SB175 Connector and 8 Gauge Wire

[Ed Tech Sensei]

I have a Renogy MPPT 40a charge controller. The largest cable size it can accommodate is 8 gauge. My Battery Evo has an SB175 connector with 6 gauge wires. I ordered an SB175 Anderson style connector for 4 gauge. I'm not sure if the 8 ga wire will hold the crimp in the 4 ga connector. I just have a hand crimping tool.

I seem to remember a video where Will folds the wire to fill the gap in a large connector to get a good crimp, but I can't find it again. Is this an acceptable practice? I also watched videos of people filling the connector with solder and inserting the cable. That's an alternative. Great forum by the way!

 

[JoeHam]

They do make SB175 pins for 6/8 AWG:

Anderson Power Products SB 175 Series Contact for 175 Amp (and 180 A) Silver | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Anderson Power Products SB 175 Series Contact for 175 Amp (and 180 A) Silver at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Folding the wire back on itself will work. Be sure to fill the inside before crimping so you can get a proper cold weld. You’re going to need a serious crimper or purchase a pre made cable if this will be a one time thing.

 

[Ed Tech Sensei]

They do make SB175 pins for 6/8 AWG:

Anderson Power Products SB 175 Series Contact for 175 Amp (and 180 A) Silver | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Anderson Power Products SB 175 Series Contact for 175 Amp (and 180 A) Silver at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Folding the wire back on itself will work. Be sure to fill the inside before crimping so you can get a proper cold weld. You’re going to need a serious crimper or purchase a pre made cable if this will be a one time thing.

Thanks for the info. I saw that Ebay listing but the shipping was a little too expensive. I ordered two complete SB175 connectors on Amazon for the same price as just one pin. I may add a smidge of solder as insurance. Everything is a learning experience.

 

[Ed Tech Sensei]

They do make SB175 pins for 6/8 AWG:

Anderson Power Products SB 175 Series Contact for 175 Amp (and 180 A) Silver | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Anderson Power Products SB 175 Series Contact for 175 Amp (and 180 A) Silver at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Folding the wire back on itself will work. Be sure to fill the inside before crimping so you can get a proper cold weld. You’re going to need a serious crimper or purchase a pre made cable if this will be a one time thing.

I just ordered the TEMCO Hammer Lug tool. Same as in Will's videos. I probably won't be using it much, but it's only $20 and I know it will do the job.

 

[Ed Tech Sensei]

I just ordered the TEMCO Hammer Lug tool. Same as in Will's videos. I probably won't be using it much, but it's only $20 and I know it will do the job.

I just ordered the TEMCO Hammer Lug tool. Same as in Will's videos. I probably won't be using it much, but it's only $20 and I know it will do the job.

The hammer lug tool didn't work. Picked up a hydraulic crimper. It worked, but I should have purchased the 6/8 awg Anderson lugs Joe Ham suggested. Oh well, live and learn.

 

[Just John]

I have a Renogy MPPT 40a charge controller. The largest cable size it can accommodate is 8 gauge. My Battery Evo has an SB175 connector with 6 gauge wires. I ordered an SB175 Anderson style connector for 4 gauge. I'm not sure if the 8 ga wire will hold the crimp in the 4 ga connector. I just have a hand crimping tool.

I seem to remember a video where Will folds the wire to fill the gap in a large connector to get a good crimp, but I can't find it again. Is this an acceptable practice? I also watched videos of people filling the connector with solder and inserting the cable. That's an alternative. Great forum by the way!

Good source for real products, not Chinese copies.

Anderson Powerpole and SB Connectors | Powerwerx

Anderson Power Products Powerpole and SB Series connectors are available at Powerwerx. Shop for different gauges today!

powerwerx.com

You will need a big (wattage) soldering iron to solder that size connector.

 

[JoeHam]

You will need a big (wattage) soldering iron to solder that size connector.

I used to solder them but I am a complete convert to crimping and will never go back.

Cold weld and retaining complete flexibility at the stress point is the shizzit! ?

 

[Just John]

I used to solder them but I am a complete convert to crimping and will never go back.

Cold weld and retaining complete flexibility at the stress point is the shizzit! ?

Oddly enough, same here. The right crimp tool does wonders, and is much easier.

 

[G8trwood]

I use a torch for the bigger SB175. Melt the solder in the pin and then insert the fluxed cable. I probably should get a crimper for them, but... then heat shrink and their waterproof boots

 

[Just John]

I use a torch for the bigger SB175. Melt the solder in the pin and then insert the fluxed cable. I probably should get a crimper for them, but... then heat shrink and their waterproof boots

I use a hydraulic crimper for the big ones, and a long handled lever crimper for the smaller ones. I can get two crimps on them, and I was impressed with the quality of the connection. Whatever works for you, just don't make cold solder joints. Sounds like you figured out that part. I have seen pictures of "professionally assembled" packs from Xuba, and every single one was obviously a cold solder joint!

