diy solar

diy solar

TEMCo Hammer Lug Crimper Tool

Mike Jordan

Solar Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 15, 2020
Messages
414
I used that same crimper with 1/0AWG wire and it worked just fine. I can't see why it wouldn't work with 4/0AWG.

One trick that helps - don't use a hammer. Put the crimper in a vise and squeeze to make the crimp. Much easier to get nice easy consistent crimps. You might need a cheater bar on the vise handle to really get a good crimp.

FYI - when pasting Amazon links, drop everything from the initial /ref= to the end. No need for all of the extra junk and tracking info.

 
I made quite a number of crimps with mine, happy with the way they turned out. I hammered the crap out of them with a BFH. LOL
The die-type crimpers make a much nicer crimp - they're round and symmetrical. However they're expensive and the dies don't always fit right. There are plenty of advocates for die-less crimpers for just this reason. If I were in the biz I would have the Temco hydraulic one with all the dies.

I cut one of my crimped lugs apart to make sure I was getting a good 'cold weld' - no air spaces or gaps. Be sure to shrink wrap - use the good stuff with the adhesive to seal them. And why I prefer closed terminals, but either will work. Also, don't put copper lugs on aluminum terminals, use tinned ones - per the forum gurus. ;)

 
I just bought a Temco lug crimper with handles that will crimp from 8 AWG to 4/0 AWG, and it works like a charm! I had a couple of 6 gauge fittings to crimp it squashed them like butter. I was a little leary of the 4/0's, but it's just the same with them. Easy. The crimper has a stainless gauge on it so you can set it to the right crimp. I was about to buy a hammer type, but when I saw this one, and the variable size settings, I went for it instead. To be honest, I wondered if it might be too tough for a 64 year old geezer to use. I've tried to cut some heavy chain with my bolt cutters recently and it made me think my arms were wet noodles. But this crimper is well designed and works great. It's heavy duty (and heavy), but it's a great tool. I got if off amazon for about $70, if I remember correctlyf593292e-1194-4036-8ed7-cfb49fea4604_1_502ec6346000d37dac1d3c6099e89409.jpg
 
Back
Top