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diy solar

Cable size/fusing

Electrically they can work fine.

I don’t have a hydraulic or ratchet crimper. My ‘big’ crimper is a die/swage unit like small bolt cutters, 20”? handles that fits 8ga-1ga. I think it was under $50usa but the “nice” crimpers for 2/0, 1/0 are hundreds of dollars. Maybe somebody has info on one for less?

The hammer crimper won’t ‘gas tight’ a terminal. It does 1/0 and 2/0 ok, 3/0 barely fits or doesn’t fit, essentially. I only needed 3/0 once and I’m pretty sure I I used square bar in a shop press onto the bottom channel of my press brake.
Center it up nicely, tap to start the crush and it will hold the wire loosely. Examine it- if all good and straight/symmetric drive it with an angry 3# hammer swing. Occasionally an additional whack is needed if for some reason there’s wide airspace. Heat shrink- done. It seems when you make a good crimp that you might have to grab a smaller hammer and help the terminal out of the crimper sometimes.

A swage die crimper is better. I should make a new mandrel for my hammer crimper that is B-type crimp. They all come with one that makes a V. It works, not ideal imho.

HYCLAT 10 Tons Hydraulic Wire Battery Cable Lug Terminal Crimper Crimping Tool With 9 Pairs of Dies https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XR8BY6...abc_5V8P3QN3DV37XXZQ2BET?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Hydraulic crimper under $50.

I will admit that I replaced it with this:

TEMCo Industrial Hydraulic Cable Lug Crimper TH0005 V2.0 (11 US TON) 10 AWG to 600 MCM Electrical Terminal Cable Wire Tool Kit with 32 Die Sets https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HJXG3K...abc_EP48PC5EA2PFRWHM8638?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Will also has some recommendations, I think that is where I got the first crimper. It works great, but sometimes you need more die sizes to do a really professional looking crimp without wings. The first one only has metric sizes.
 
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$180 ain’t too bad.
The $50 I’m not sure I’d buy which might be why I don’t have it (looked into cheap ones once). The tools I liked were $350-$400 iirc and, well, I bought the hammer crimper.
For $180 it’s tempting but I don’t ‘need’ it.

You have to very careful and plan with a hammer crimper imho. Though I seldom have needed it, ‘seldom’ is subjective. I’m employed not in the install field and I’m not selling my services currently so maybe 8-10 big crimps a year, tops? I still want it LOL
 
$180 ain’t too bad.
The $50 I’m not sure I’d buy which might be why I don’t have it (looked into cheap ones once). The tools I liked were $350-$400 iirc and, well, I bought the hammer crimper.
For $180 it’s tempting but I don’t ‘need’ it.

You have to very careful and plan with a hammer crimper imho. Though I seldom have needed it, ‘seldom’ is subjective. I’m employed not in the install field and I’m not selling my services currently so maybe 8-10 big crimps a year, tops? I still want it LOL
I bought the same Temco TH0005 crimper above direct from Temco and it was closer to $157 delivered. If you order from Amazon, it’s drop shipped from Temco anyway.
 
I bought the same Temco TH0005 crimper above direct from Temco and it was closer to $157 delivered. If you order from Amazon, it’s drop shipped from Temco anyway.
Apparently, it is on sale as well (but you must have received a better sale price). I can confirm it is drop shipped from Temco if ordered via Amazon.


TEMCo Direct: $161.96
 
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Apparently, it is on sale as well (but you priced a lesser model). I can confirm it is drop shipped from Temco if ordered via Amazon.


TEMCo Direct: $161.96
I got the V2.0 a few months ago. Same model that went up in price $4.
 
I'm late into this one. I would use 4/0 welding cable and be worry free forever. Costly yes, voltage loss no. The one thing nobody told me except for Missouri wind and power is dc travels on the outside of the wire. So more strains you got the better.
 
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