 

[G8trwood]

I use a hydraulic crimper for the big ones, and a long handled lever crimper for the smaller ones. I can get two crimps on them, and I was impressed with the quality of the connection. Whatever works for you, just don't make cold solder joints. Sounds like you figured out that part. I have seen pictures of "professionally assembled" packs from Xuba, and every single one was obviously a cold solder joint!

Use to get lots of not quite right sized battery terminals or slightly undersized wire before I was smart enough to get everything from same vendor/companies. Some of the tough marine terminals would not crimp down even with my cheap hydraulic, no decent cold fusion weld. So solder. A better hydraulic or specific crimper might have worked and not bent the pins. Using the manufacturerers solder pellets or good 37/63 solder and flux. An undersized cable or oversized lug never crimps right. Of course I still use a carbide lantern

 

[OTRwSolar]

Just installed some 2-gauge SB175 connectors on our truck. Used a 16-ton hydraulic crimper. It took a lot of effort to get a nice crimp. Can't even imagine trying to crimp these manually.

 

[BobCollins]

The hammer lug tool didn't work. Picked up a hydraulic crimper. It worked, but I should have purchased the 6/8 awg Anderson lugs Joe Ham suggested. Oh well, live and learn.

Please tell us why the hammer crimper didn't work for you. Was it because of the mismatch of using 8 AWG wire in a contact designed for 4 AWG, or is it the fit in the shell due to indent crimping? Or maybe both?

I'd rather not buy any more big wire crimpers than I have to.

Thanks!

 

[Ed Tech Sensei]

Please tell us why the hammer crimper didn't work for you. Was it because of the mismatch of using 8 AWG wire in a contact designed for 4 AWG, or is it the fit in the shell due to indent crimping? Or maybe both?

I'd rather not buy any more big wire crimpers than I have to.

Thanks!

The connector didn't fit well into the hammer crimper. Energy from the impact of the hammer wasn't enough to crimp the connector. The 4AWG connector is quite thick.

 

[BobCollins]

You are right, the hammer crimper wouldn't work. In fact, it barely scratched the 2AWG SB175 contacts.

I just bought a hydraulic indent crimper from TEMCo Industrial, model TH1818. It crimps the SB175 contacts very nicely. Recommended!
I was worried about the longevity of a hydraulic tool, but this one comes with a 5 year warranty.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

connector didn't fit well into the hammer crimper. Energy from the impact of the hammer wasn't enough to crimp the connector. The 4AWG connector is quite thick.

A hammer crimper for 8ga or even 4ga is too big to use. It’s ponderous on 2ga

If you need to crimp, crimp. But crimp well.
Stuffing a wire and soldering it isn’t a mechanical connection and actually can compromise the wire anyway. There’s seldom a place in fit-up wiring where soldering is beneficial or appropriate.

I use ‘manual’ crimpers - 1ga can be difficult, but for 2ga on down to 10ga it’s great. I have several others that will do 10ga-20ga

You can triple 8ga into a 4ga terminal and use a hex 6ga die. It will leave wings but be stinkin’ tight in there.

So basically the right tool will do a right job. A quality crimp tool is probably even more important than using good terminals.

 

[Just John]

Anderson connector pins can be extra difficult to crimp. All pins for a specific class of connector are the same diameter, for smaller gauge wire, the walls are much thicker (and thus much more difficult to crimp).

 

[BobCollins]

Anderson connector pins can be extra difficult to crimp. All pins for a specific class of connector are the same diameter, for smaller gauge wire, the walls are much thicker (and thus much more difficult to crimp).

The hammer crimper worked just fine for 4AWG terminal lugs. The problem was using it for SB175 contacts.
I was using using 2AWG contacts for 4AWG wire (that's the way they are sold on Amazon). As per your comment, if I had 4AWG contacts, the wall would have been thicker.

As I mentioned above, I now have a hydraulic indent crimper, which crimps with ease. I am quite sure it would work just fine for 4/0 and larger barrels. Yes, right tool for the job.

 

[Just John]

The hammer crimper worked just fine for 4AWG terminal lugs. The problem was using it for SB175 contacts.
I was using using 2AWG contacts for 4AWG wire (that's the way they are sold on Amazon). As per your comment, if I had 4AWG contacts, the wall would have been thicker.

As I mentioned above, I now have a hydraulic indent crimper, which crimps with ease. I am quite sure it would work just fine for 4/0 and larger barrels. Yes, right tool for the job.

If you can't find the right pins on Amazon, try powerwerx.com. I have been using a Temco hydraulic crimper, very pleased with the results but I haven't tried an indent crimper.