which large welding crimpers????

[brokeitagain 10+ year member]

i have a greenlee hydraulic crimper like the yellow one pictured above, mines white, and has an assload of different dies

 

[gotparts90 10+ year member]

I took some pictures of the different crimpers that I have.

the one on the right is kind of like the one i use but I us ehte greenlee one and then the battery powered version as well. the battery version is about 2 grand i think.

 

[brokeitagain 10+ year member]

i was wrong mine is a Burndy, i got so many electrical tools i forget what and where the things are lol

 

[QtrHorse 10+ year member]

Burndy, Greenlee and a few others make some really nice hydraulic crimpers but they are very pricey. The crimpers alone sell for around $500 and then you still have to buy the dies which will run you $30-$75 each if you buy them new. The hydraulic type of crimpers are not for the even every day audio installer. The price is just too expensive to justify it.

For the people that say to use a hammer, vice, vice grips, hammer and screw driver and etc.. That is a crappy crimp no matter how much force you apply to it. It will never really compress the ring and wires together so they actually cold fuse to each other like a true crimper will. You will over time get oxidation between the crimp ring and wire and it will get loose, that is a fact. I'm a firm believer in using the right tool for the job and that is the reason I have all three. Each crimper is used for a different application. One of the bolt cutter type crimpers is only for battery terminals and the other is for crimper rings. If you look at the dies, you can see that they are different. The hydraulic crimper will do both and I only have it because it was free and makes some really nice crimps.

 

[bw_audio 10+ year member]

..

 

[brokeitagain 10+ year member]

My parents own an electrical company, mine was free as they stopped doing heavy industrial work and moved to strictly residential, but ya this thing makes awesome crimps. In strain testing the ring or the cable fails before the crimp does.

 

[Jeepjones85 10+ year member]

You might be able to find this type of crimper, cheaper

somewhere else, But this is what i would buy...

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Electrical-LUG-CRIMPER-TOOL-terminal-crimping-tools_W0QQitemZ370095623181QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBI_Electrical_Equipment_Tools?hash=item370095623181&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72:1205|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

 

[Torgus 10+ year member]

i just solder connections on, better connection and less hassle imo
not to mention cheaper than a crimping tool

YOU SIR, KNOW nothing ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT

edit and everyone saying hammers or pliers: NO

the best tool to use everyone has at their house is a big ass vice. period. next best the a pair of CORRECT crimpers.

eod.

 

[Savag3 10+ year member]

YOU SIR, KNOW nothing ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT
edit and everyone saying hammers or pliers you know nothign easier.

the best tool to use everyone has at their house is a big ass vice. period. next best the a pair of CORRECT crimpers. eod.

a big ass vice is no better than a hammer unless u have some sort of vice crimp insert its just gonna be flat. why not solder ? seems like alot of time involved but . . i like the crimps then the hammer punch crimp imo

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

Soldering the terminals on isn't that time consuming. You can buy theser ready-made solder/flux pellets that you just put in the terminal, and heat the whole thing up with a torch.

I prefer to crimp or use crimp-less terminals for vibration resistance, tho. Soldering is more important in marine environments, because the solder keeps the exposed ends of the cable from oxidizing from the humidity,

 

[muskyhunter567 10+ year member]

thanks alot for all of the info, i think im going to try and find a nice big one with handles that looks like a big bolt cutters, or buy a hammer one a weld it onto a big table vice, well see. and im going to crimp and solder all my connections in my car, just because i can, and thats the best way to do it, unless anyone has anything to say about that, and also, do you none welding wire guys have problems with melting the insulation on car audio wire while you solder it? or when you heat it up with the torch?

 

[Torgus 10+ year member]

Soldering the terminals on isn't that time consuming. You can buy theser ready-made solder/flux pellets that you just put in the terminal, and heat the whole thing up with a torch.

I prefer to crimp or use crimp-less terminals for vibration resistance, tho. Soldering is more important in marine environments, because the solder keeps the exposed ends of the cable from oxidizing from the humidity,

actually you are wrong. Solder is NEVER used in boats because of vibration. the AYBC has standard because of this. Same with the US Navy and Airforce. Also if you use those pellets you then have to buy a closed connector. which together is more expensive then a standard crimp on style contact. and it takes longer to attach. and it's not as reliable as a crimp contact.

more money + more time + less reliable = not as good.

Now a vice IS better then a hammer because you can watch how the crimp is compressing, compress is more(assuming you don't have a puny vice), and is more reliable for consistent work. a hammer is instant it's much too quick to see how it's compressing and have reliable similar results each time. also there is more chance for the contact to 'walk' out from the wire. Consistent reliable results that all look the same FTW. Also aesthetically speaking the vice makes it look alot better. no one wants crimps with obvious hammer marks inn it. It looks shoddy and is mechanically from the reason's i stated above.

The hammer on crimper is OK, not the best but hella better then just a hammered on crimp.

Now this is where i explain why soldering ***** for ataching Contacts and SHOULD NEVER be used in this fashion:

i love this part! i worked in wire manufacturing plans and the NPI department so understand i may know more about this specific aspect of CA then some honkey ca installer. Also i'd love someone to prove me wrong

A properly crimped connection will NOT be flexible in the area of electrical contact. The wire within the crimp should form a "gas tight" seal between the strands and the connector. Solder will not flow into this area so it will not enhance the connection mechanically or electrically. Solder will NEVER form a 100% gas tight connection unlike a crimp. Another problem with solder is that is will bond the wire strands outside the crimp and lead to premature mechanical failure unless it is supported. Capillary action will draw solder quite a distance up the stranding of the wire and turn it into solid wire, which is a no-no in any environment, especially a car. Yes you can "support" it, but what does that mean - the support would have to consist of something that would prevent the stranded part of the wire from flexing at the point where it becomes "solid" due to entrained solder. where is that point exactly? no one knows unless you open up the wire. Then you need a heavy piece of heavy rubber to be a strain relief as heart shrink sure isn't a stress reliever. soldering just adds problems into the equation as well as being slower, harder, and more unreliable.

