Battery cable lug crimping tool

john

john

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Hi

Fitting new battery cables and need a strong hydraulic or ratchet crimping tool for the lugs - anyone got one I could borrow for a day or two? I'm in Bristol, boat Falmouth.

Thanks
John
 
+1 they rent the Klauke, which is what I use, cracking bit of kit, especially if access is awkward as it is one hand operated so you can keep the lug positioned with the other hand. If you can get some lugs from City Electrical Factors their wall thickness is nicely matched to the dies.
 
Hi

Thanks for the good suggestions so far. Hiring is an option, but as I travel by train to Falmouth there would be a few days hire if I hired from Bristol. I could try local hire shops in Falmouth, but previous experience tells me they are not well stocked. Auto elec a possibility I hadn't thought of.

I'm really looking to borrow/very cheaply hire a crimp tool for a few days
 
john said:
Hi

Thanks for the good suggestions so far. Hiring is an option, but as I travel by train to Falmouth there would be a few days hire if I hired from Bristol. I could try local hire shops in Falmouth, but previous experience tells me they are not well stocked. Auto elec a possibility I hadn't thought of.

I'm really looking to borrow/very cheaply hire a crimp tool for a few days
Click to expand...

City Electrical Factors at Penryn will have both lugs and the crimping tool you can hire. There is a bus from Falmouth Moor to the industrial area at Penryn. Get the bus to Asda. CEF is about 100 yards from there - almost next to B&Q.
 
john said:
Hi

Fitting new battery cables and need a strong hydraulic or ratchet crimping tool for the lugs - anyone got one I could borrow for a day or two? I'm in Bristol, boat Falmouth.

Thanks
John
Click to expand...

I have got a crimper and I am in Falmouth marina ,it crimps up to 120 mm
 
When I posted a similar question here a few months ago, someone kindly pointed me in the direction of ebay. The hydraulic crimper from there worked a treat; iirc cost less than £40 and looked similar to one of these.
$T2eC16h,!)!E9s2fD)OnBRyR,FUEg!~~60_12.JPG
 
nigelmercier said:
For less than two days hire you could buy a good one on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1nkd6CG
Click to expand...

+1 for that. I have the same and done many 25mm2 cables. It's sometimes a little tricky if the space is limited and I reckon three hands might be useful. But a great buy and with some heat shrink tubing as well it makes some professional looking cable.

Oh and I have put my whole body weight on the cable hung from a nail through the lug to check my first crimp!
 
Thanks to all, and I'll go with Nigel's suggestion of buying a crimping tool on Amazon. Will have it by the weekend, and it'll be available for anyone to borrow in the future who needs a crimp in Falmouth.

John
 
john said:
Thanks to all, and I'll go with Nigel's suggestion of buying a crimping tool on Amazon. Will have it by the weekend, and it'll be available for anyone to borrow in the future who needs a crimp in Falmouth.

John
Click to expand...

I believe crimping used to be a major industry in Falmouth in the days of sail. :D
 
catlotion said:
how about just getting some made-up cables off Ebay? Worked out cheaper for us when doubling our battery bank...
Click to expand...

Might work if you just need a couple of short ones, but not if you're going to lead a dozen cables through ducts and round the wiring bay and only then know the precise length you need. To do the terminations off-site you'd essentially have to do the whole job twice, once to measure and once to install.

Pete
 
catlotion said:
a dozen battery cables! wow that's some battery bank... :p
Click to expand...

Given that it weighs about the same as me, and I'm no lightweight, it certainly is some battery bank. But it's only two actual batteries (60kg each) so it's not the bank interconnects that push up the wiring count.

I plucked the number 12 out of the air; let's see how many cables I actually have...

  • Bank interconnects x 2
  • Engine battery to master switch
  • Master switch to starter motor
  • Starter motor negative back to engine battery
  • Alternator outputs x 2
  • Service bank to megafuse
  • Megafuse to master switch
  • Master switch to positive stud in distro panel
  • Positive stud to front switch panel
  • Service bank to battery bay negative busbar
  • Battery bay negative busbar to distro busbar
  • Engine battery to battery bay negative busbar
  • Engine battery to Smartbank relay
  • Service bank to Smartbank relay
  • Master switch to windlass breaker
  • Windlass breaker to windlass
  • Windlass negative to battery bay busbar
  • Interconnect between two sections of distro panel negative busbar

That's 20 cables, and I'm still not certain I've remembered them all. I'm only counting ones large enough to need hydraulic crimps - apart from one 10mm and one 16mm, the majority are 25mm or bigger. There's also a healthy crop of 6mm cables for the mains charger, the fridge, the bilge pump, etc and 1.5mm cables mostly for sensing and control.

Measuring all of those in advance and sending off an order to make them up offsite is clearly inferior to putting the ends on in situ exactly where they're needed, as I said.

I don't think this is an unusually complicated installation, by the way. It's a domestic and an engine bank, an isolator switch, a fuse on the service bank (only) and a Smartbank relay to connect the two together for charging.

Pete
 
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