# Good way to crimp wire terminals?



## ZAKOH (Nov 26, 2010)

I will be upgrading various electrical wires in my car. I have received a variety of power cables from Knukoncepts, 8 guage, 4 gauge, 0 gauge for various applications. I also got matching wire terminals. The question is now how to crimp the terminals to the wire? Would simply whacking the terminals with a hammer work? I hope to do this right the first time so I don't have any surprises down the road.


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## Rrrrolla (Nov 13, 2008)

If you dont have an actual cripming tool, vice grips tend to work ok. Just keep adjusting the grip tighter and tigter till nuclear fission. Or tight enogh that it doesnt pull uot... ever!


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## qwertydude (Dec 22, 2008)

Vise Grips work well. One thing I recommend is there's usually a split on top of the terminals as they're pressed from thick sheet metal. Use the vise grips to first squeeze one side to fold under the other side, then squeeze them together with the vise grips as tight as possible. This will grip the wires tighter instead of just flattening the whole thing.


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## jp88 (Jun 25, 2007)

If you don't have the proper crimp tool for the connectors you are using buy, borrow, or rent it. Hammering ,squeezing with vice grips, crushing it in a vice, running over it with your car are not proper crimps and are likely to fail. This is the primary reason that a lot of people think crimps aren't reliable, they didn't use the proper tool for the job.


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## schmiddr2 (Aug 10, 2009)

In a pinch...I cut a nut (for a 3/4" bolt) in half, which fit my terminals, so I placed the wire in the terminal then in the halved nut, then used a hammer to strike a dull awl into the crimp portion of the terminal. Not perfect, but no movement. You want the nut to be the same size or just slightly smaller internal diameter than the terminal.


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## robert_wrath (Apr 24, 2011)

If you're on a small budget, Small C-Clamps work.


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## ween (Mar 12, 2009)

hi,
couldn't hurt to solder the terminal also. clamp the wire vertical in a vise. use a propane torch directed to the top of the ring, that way you don't overheat the insulation as bad. the heat will work down the terminal discoloring it slightly. now apply solder where the bare wire meets the terminal. the solder will wick down the wire completing the connection. don't overdo it using too much solder as it will make the wire extremely stiff past the point of the terminal itself. now use your favorite sleeveing to cover the terminal to wire junction, personally i like melt liner heat shrink. a good pair of pliers with decent leverage carefully positioned will crimp the terminal also.
mark


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## Wrecker1 (Oct 26, 2012)

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=260742115582 
Tried all those other options, this is the best option that I've found by far. It is also carried at Harbor Freight, cutting out shipping costs when it is in stock. Crimping becomes such a thoughtless process that you'll wonder how you ever bothered yourself with any other tedious, frustrating method. You said you want to do it right the first time, making this a worthy investment. 
Sent from my HTC VLE_U using Tapatalk 2


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## gravel (Jun 24, 2012)

I solder mine. Clamp the lug in a vise, open side up. Flux the end of the wire. Heat the lug until you can melt solder in the cup, then fill about halfway with molten solder, then insert the wire into the molten solder. Keep heat on the lug until the solder flows up into the stranding of the wire. Let it cool, then cover with heatshrink tubing. Mapp gas torch makes short work of doing this with bigger wire, propane is good for smaller stuff. I was able to support my 200# on a 1/0 lug termination done this way, I'm thinking its strong enough...


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## so cal eddie (Oct 1, 2008)

Ancor Heavy Duty Lug Crimper 701010 - Reviews & Prices @ Yahoo! Shopping

This is the one I have had for about 15 years. You can find generic ones at harbor freight for about $20. If you need to use it in the vehicle, just carefully place a board underneath it and then smash away.


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

ween said:


> hi,
> couldn't hurt to solder the terminal also. clamp the wire vertical in a vise. use a propane torch directed to the top of the ring, that way you don't overheat the insulation as bad. the heat will work down the terminal discoloring it slightly. now apply solder where the bare wire meets the terminal. the solder will wick down the wire completing the connection. don't overdo it using too much solder as it will make the wire extremely stiff past the point of the terminal itself. now use your favorite sleeveing to cover the terminal to wire junction, personally i like melt liner heat shrink. a good pair of pliers with decent leverage carefully positioned will crimp the terminal also.
> mark


Agreed. 

If you do this, the crimp only has to be snug enough to hold it while you apply the solder. It's actually easy to do with a little practice. If you can sweat copper pipes, then you can solder large power terminals without melting the insulation.


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## Wrecker1 (Oct 26, 2012)

http://www.caraudioclassifieds.org/forum/showthread.php?t=120063
Sent from my HTC VLE_U using Tapatalk 2


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## SoundChaser (Apr 3, 2009)

Amazon.com: hammer crimper


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## TrueProtege (Aug 16, 2012)

Always solder all of mine, its just a better connection.


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## D-Bass (Apr 27, 2012)

Wrecker1 said:


> http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?itemId=260742115582
> Tried all those other options, this is the best option that I've found by far. It is also carried at Harbor Freight, cutting out shipping costs when it is in stock. Crimping becomes such a thoughtless process that you'll wonder how you ever bothered yourself with any other tedious, frustrating method. You said you want to do it right the first time, making this a worthy investment.
> Sent from my HTC VLE_U using Tapatalk 2


I keep one of these at the shop for the random times where we're tight quarters inside the car and need to make a big crimp.

The downside to this crimper is that when you're using standard 1/0 ring terminals, even the 00 inserts don't fit over the ring terminal unless you smash it closed a little before putting it on the wire.

Another nice tool is just a basic hammer crimper. I think you can find those at your local home improvement stores.


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## BoostedOne (Nov 15, 2012)

I found my crimper for my electric fence terminals works great from 4 ga to 1 ga. I bought the crimper from Tractor Supply. 

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2


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## Spyke (Apr 20, 2012)

SoundChaser said:


> Amazon.com: hammer crimper


I second this type. It's cheap and works well. For the few times you need to crimp heavy cable lugs this is the best compromise.


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