Mutley Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 Any one tell me if these (on ebay 8ton hydrolic cable crimper in case with dyse, produce a Hex crimp £26 ish) are any good/worth the money? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 I have had mine about 18 months, in that time I've maybe used it ten times? But at least five of them were oddball uses that hoisted me right out of the ****. A very handy tool to have. Will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutley Posted May 2, 2015 Author Share Posted May 2, 2015 Was looking to use it for battery cables and the likes? The results look to be neat and tidy unlike other crimpers, think i might give it a go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickeyw Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 I have one too. Makes good crimps on quite a range of size battery cable, and ignition leads too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boydie Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Crimping, hydraulic or manual, is fine but I still advise soldering the connection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rangy35 Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 I have one, yes it produces the hex grip, I use it extensively and my work looks fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UdderlyOffroad Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Seconded, for the money, can't be beat! Get one. Just take your time and practice on the bench first with a few spare crimps. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 I bought one on the back of another thread here - and although it feels cheaply made (there's a reason for that!) It's been surprisingly good and produces better crimps than my much more expensive lever arm crimpers. Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 I concur, a bit cheap but does the job really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutley Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 Well just did a buy now on the bat, £38 blue and black one, looked a bit sturdier than the 26 quid ones and only a bit more so hey ho. Looking forward to tyding up the battery cables now just to make it a bit neater in there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diesel_90 Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Could you post the link please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yalan Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Ive got the blue / black one. Very happy with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g90 Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 A cracking investment given the price. i used to use one of these regularly for marine battery cables, big and small and they always gave a good crimp.As Boydie mentioned, solder as-well if possible and if you want a really pro looking finish, a bit of adhesive heat shrink over the top works a treat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutley Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 This is the one I bought, seller only had x3 at this price and this is the last one he had. I just put "Hydraulic cable crimper" in the ebay search. Quite a selection and the 8 ton are pretty reasonable on price I thought? So for say 32mm sq. battery cable what size adhesive shrink tube should I get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supaimpy Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Why solder? . Manufacturers of millions of cars don't do it and very rarely do they fail. A mechanical crimp joint does not need soldering, i've been building looms and modifying looms throughout my career and soldering in my view is to cover a poor crimp, if you want to add anything to a crimp joint then use top quality heatshrink The soldering process itself can damage other components from heat.There is a 'spark-gap' condition at large gauge soldered wire connections, where the heat generated by the solder's resistance could be enough to melt the insulation or set it on fire.Wires tend to flex near soldered joints, increasing the chances of breakage and corrosion, particularly after heating. Heat causes wire embrittlement, strand fatigue and corrosion. A soldered joint is inferior, where wires are 'stuck' together, while a crimped or welded joint is the equivalent effusing the metal. With a soldered joint, there is only minimal contact between the wires themselves, and the main electrical path is through the solder (which has more resistance than the copper of the wire). Though crimping effectively reduces the cross-section of a wire by about 20 percent, the small resistance added amounts to an essentially unimpeded electric flow across the crimped joint." 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonr Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Supaimpy is right! The main issue around all joints is fatigue where the wire enters the joint (the most flexible bit between the cable insulation & the terminal). You can help this with heat-shrink or even better, glue filled heat-shrink. We can't help you choose a size of heat shrink as we don't know the size of your cable or terminals - just pick the smallest which will easily fit over the cable and connector post crimping. Good quality (Hellerman, 3M) tends to shrink more than most of the other stuff and has superior UV resistance. Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Mutley was it this one you bought http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HYDRAULIC-4-70MM-LUG-FERRULE-CRIMPING-BATTERY-CRIMPERS-TOOL-CRIMPER-/300640759536?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item45ff95eef0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Early90 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I bought the yellow/black for £24 , i crimped a 25 CCT to test and the crimp looked good and neat too. I put the terminal in a vice and pulled the cable out quite easily. I got a refund anyway as some dies were missing. Rubbish in my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 There's a video here showing a cross section of a properly done hex crimp - it doesn't look like there are any air gaps for solder to penetrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutley Posted May 4, 2015 Author Share Posted May 4, 2015 Need4speed very simular not sure as it's a different seller. But i wouldnt know a good one from a bad one though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need4speed Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Why solder? . Manufacturers of millions of cars don't do it and very rarely do they fail. A mechanical crimp joint does not need soldering, i've been building looms and modifying looms throughout my career and soldering in my view is to cover a poor crimp, if you want to add anything to a crimp joint then use top quality heatshrink The soldering process itself can damage other components from heat. There is a 'spark-gap' condition at large gauge soldered wire connections, where the heat generated by the solder's resistance could be enough to melt the insulation or set it on fire. Wires tend to flex near soldered joints, increasing the chances of breakage and corrosion, particularly after heating. Heat causes wire embrittlement, strand fatigue and corrosion. A soldered joint is inferior, where wires are 'stuck' together, while a crimped or welded joint is the equivalent effusing the metal. With a soldered joint, there is only minimal contact between the wires themselves, and the main electrical path is through the solder (which has more resistance than the copper of the wire). Though crimping effectively reduces the cross-section of a wire by about 20 percent, the small resistance added amounts to an essentially unimpeded electric flow across the crimped joint." To be fair though, as long as the cable is sized accordingly, the slight extra resistance offered by the solder shouldn't be a problem. Especially for an automotive application. Nothing whatsoever wrong with a well soldered joint on a cable/connector that isn't going to be continually bent/moved around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superpants Posted May 9, 2015 Share Posted May 9, 2015 As the solder versus crimp argument has been raised many time here, I wrote an instructable a couple of years ago which covers plenty about this; http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-A-Quality-Crimped-Joint/ Hope it helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mutley Posted May 9, 2015 Author Share Posted May 9, 2015 Well the 8T hydraulic crimper has just arrived!... 1st. Impression is it looks and feels sturdy/well made, strong moulded box and a pack of spare O rings.... So out to the shed to give it a try out as i have a bit of battery cable and a terminal spare.... Now ok the terminal was a little big but crimped better than i could have hoped for! No chance of it pulling apart! And yes it's made in China! But really dont care as it will do a job more than fine, just need to play with it now to get the best results.... The name of it is Zupper, never heard of them but this bit of kit looks like it will last a while ie wont fall to bits in the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boydie Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Solder vs Crimping. If, as indicated in the video on page 2 of this thread, the connection and cable are crimped in such a fashion so that the wire strands are hexagonal and there are zero air gaps, then yes, there is no need to solder, if however there are air gaps due to incorrect sized mandrill jaws, poorly made connections or poor application of the tool, connector and or cable then soldering is the only option to ensure a perfect joint. For a good professional finish I would always advise using a heat shrink sleeve over the cable and connection to eliminate the possibility of moisture penetration as well as obvious electrical insulation. Interesting to note that Boeing don't solder any of their commercial aircraft joints, they are all crimped, they do however test EVERY section of wiring harness a MINIMUM of four times for continuity and heat generation (using mega testing and infer-red spectrums) as the sections of harness are connected to each other before the aircraft is placed into service for it's test flight. A tad more than Land Rover or anyone of us would do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackmac Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 So was common opinion that the £25 yellow and black one is a good buy? Unfortunately the one mutley has bought is another 20 quid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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