FYI From :
https://marinehowto.com/making-your-own-battery-cables/
Poor Quality Tool- Harbor Freight Hydraulic Crimp Tool
After many requests I have added my experiences with the Harbor Freight Hydraulic Crimper. I can sum it up in two words,
very poor….. Read on if you want the
why behind my review…. (wink)
Please let’s not misconstrue my review above. It’s not to say the Chinese can’t do things right,
they certainly can,
and they do every day, but when you send stuff out to the lowest, bottom feeder bidders, you often get what you pay for, as is the case here.
This tool was $59.99 and worth about what the corrugated box cost to ship it in. Go figure..
Lets get something out in the open, I like Harbor Freight Tools,
for certain things. I am not dissing all their products in any way… I recently bought boxes of nitrile gloves for a 1/3 of what I can buy them for at my local hardware store, and they were the same exact brand. I like their wrench sets because I lose lots of wrenches and consider them disposable. HFT is good for
many things and they truly serve a purpose. You can’t take that away from them.
This tool however is not own of their better products.
1- The die sizes are apparently from some
mythical made up Chinese back room standard. They are
not AWG sized dies. I repeat, they are
not AWG sized dies, despite being labeled as such. This is not only
misleading it is blatant
lying. They are so bad, and so mislabeled, I suspect some poor soul in a dirty dark room, with no internet connection, actually made it up after complaints from US customers that the dies were not AWG sized?
2- Apparently, with the earlier models of this tool, they were originally labeled in the MCM standard. I can see the meeting at HFT tools now; “
Oh yeah we can fix that lets just re-label the MCM dies in AWG.“. Sorry HFT, it doesn’t work like that…
3- Even when you do find a die that works okay they tend to fall out of the tool and into the bilge. My tool/dies are
mildly magnetic but no where near enough to prevent the dies from falling out and getting lost. HFT
will not and
can not get you replacements. I tried..
4- The dies are
horribly machined, even if machined to a
mythical made up wire standard…
5- Can someone
PLEASE tell the Chinese that there is
NO SUCH AWG wire as 7 GA in the real world…….. ******!
1/0 Lug In The 1/0 Die
Here we go, this picture is an HFT 1/0 labeled die with a 1/0 lug in it. Yeah, that fits….
The lugs used in this demonstration were all
starter lugs or the smallest OD lugs that will fit over 1/0, 2GA or 4GA wire. These were not the
heavy duty power lugs.
The heavy duty lugs are considerably larger, OD wise. In fact a 1/0 heavy duty lug will not even fit between the jaws of this crimp tool when wide open.
Crimping The 1/0 Lug In 1/0 Die
Yeah right…..! Bad fit, wrong size, grossly mislabeled die, no good…..
Straining….
This 1/0 labeled die is
so far off this is not even laughable.
Ouch………
Beautiful alignment for the top and bottom dies. Should I go on…….?
OVER-CRIMP !!!!!!
This is
not how a crimp should be formed.
Over-crimping can fracture wires and drastically weaken the lug. Over-crimping is equally as bad as under-crimping.
So the 1/0 lug cost me $3.30 and the 1/0 wire about $2.00 so I am now up to $65.30 trying to figure out this mythical HFT/Chinese die standard….. Sheesh…
2GA Lug In a 1/0 Die..?
Well 1/0 wire and
flared starter lugs did not work in the 1/0 AWG die so lets try skipping right over 1GA and go straight to 2GA…
Here is a 2GA lug & wire which is
two full sizes smaller than the 1/0 die is labeled for…..
Think it will work??
Hmmmmm….
And crimp……..
Holy Over-Crimp Batman!
Even a lug and wire two sizes smaller than the HFT crimp die is labeled for, and this tool, and I use that term lightly, is still
GROSSLY over-crimping. This is
NOT GOOD. A crimp should never look like this, never….
So, another $3.30 lug and $1.85 in wire ruined and we’re closing in on $70.00…………
Perhaps a 4GA Lug In a 1/0 Die ???
I am desperate now…. So let’s try
THREE SIZES SMALLER……
Harbor Freight 1/0 AWG Die
1/0 = FAIL
1 GA = FAIL
2GA = FAIL
4GA = Let’s see…….
That’s a Bit Better………
Finally, a crimp that
looks somewhat acceptable. Only problem is this tool is sold to crimp
UP TO 1/0 wire and it will only crimp to 4GA.
My
RIP OFF ALERT is beeping loudly..
Harbor Freight Hydraulic Crimp Tool = CAVEAT EMPTOR
You will ruin a lot of battery lugs trying to figure out this
mythical Chinese / AWG standard so please factor that into your total cost of the tool.
If you want to use heavy duty power lugs,
fagedaboutit…..
1/0, 2GA, 4GA – 1/0 Die
From top to bottom, using the 1/0 die, I tried:
1/0 = FAIL
1GA = FAIL (Did not need to physically test, knew it would not work.)
2GA = FAIL
4GA = Possibly Passable
What The Heck is 7GA Wire….?????
They missed the mark so badly they actually made up a new wire size. (smirk)
Commercially available 7 AWG wire simply does not exist in North America.
These are the standard AWG sizes,
that actually do exist, this crimper is
claimed to work with…
1/0
1GA
2GA
4GA
6GA
8GA
10GA
12GA
14GA
Why anyone would require a
hydraulic crimp tool to crimp 8GA – 14GA wire is beyond me.
Chrome Plated Dies & 7GA Dies…?
That is some pretty odd
chrome plating.? Also interesting to note is that they completely skipped over 1GA wire,
which is readily available, but made up 7GA, which is not.. Wow!!!!
Until HFT can get the AWG die size conundrum sorted out I would advise
buying a tool from a company that actually knows what they are talking about when it comes to crimping large gauge wire.
While it may not be a horrible tool for sizes smaller than 4GA, this is not a tool for anything larger than 4GA and that simply makes it a very poor value..
If you do decide to buy this tool there should be
NO PINCHING when the lugs are crimped. All crimps should look like the 4GA crimp shown.
Expect to burn through about $30.00 – $40.00 in wire and terminals figuring out what dies work with what AWG wire & lugs and when you do
WRITE IT DOWN… You’re on your own on figuring this out. I have given you the first one,
the 1/0 AWG die works with 4GA starter lugs, but the rest are on your buck.. (wink)
