Solar / RV / Vehicle wiring. Solder and Crimp or just Crimp?

[J!m]

A couple tricks, which may or may not be of use.

1) good connectors and tools as stated.
2) know how to use them (practice!)
3) good quality smaller terminals are available with integrated shrink tubing. Use these!
4) you may consider dipping the completed termination in dielectric grease to slow/stop corrosion.
5) large terminals, after (proper) crimping, can be taped and then dipped in “tool dip” to provide excellent weather protection. Pull the tape off the connection area before it dries.
6) don’t skimp on dielectric grease. Dow Corning Molykote 111 is great, sticky and does not run (unless really hot). Also THE recommended o-ring lubricant from Parker. So infinitely useful otherwise.

 

[pdavitt]

Also, fit your lugs correctly to the wire used.

To use 4AWG as an example again, I find that 6AWG lugs fit better, and produces better results.
That is what is shown in the photos I posted above. 6AWG tinned marine lugs on "true" 4AWG wire.

4AWG lugs on 4AWG wire takes a lot more crimping, and can get ugly quick.

Not all sizes/gauges are this way however. Not all wire is true AWG. And not all lugs fit the same.

I agree, you must match the wire to the lugs. However, it's not just the gauge but also the class and type of wire. for example:

"Boat Cable has fully tinned copper conductors, stranding will be Type 3,
and the strands will be Class K 30 AWG copper. The insulation temperature rating is 105C.

In cable sizes larger than 18-gauge, a Type 3 strand is considerably smaller than any Type 2 strand.
As a result, Type 3 cables have a far higher number of strands for any given cable size than do
Type 2 cables, with the number of strands increasing disproportionately as the cable size gets larger.
For example, a 2/0 Type 2 cable may have as few as 127 strands, whereas a 2/0 Type 3 cable will have
a minimum of 1,323 strands."

I used Ancor wire and lugs (both of which are marine grade) and found that the wires and lugs for AWG 8-4/0 were a perfect fit.
With the proper crimper, in my case an Ancor brand, crimps on 8-4/0 wire were not a problem. The Ancor crimper is reasonably priced at around $200.00 USD.

Pat

 

[orangeTJ]

I have this crimper.

Very nice, and better than the ebay / HF stuff (some of which has metric dies only)

https://temcoindustrial.com/temco-hydraulic-cable-lug-crimper-th0005-11-us-ton-6-awg-to-600-mcm.html

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

I have this crimper.

Very nice, and better than the ebay / HF stuff (some of which has metric dies only)

https://temcoindustrial.com/temco-hydraulic-cable-lug-crimper-th0005-11-us-ton-6-awg-to-600-mcm.html

That is a very nice crimper and a great price. If someone has no need to crimp the larger size cables the 5 ton crimper will handle most of what can be expected and for less money. Crimps 12 AWG to 00 (2/0).
https://temcoindustrial.com/temco-hydraulic-cable-lug-crimper-th0006-5-us-ton-12-awg-to-00-awg.html

 

[another_mike]

Avoid hammer crimpers, there is very little control. A good crimp makes a solid lump of copper with no air spaces and no broken wire strands.
This will tell you all you need to know:
https://marinehowto.com/marine-wire-termination/
This is the tool I use for 6 AWG to 4/0 AWG : https://shop.marinehowto.com/products/ftz-94284-correct-crimp-battery-lug-crimp-tool

I also went this route and bought the FTZ crimper. No, im no longer a professional and only bought it for my Van and possibly friends with their car/truck/boat projects..

My line of thinking spending this much for a crimper?
Could I have used a different crimper and gotten great results? maybe. How many lugs would I have wasted? How much time would I have wasted? Thinking about time and money, I get a perfect crimp the very first time I try, every time. If I didnt use the tool for a year and went to make a new cable would I have remembered which crimp setting to use with what lug and if the markings corresponded with my gauge wire? Definitely not.

Having that perfect crimp and knowing it wont come apart several miles into a 4x4 gulch or mountain pass is completely worth it to me. The tow recovery bill would probably be several times over the $200 cost of the tool.