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Temco Lug Crimping Tool

HaldorEE

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Apr 20, 2020
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Everybody has the Chinese hydraulic crimp tools with changable dies for around $60. Color me skeptical, but I wonder how well these actually work.

I was reseaching crimpers and found this Temco crimp tool. No dies, you dial in the desired amount of crimp to suit your particular crimp lug and wire diameter. I love the video about Tempco's return/repair policy too. Has anyone used one of these? Do they work and hold up?


They have a couple of other heavier duty models if you need to deal with bigger lugs than 0000.



The crimp quality looks excellent.

4ed8c572-929e-4728-84c5-72e22801662d.__CR0,450,2500,773_PT0_SX970_V1___.jpg
 
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I use mine every day. Just did about 10 crimps with 2 gauge wire this morning.
Which model do you have? The first one I linked too?

I like that it is adjustable, that way if your wire is a bit undersized for the lug, you can still get an acceptable crimp. At least that is what I hope.
 
Which model do you have? The first one I linked too?

I like that it is adjustable, that way if your wire is a bit undersized for the lug, you can still get an acceptable crimp. At least that is what I hope.
I bought the first one as well, at Will’s suggestion, and just completed my first project with it. Perfect crimps on 8, 4, and 2/0 cable lugs, and I’m no expert. I highly recommend it. I also thought Temco’s warranty commercial was entertaining!
 
I am going to get one. Anybody in Phoenix need to crimp some cables?
 
I got this one because 12awg to 2/0 fit my needs. If you need 4/0 there are others that handle that (but start at ~8awg).

Seems high quality from at 2 dozen crimps i have done.

TEMCo Hydraulic Cable Lug Crimper TH0006-5 US TON 12 AWG to 00 (2/0) Electrical Terminal Cable Wire Tool Kit 5 YEAR WARRANTY https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HJXHX1K/
 
No isues with finding the right die size? That is why I was thinking about the die-less version
 
Oops, sorry, i thought post #6 was the beginning of this thread.
No worries. How do the dies work for you. Could you post a pic of the crimp quality? I have been dithering on which one to get. The die-less or die type.
 
Could you post a pic of the crimp quality?
Unfortunately all mine are shrink wrapped. Crimping bigger wires is pretty new to me but I'd say i get pretty good results making hexagonal crimps.
When crimping smaller lugs, like 6awg, its a little trickier. I sometimes get excess lug crimping out "ears" between the dies. I found that releasing the tool (before it pinches badly) and rotating 90 degrees mostly fixes this.

Its nice that there is a pack of spare o-rings though i hope i never need them.
My only gripe is that while the case is REALLY nice, there is no room to put the paperwork inside.
 
Unfortunately all mine are shrink wrapped. Crimping bigger wires is pretty new to me but I'd say i get pretty good results making hexagonal crimps.
When crimping smaller lugs, like 6awg, its a little trickier. I sometimes get excess lug crimping out "ears" between the dies. I found that releasing the tool (before it pinches badly) and rotating 90 degrees mostly fixes this.

Its nice that there is a pack of spare o-rings though i hope i never need them.
My only gripe is that while the case is REALLY nice, there is no room to put the paperwork inside.
That is what I was concerned about. Especially if crimping wires that are a bit undersized for the lugs. I think I will go with the single point crimp.
 
Unfortunately all mine are shrink wrapped. Crimping bigger wires is pretty new to me but I'd say i get pretty good results making hexagonal crimps.
When crimping smaller lugs, like 6awg, its a little trickier. I sometimes get excess lug crimping out "ears" between the dies. I found that releasing the tool (before it pinches badly) and rotating 90 degrees mostly fixes this.

Its nice that there is a pack of spare o-rings though i hope i never need them.
My only gripe is that while the case is REALLY nice, there is no room to put the paperwork inside.
I have the same crimper as @MisterSandals and have used it for all of my recent systems and the re-do of my cart system. I have experienced the same issue with smaller lugs. I'm tempted to buy the dieless (cuz why not have a bunch of tools that do the same thing?) because it seems like there's no hassle regardless of lug size. The other advantage I see is that the dieless model looks like you just set it on a table and push down. The model I have always starts as a two handed mid-air crimp adventure...
 
The dieless one works great set on a table or even the tailgate of a truck.

I bought mine through the link on Will’s page here:

 
The problem with all the cheap die crimpers (under $200) is they are all metric even if labeled awg. even the TEMCo Hydraulic Cable Lug Crimper TH0006-5 US TON 12 AWG to 00 .
 
Is the concern with the hammer crimpers, that the crimp could be either "over crushed", or "under crushed"? The anvil for the die-less type looks the same as a hammer type.
 
Is the concern with the hammer crimpers, that the crimp could be either "over crushed", or "under crushed"? The anvil for the die-less type looks the same as a hammer type.
None of these are hammer type.

The concern with the die-less types is the crimp is basically in one spot. That advantage to the die-less is you are able to adjust the crimper to get a good quality crimp.

The die type make a hexagonal crimp that if done correctly is superior to die-less. However if the wire does not fill the lug properly or if the die is not sized properly for the lug, could result in an overcrimp (deforming the lug, possibly to failure) or a loose crimp which could cause overheating.
 
I have a TemCo hammer crimper, use a 3-pound hammer on a concrete floor, and get what seem to be mechanically good crimps. But if a crimp could be "overdone" with this method then I'm willing to use something that gauges the crimp depth, like the tools above. (My impression is that you can't reasonably over-whack a properly-sized lug and wire, assuming you're not splitting the lug, but just checking.)
 
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