Since it will not enhance the connection in any way shape or form I see no reason to solder as it only can make the wire more prone to failure, takes longer, worse connection, etc.

ABYC standards:

(E-11.16.3.7), “Solder shall not be the sole means of mechanical connection in any circuit”.

"Solderless crimp on connectors shall be attached with the type of crimping tools designed for the connector used, and that will produce a connection meeting the requirements of E-11.16.3.3.” 11.16.3.8."

The reason why crimping is by far the superior method of making a good electrical connection is that a properly compressed connection (that means, the right tool, for the right size connector and the right pressure applied to the crimp) will make the wires & connector pretty much become one. Some people refer to this as a "cold weld"

This is what a proper crimp looks like if you cut it in half

http://www.aeroelectric.com/articles/CrimpTools/GL.jpg

Note that there are no voids in the wire grip area for either terminal. If I had a better polishing tool, you would be able to see individual strands captured in the terminal wire grip barrel. The 500 microinch or so thickness of tin plating on each strand would be visible as squashed ovals traced in the copper surface. As you can see, the wires & connector become one. It eliminates all voids between wires, thus keeping any air out. This prevents corrosion, which is the #1 problem in electrical connections. Corrosion increases the resistance of the connection, which obviously is BAD.

Check out this article "This is NOT a crimper"...good information

http://www.terminaltown.com/Pages/Page7.html

This one also has a lot of good information.

http://www.aeroelectric.com/articles...rimptools.html

While soldering does "seal" most of the connection area, mechanically, it is a fairly weak connection, especially with all the vibrations of a car, which add to crimping being better. Another real problem with soldering and why the ABYC code recommends crimping over it is that in the case of a circuit or wire with high electrical loads, the solder can often heat up enough to soften... combine that with wires that are vibrating... you can get a loose hot live wire inside a car... that's bad. A crimped connection, done properly, isn't ever going to come apart.

At the end of the day, there is 0 advantage to soldering, as a crimped connector is better electrically and mechanically, oh and easier and quicker to do to boot.

also most shops use the wrong kind of solder which makes it even worse to use it. again no reason at all to solder.

any shop that doesn't crimp their connectors or fuse their big 3 stay the **** away from as they are hacks and don't know even the basics of car audio. let alone anything advanced.

edit: For anyone who doesn't want to believe all the info i posted above chew on this: look at how high end manufacturers make their connections, Bentley, Ferrari, Mercedez, etc. all crimped. period. How connections on boats or planes are made, again ALL CRIMPS. no exceptions. go ask any ME/EE what is better. I come from a background of Wire Manufacturing for one of the largest at the time, companies in that field. Everything was crimped. Before anyone says soldering is fine try and back it up with some facts which dispute what i posted above. otherwise QFT. I don't mean to be a jerk but this is basic 101 ****. I'm no car audio guru but i know how to make a simple connection the RIGHT way.

 

[muskyhunter567 10+ year member]

ooooooohhhh snap, thank you, that was the most helpful information i have ever received, so from what ive got is, crimp it well and leave it? no solder correct? what kind of crimper do you use torgus?

 

[Torgus 10+ year member]

ooooooohhhh snap, thank you, that was the most helpful information i have ever received, so from what ive got is, crimp it well and leave it? no solder correct? what kind of crimper do you use torgus?

glad you got something out of it.

the crimper i have is a LARGE sucker from my old job. I snagged it on my way out //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif i'll try and get a pic of it for you and give you the make and model #. This is an industrial style crimper and probably is fairly pricey. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a 1/2 priced model that performs almost as well. when i say almost this was made to do these crimps every ay for years and not wear out, and still perform within very strict parameters.

one thing i did wish i grabbed was a massive spool of 4/0. that's 4 runs of 0 in one wire. it was huge but ohhh sooo flexible. i did nab a spool of 1/0 tho and a bunch of connectors. they are industrial style ones with closed ends and 2 crimp points and then i have this nasty heat shrink which has glue inside that seals like no other. i'll try and get a pic up for you of it as well...

 

[QtrHorse 10+ year member]

glad you got something out of it.
the crimper i have is a LARGE sucker from my old job. I snagged it on my way out //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif i'll try and get a pic of it for you and give you the make and model #. This is an industrial style crimper and probably is fairly pricey. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a 1/2 priced model that performs almost as well. when i say almost this was made to do these crimps every ay for years and not wear out, and still perform within very strict parameters.

one thing i did wish i grabbed was a massive spool of 4/0. that's 4 runs of 0 in one wire. it was huge but ohhh sooo flexible. i did nab a spool of 1/0 tho and a bunch of connectors. they are industrial style ones with closed ends and 2 crimp points and then i have this nasty heat shrink which has glue inside that seals like no other. i'll try and get a pic up for you of it as well...

4/0ga wire is not 4 runs of 1/0ga wire. 4/0ga cable is two runs of 1/0ga cable.

The heatshrink with glue inside is called dual wall heatshrink. They make a standard dual wall and a heavy dual wall. The heavy wall is like a thin pc of pvc pipe. Once you apply the heavy wall, you will not be able to bend the pc of wire easily.

Not trying to be an ass but with all the knowledge you have of crimps, I would have thought that you knew both of the answers I provided above.