on a hammer crimper after they ring nicked many strands sripping with a knife.

It would be advisable to skip that shop and by all means dunk that cable into a vat of flux and have at it with a butane torch!

 

[4xdog]

Back to the original subject of Weather Pack connectors...

I've used them on three ARB bullbar installations now to improve the crappy original connectors on the bullbar-mounted turn signals. With the right crimper the installation is perfect, and they've lasted for many years. Weather Pack is pretty easy to de-pin when needed, too.

I'm likely to add Deutsch to my collection of crimping tools at some point, too, for the options that alternative system creates.

 

[Photobug]

I am hesitant to buy anything from blog links or sites that try to be informative in nature but offer an online store with limited number of items.
Amazon pay bloggers for linking to the recommended items. Some guys write BS off the top of their head and saturate it with links to Amazon items.
Just click one of those links and look at all the info you just furnished in the address bar. If you want to buy then start at the item and delete everything up to the item number.

I will second the opinion on the legitimate nature of this how to help guide. Mainesail has been putting up a how to guide since before he had his own store with a few items for sale. He is a marine professional specializing in electrical. Read his How-to site to see how well researched, tested and supported his site is. If you are an expert in the field you might have a difference in opinion as to his procedures but not his intention for the website.

 

[Photobug]

Back to the original subject of Weather Pack connectors...

I've used them on three ARB bullbar installations now to improve the crappy original connectors on the bullbar-mounted turn signals. With the right crimper the installation is perfect, and they've lasted for many years. Weather Pack is pretty easy to de-pin when needed, too.

Which crimper did you use to make those? My crimps are functional, those are pretty.

 

[4xdog]

Which crimper did you use to make those? My crimps are functional, those are pretty.

I use THIS ONE for Weather Pack crimps. It's available from several sources, including the Amazon link shown. Not cheap at a hundred bucks, but then, not over-the-top in the world of crimp tools. I've used it since 2011 for dozens of crimps and loaned it to friends for their work, so it's probably paid for itself. It really does do a nice job on the wire and insulation in one pull.

 

[Alloy]

That is correct. Depending on how much heat, flux used and how much solder applied, solder can flow up the wire past your strip gap form the contact into the insulation. Sometimes its not an issue if the wire has some strain relief and the the back of the wire isn't being subject to any loads, stress or bending. And as for reliability, most of the time its not a thing where you'd see failure in 6mo to 2 years, but in like 5-10 years.

In my experience a connection with the flux residue left on the copper in combination with poor (permiable) insulation, wire that is not tinned, and either no heatshrink or heatshrik without adhesive reduces the life of connections that are exposed to moisture to less than 2 years.