In this video I show two methods for how I crimp ring terminals onto heavy gauge cable. There are countless types and styles of terminals – I use copper ring…
Video Rating: 3 / 5
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Jan
04
In this video I show two methods for how I crimp ring terminals onto heavy gauge cable. There are countless types and styles of terminals – I use copper ring…
Video Rating: 3 / 5
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27 comments
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Darin Weeks says:
January 4, 2015 at 1:07 pm (UTC 0)
I thought your wire selection guides were pretty good, but your cable
termination advice is a bit sketchy. You are doing a disservice to people
by calling this “the right way” in the title. This is a better than
average “hack” way to make cables (since most people really suck making
cables the “average” isn’t very good). Your connections should work OK, and
I’ve seen worse… and maybe using solder is better than someone having a
cable that is only crimped poorly. But no way can you crimp something in a
vise (among other issues) and call it the “right” way. I would suggest that
people do a lot more research on proper crimping (and inexpensive tools
that can help) vs solder or crimp + solder connections before deciding to
follow your advice. Especially for mobile and high current use!
And you say heat shrink is only for cosmetics? Yikes! Well, I can
understand why you want to keep an eye on the terminations you’ve made
using these methods as they are going to be failure prone. (But without
the heat shrink they WILL fail even faster!) On the other hand, you
shouldn’t need to keep such a close eye on well made, properly crimped lugs
protected with high quality glue filled heat shrink.
Steve T says:
January 4, 2015 at 1:17 pm (UTC 0)
Good video. Nice crimps when the tool isn’t available.
Jess Vie says:
January 4, 2015 at 2:05 pm (UTC 0)
OK, so you showed how, but, you did not show how to do a impact lead
terminal connection. I will detail.
Using your solder, 60/40, flux the end of the wire, then apply solder till
the wire is fully impregnated. While still hot, wipe baking soda paste on
it with a rag/brush then dip it in water and brush clean with a old tooth
brush. Now you have tinned wire. Then, slide on the copper terminal and
crimp. This creates a corrosion resistant connection and high conductive
fitting.
Instead of using a punch, use a broad point chisel to do your crimp.
henrik2k says:
January 4, 2015 at 2:19 pm (UTC 0)
if you crimp them first, you might risk blocking access to that inner flux.
a good crimp will uniformly cold weld the copper into a solid rod. if that
happens, the flux will stay in there and not burn off. are the terminations
vented with a small hole?
thelittleleprechaun says:
January 4, 2015 at 2:20 pm (UTC 0)
why do you guys keep calling solder “SODDER” In many videos the word
solder seems to be pronounced “SODDER” which to me is very annoying Am i
missing something somewhere in the pronouncement or am i seeing the word
“SOLDER” wrong Should it be spelt “SODDER”
Peter Carlson says:
January 4, 2015 at 3:17 pm (UTC 0)
When I have to solder big things like that I just fold up the solder a
couple of times and give it a twist. Makes a bigger fat stick of solder you
can just tap to the joint to start flowing without having to heat the
terminal for so long while you feed micro solder into it.
Sailor Chaz says:
January 4, 2015 at 3:48 pm (UTC 0)
Most tool rental shops have proper crimping tools available for reasonable
rates. Proper tools are important because they eliminate the risk of under-
or over-crimping your terminals and reduce terminal damage and waste. My
general rule of thumb: If I’m only using it once or twice in a given
decade, rent; else buy the tool.
If your batteries are being kept in an area where they will be subject to
moisture, or if you are hooking up to non-sealed lead-acide batteries with
a risk of outgassing, you should seal your terminal ends against moisture
and/or your batteries’ corrosive gasses.
If you are doing this on your boat, remember the ABYC electrical
specifications require ALL wire terminals be sealed (shrink-wrapped)
against water ingress.
Dick Cheney says:
January 4, 2015 at 4:38 pm (UTC 0)
Interesting crimping tool.
sierraromeo says:
January 4, 2015 at 5:34 pm (UTC 0)
Take a nut with the same ID as the terminal OD. Cut the
nut in half to make two crimping die halves. Place the
wire/terminal/die assembly in the vice and squeeze, solder,
optional, could use dielectric grease inside terminal with a
shrink wrap slid up and heated as the final step.
Julian H. says:
January 4, 2015 at 6:25 pm (UTC 0)
I recommend using a hydraulic crimping tool instead. eBay $51
Seroster says:
January 4, 2015 at 6:58 pm (UTC 0)
Soldering a crimp induces a stress point, that is, a place where the solder
joint ends, which focuses all the bending force to one point, causing
premature faliure.
