Cable lug crimper

[Gregorio]

Originally Posted by passthru

The MM dies are all I see listed.

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Yep. They do not offer AWG in the chinese imports.

[mgray70]

Originally Posted by jsmith294

I'm considering getting one of these. What size cable were you crimping? Does it leave "ears" on the side of the crimped lug? Thanks.

It does leave some ears, but for the money I'm satisfied with mine. I'm crimping 4 gauge welding lead.

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[mgray70]

It beats the hammer die that I had before!

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[NoleFan4Ever]

Originally Posted by mgray70

I have that YDK-70 and it works great. I was sceptical about how long it would last, but for the price I gave it a shot. Lasted a year so far and I've crimped over 100 lugs and it still works fine.

I am probably 2 to 3 times that and it has never failed me. And they sent me a seal kit with it so if it ever wears out, I will just overhaul it....

[Sergio]

Those cheap dies are usually undersized for the lugs, there should not be any "wings" on the crimp.

It used to be You needed to use one or two sizes larger Die on the HF type crimper depending on the type lugs You are using.

Here is a picture showing a 1/0 Die used on 1/0, 2ga and 4ga lugs.

You should try to get a crimp like the one on the 4ga cable using the 1/0 Die, otherwise You will crush a lot of strands and weaken the lug.

[NoleFan4Ever]

Originally Posted by jsmith294

I'm considering getting one of these. What size cable were you crimping? Does it leave "ears" on the side of the crimped lug? Thanks.

Nope. Never had any ears at all. I have crimped 2/0 awg cables all the way down to 8 awg. Have more dies too! (My bolt cutter style will leave a slight ear on one side, but it is because it closes at an angle (basically pinching it) as compared to straight down as the hydraulic type does. It is so small you can't hardly see it and the seal tight/heat shrink covers it anyway)

I was able to achieve the quality crimp Sergio shows at the bottom using a two step process.

1. The initial crimp should be light to the point where the lug will not fall off or rotate and the "wings" just barely start to form.
2. Release the crimp and rotate the lug one flat in the die. The barely formed wings should now be in the corners of the hex and not where the two halves separate. Finish the crimp with full pump pressure until the dies touch or cannot be compressed further.