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ferrule crimpers for large gauge wire?

I have the hydraulic crimper from TEMCo Industrial. They improved the die set selection subsequent to my purchase.
I bought that TH0006 for $79 in Nov 2019. It was one of the more expensive crimpers that appeared similar but I am extremely happy with how well it works. I have no experience with the similar looking ones in the $50 range, which are now a LOT more appealing with the TEMco currently not on Amazon and listed above at $117.
 
I bought that TH0006 for $79 in Nov 2019. It was one of the more expensive crimpers that appeared similar but I am extremely happy with how well it works. I have no experience with the similar looking ones in the $50 range, which are now a LOT more appealing with the TEMco currently not on Amazon and listed above at $117.
TEMCo sells refurbished crimpers on ebay for less. I assume they're returned items. I bought a TH0006 there and it looked like new.

In retrospect, it would have been cheaper and less frustrating (crimping hassles) for me to use a hammer crimper on smaller gauge wire and buy custom cables for the heavier wires. I would have spent less on tools I'll almost never use again, excess cable and lots of lugs I have no use for. I did have to fiddle with the heavy cables to get the right fit but I could have done that with smaller wires for determining the fit, then purchase custom cables to match.
 
Being retired from the electronics industry and a lifelong electronics geek / hobbyist, every single time I bought a crimping tool that I "thought" I'd only use a half dozen times, occasions arose where that tool came in handy. Now I don't hesitate.
 
Thanks for the tip on the refurbished tools, I'll have a look.

I've been back and forth on buy vs. rent, vs. buy completed cables and have settled on buying the tools. I can't predict what my days will look like so my install will take place over weeks, that rules out rent. I also don't know exactly where components will land and would prefer the flexibility of changing my mind in flight, that rules out pre-build cables.

I've found a good looking hydraulic crimper for under $100 and see the ferrule crimpers are under $60. I'm willing to pay that for the flexibility.
 
Thanks for the tip on the refurbished tools, I'll have a look.

I've been back and forth on buy vs. rent, vs. buy completed cables and have settled on buying the tools. I can't predict what my days will look like so my install will take place over weeks, that rules out rent. I also don't know exactly where components will land and would prefer the flexibility of changing my mind in flight, that rules out pre-build cables.

I've found a good looking hydraulic crimper for under $100 and see the ferrule crimpers are under $60. I'm willing to pay that for the flexibility.
Have you considered selling the tools after you complete the project?
 
Ferrules are not required. However, they do make for better connections. If you're over budget and looking to cut costs, the ferrules are where I would make a change.
 
Have you considered selling the tools after you complete the project?
Some get separation anxiety when we think of selling tools, and IF I do, invariably I need it again at a later date.

OP do not listen to that heretic smoothjoey, get the crimping tool and keep it or... you'll be sorry :)
 
whats about the cheap hydraulic crimper on aliexpress? like that one Are they okay if I only use it very rarley?
Those are probably for regular terminals ... not ferrules. I have a cheap hydraulic crimp tool I got at Harbor freight that works really good for the die sizes that came with it ... but never tried to use it on ferrules.
 
Those are probably for regular terminals ... not ferrules. I have a cheap hydraulic crimp tool I got at Harbor freight that works really good for the die sizes that came with it ... but never tried to use it on ferrules.

I thought the same thing. The next time I have a large gauge ferrule, I may try using my hydraulic crimper on it, just to see what happens. My hydraulic crimper produces a six sided crimp on lugs. My "round" ferrule crimper for small gauges (up to about 10 gauge) produces six sides also. My ferrule crimper for 6 to 10 gauge produces square crimps (that's four sides for the folks that don't remember their geometry).

As long as the ferrule is well crimped and works in the terminal, maybe the crimp method/tool doesn't matter.
 
Oh .... I don't have a ferrule crimp tool .. but may be moving that direction.

I thought those crimp tools specifically for a ferrule did a square crimp ... If they do a hex crimp, I don't see any reason a regular hydraulic crimp tool wouldn't work as long as using the appropriate die size.
 
Some mechanical lugs are square and some are round.
A square crimp is probably optimal for a square lug.
For the round lugs hexagonal would be better than square but I guess that the surfaces mate better if you just let the lug's set screw crimp the ferrule.
 
Seems like ferrules in a wire jack are just extra unnecessary resistance. What's the point if the jack is already designed to clamp onto stranded wire? In addition to an extra metal-to-metal contacts for current to traverse, it may even be worse because the ferrule doesn't deform like stranded wire does as it is compressed, meaning it doesn't firmly compress onto the sides of the wire jack. Just my $0.02, I know I'm wading into a thread of crimper-fans :).
 
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Ferules need a really precise crimp due to their nature. Using a lug hex crimper usually causes dog ears.

If you look carefully at a proper ferule crimper they put pressure equally on all sides in a sliding motion so it's uniform on all sides.

To get much beyond AWG10 the only options are the square dies listed above and they do an ok job with no to slight dog ears on the two corners at the top of the "U" die.
 
So, did anyone chime in with a smaller size (like AWG 18-8) ferrule crimper that produces good results? I bought a little kit of Amazon and the ferrules it produces are very sawtooth in nature. So much so that they don't fit into a socket designed for the specific size. i.e. I tried to put AWG 12 with a ferrule into a terminal block spec'd for 4mm^2 and it wouldn't fit. If I carefully slid the jaws along it lengthwise, to even out the "teeth", it just fits. I do like ferrules, so I am willing to spend some money on a crimper…

Here is an example of an AWG18 ferrule:
IMG_0374.jpeg
And post fiddlef$$king around:
IMG_0375.jpeg
Thoughts?
 
Below is the ferrule crimper that I bought. After buying it, but before using it, I had buyers remorse wondering what possessed me to spend that kind of money on a tool and I should have just bought one of the far lesser expensive square crimpers. After using it on probably 50 crimps, it's a solid, reliable tool that produces excellent crimps. It certainly doesn't create the square crimps that most crimpers produce. Are the hex crimps superior? That's a tough call, but I haven't had any crimped ferrule fail to insert into a terminal that called for the same gauge of wire that the ferrule also was.

I bought my ferrules from the same source that the crimper came from. Are my ferrules higher quality than your Amazon ferrules? I don't know but I haven't had any of mine fail in any way. I could see a cheap ferrule with thin walls producing a poor end result.


Sample crimps that I did are in the picture below. 10 gauge PV wire on the left and 6 gauge welding wire on the right. It's not a sample of crimps made with the above crimper. I think I used the square crimper on these because they were going into the circuit breaker that is in the background of the picture. A square crimp works out better in that situation, in my opinion.

Ferrule Crimps.jpg
 
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