Crimper for 0 gauge

Ditto on the hammer crimper. I also got mine on eBay for $20 free shipping. Do yourself a favor, head over to Lowes or Home Depot or even Walmart and buy a 2 - 2 1/2lb short handle sledge hammer. Works wonders with the hammer crimper. Practice a few blows with an extra lug or two and some scrap cable. No joke, wear safety glasses and keep the crimper on the ground or a solid metal table.

 
Hammer crimper is my favorite due to price and ease of crimping oversized lugs that the pneumatic sometimes have issues with if you don't get large dies (more $)

 
Hammer crimpers and the cheap import hydraulic crimpers have their place, and many people use them with very little issue. In applications where one is doing many, many crimps requiring a very high degree of reliability of, companies spend tens of thousands of dollars on highly engineered crimping equipment.

For low volume use you can spend well over a grand on something like a Greenlee or Thomas and Betts. The best compromise I've ever found is the Quick Cable 4255-001R Crimper. I own and use it frequently.

What you're getting for your $250 is an engineered, precision tool that will perform reliable REPEATABLE crimps time and time again without failure. With hammer crimpers in particular you'll get crimps that appear to be solid, but actually are under crimped or over crimped, creating a less than ideal connection.

Cheap hydraulic crimpers invariably suffer from poor die design. There are actually about a dozen specifications for connectors for any particular wire size, meaning that one size-fits-all dies are simply not correctly engineered. Just in 0AWG, I have dies for 3 separate types of connectors that are commonly used.

The Quick Cable crimper I limked is made in the USA, if that matters to you. A connection properly made with this tool is UL Listed both in the United States and in Canada.

Realizing that $250 Is a big bite to take, consider that similar tools run well over $1000, and up to $50,000 for automated versions. It's a small price to pay in my opinion to have absolute confidence and pride in the work I produce.

I handle electrical repairs and upfitting for two police departments, a fire department, and an ambulance service. A failure of one of my connections could have life threatening consequences, but even still I'd recommend spending a little more on a good crimper for anyone doing this more than once or twice.
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I use a hammer and the concrete floor, then use a punch with 3 indentions on each side and use heat shrink to finish off.I wouldnt spend money on a large crimping tool unless i were in the car audio business or a certified electrician..Hammer= 20 bucks/prob have one lying around or borrow from a neighbor

                                                                                                             Punch= 5 bucks from Harbor freight or H.Depot

                                                                                                              Heat shrink for 0-2 ga= approx 2-5 bucks at Orileys or H.Depot

 
I use my lineman's pliers (Klien tools).  I have stronger than average hands, and I have to really squeeze the fugger, and i need to do it in a couple of places, but it's solid.  clamps or rope/bungee cord could do the same if you can't grip it hard enough.

 
Sounds to me like you just volunteered to be the pivot man in this year's circle jerk at the Xmas party.  :veryhapp:

I've had a hammer crimper forever. I've also used audiobahn's method or some version of it. It's not rocket science bro and you're not building a suspension bridge. 

 
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Maybe i overlook my profession, but a simple 1/2" wire brush, flux, solder, and about 15 seconds of a propane/ mapp gas torch and you have a very secure soldered connection. 

Soldering is very easy if you understand how it works. Only downside to soldering is you will burn/melt the jacket about 1/4" up from the terminal fitting, but that will be covered by heat shrink anyhow.

The upside however, is you get to "clean" the oxidation off the copper terminals and bond your ofc wire to clean copper. oxidation is a bad thing when trying to move lots of current. Hence why oxidized/corroded battery terminals can be the reason your car wont start.

 
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