Then again, this is what I learnt doing 240mm2 500A industrial threephase
wiring, may not apply to a small immobile battery bank.
Daniel Peters says:
January 4, 2015 at 7:27 pm (UTC 0)
I agree with Jim. If you’re in a hurry than skip the crimp and go full tilt
with the solder.
jim davidson says:
January 4, 2015 at 8:08 pm (UTC 0)
Don’t watch this. Best connector is a true 100% bond, not a crimp.
jjmar56 says:
January 4, 2015 at 8:47 pm (UTC 0)
You don’t really want to solder a high current connection. At least I
don’t and if you’re anything like me…and I know I am…. Copperweld
would work..even for lightning protection.
TechMan1219 says:
January 4, 2015 at 9:47 pm (UTC 0)
Interesting but am going to have to go against your point on heatshrink.
In avionics it’s required and mandated. You can’t sign off work without
it. Because the inspector when just make you redo it. I know you are
aware of why its used so I’ll skip that part of the debate. But in allot
of EE work, you have to do it. I know you can offer a number of reasons
but in the application you mentioned it helps keep the corrosion out of the
cable ends by creating a barrier.
Stephen T says:
January 4, 2015 at 10:10 pm (UTC 0)
Looks good.
Pete Hendrix says:
January 4, 2015 at 10:39 pm (UTC 0)
I’d respectfully disagree with the heat shrink opinion. A meter will easily
tell you the condition of the connection and unless you can see inside your
lug, you could still miss seeing corrosion. There are very good reasons
heat shrink is a spec in military, marine, and aviation environments.
speedxdreems says:
January 4, 2015 at 11:01 pm (UTC 0)
this is SOOO NOT!!!!! the Right way lol…..Sloppy exposed wire do it
right the first time! bad crimps ! no short protection ie adhesive heat
shrink Fail !!
John Morissette says:
January 4, 2015 at 11:07 pm (UTC 0)
Good tips. Making my own for solar and wind turbine.
Darin Weeks says:
January 5, 2015 at 12:07 am (UTC 0)
Yesterday, a friend of mine stopped by on his golf cart. Then he tried to
leave and didn’t move. Looking at the batteries, we found that one of the
terminals had completely melted off, most likely due to the cable which was
poorly made and in it was also in poor condition. Made me think of this
video, not in a good way. I’ve never seen a battery terminal melt before,
even though I’ve seen a LOT of hacked together cables and they generally
survive OK. This type of failure, even though rare, is the whole reason
it’s a good idea to go the extra mile to properly crimp and finish
(adhesive heat shrink). People rarely inspect their cables after they’ve
been made until there is some kind of problem. As such, the cables should
me made well and protected very well from corrosion as these types of heavy
cables are going to be used in situations (backed by at least one large
battery if not a bank of batteries and high current draw across the cable)
that can cause serious property damage, injury and even death. It’s not
wise to hack them together.
ITTSBEurope says:
January 5, 2015 at 12:23 am (UTC 0)
This video offers a good laugh to every professional electrician. Thanks.
xanataph says:
January 5, 2015 at 1:01 am (UTC 0)
I find a good crimp can be made with a small anvil and a cold chisel. And
on small terminals a nail puller (plier type) works really well.
leo camby cabreja says:
January 5, 2015 at 1:47 am (UTC 0)
GOOD JOB
Mister GNZ says:
January 5, 2015 at 1:56 am (UTC 0)
Bravo…100% ok
dumle29 says:
January 5, 2015 at 2:18 am (UTC 0)
Ehh, that’s pretty bad :S I’d use a high thermal capacity soldering iron
any day, and I’d use no-clean flux, which isn’t acidic until it reaches a
certain temperature
generationalist says:
January 5, 2015 at 3:14 am (UTC 0)
In the electronics field we avoid sandpaper/emery cloth in order to avoid
the falling off of glass that he was talking about as in aluminum oxide or
other insulating oxides/glass. We use an abrasive pad of steel or copper to
clean the surface. Not steel wool but a brillo-type pad. Emery is probably
OK for something this big but a copper brillo-type pad is really cheap at
the grocery store. A lot cheaper than emery and no oxides fall off. For
components I definitely would not use emery.
Bogdan Lochinski says:
January 5, 2015 at 3:47 am (UTC 0)
Thanks. Most informative soldering video I’ve ever seen. Soldering Arduinos
and fancy leds isn’t the same as serious high amperage connections.