How do you Crimp #8 AWG Terminals?

[sailorboy1]

[QUOTE=hellosailor;2109102
Sailorboy-
Beware of "it looks like" crimpers from any source. Many of them look good, but the crimp won't hold your weight if you try to make one. A lot of the no-names from China simply don't meet any known size spec for any wire, they'll be marked in mm2 but sold as AWG and not match any sizes correctly.[/QUOTE]

Wasn't very hard to lay the terminal into the various crimper jaws to tell which one was going to work.

[hellosailor]

"Wasn't very hard to lay the terminal into the various crimper jaws to tell which one was going to work. "
Work, yes. A bench vise also works perfectly well for years. Usually.


That doesn't means it works properly.


The facts of simple production are that any die, any tooling, will eventually wear out beyond spec. This is one reason why automakers now often brag about "hydroforming", where they don't stamp sheet metal between two dies, but use water pressure to "flow" the metal into just one half of the die. Half as many big expensive precision dies to wear out, half the cost, less downtime.


So what happens when Amp or Amphenol or someone else has made 50,000 dies for a crimping tool and the master die is out of spec and has to be thrown out?


Either they sell it as "worn out", or if the factory is in China...the manager often takes the worn parts, indicates they were thrown out or sold as scrap, and then he promptly hands them to his brother in law to use on the illicit night shift, in the same plant, making junk tools that LOOK the same as the legitimate ones that the factory owners know are made during the daytime.


Yes, it happens, and has been documented to happen exactly that way.


If these jokers (wrt what Mainesail said) ever actually MADE THEIR OWN DIES, then sooner or later one set or another would actually be IN SPEC. It doesn't cost any more to make them IN SPEC, if you are actually making them in the first place. As opposed to picking from the trash pile.


Might they work well enough? Sure, hell yes. And I've replaced circlips on distributor points and steel throttle cables with picture wire, only to find some mechanic a year later screaming "WHO DID THIS TO MY ENGINE!"


I think my best kludge was to replace a Y-valve (bypass) thermostat with a carefully chosen ROCK. For the two weeks we had to wait for a new thermostat, the engine ran perfectly. "YOU PUT A WHAT?! IN MY ENGINE?!"


Can't argue with success. Not really. But that doesn't make it right.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

"Wasn't very hard to lay the terminal into the various crimper jaws to tell which one was going to work. "
Work, yes. A bench vise also works perfectly well for years. Usually.


That doesn't means it works properly.

.

Didn't read the rest as I figure it really was based on me being an idiot and needing saving. I've never really posted my experience etc. here but I understand that to some the fact that I ask questions etc. must mean I'm a clueless idiot.

[hellosailor]

"must mean I'm a clueless idiot."


No, it just means you're a muggle. The rest of us just flick a wand and mutter a few words, and the damned things snug themselves up. We just make a show of using the crimping tools, so the other muggles won't get upset and start asking for magical favors.


Whether that's better or worse than being a clueless idiot...I'm not sure, but I'll ask the committee to open an investigation and try to find out for you. No charge.

[s/v Jedi]

Put the bottle away when posting lol


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[sv.antea]

This may not solve the #8 gauge crimping problem, but. (I use uninsulated terminals and shrinks and for those #10 crimper works.) Here's is a tool modification I am using now. Note the screw is only loosely retaining the parts, the load gets transferred directly between the bronze block and the steel arm.

[sv.antea]

Sorry, it wouldn't take my pictures. Let's try again.

[s/v Jedi]

Exactly. I use a drill press vice because I carry it anyway, but your setup is smaller and lighter

[MVDarlin]

I also solder and shrink sleve. Why is this not recommended?

[geoleo]

5lb sledge hammer

[nitpik]

You'll get very weak terminations if you use a 5lb. Sledge on AWG #8.
You need at least a 7lb. sledge.
......... and how is it this crimp vs solder topic is still so hot, after a thousand years?!

[s/v Jedi]

Seems people don't know mr Collins yet

Making Your Own Battery Cables Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com

[redsky49]

Where are you encountering all these #8 wire connections?

On my boat I have only one case where I use #8, and that is for bonding.

Other than for certain solar applications I fail to see the need for #8. I don't believe that I even have #8 terminals aboard.

Just remembered I do have an additional grounding wire that is #8.

In lieu of #8, how about a couple of #10? They would have even more current capacity - 16.5 mil for the single #8, 20.8 mil for (2) #10 wires.

I personally would be much happier with #10 crimps that I can absolutely rely on, as opposed to some kludge MacGyver improvisation just so I could use #8 somewhere.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by redsky49

Where are you encountering all these #8 wire connections?

On my boat I have only one case where I use #8, and that is for bonding.

Other than for certain solar applications I fail to see the need for #8. I don't believe that I even have #8 terminals aboard.

Just remembered I do have an additional grounding wire that is #8.

In lieu of #8, how about a couple of #10? They would have even more current capacity - 16.5 mil for the single #8, 20.8 mil for (2) #10 wires.

I personally would be much happier with #10 crimps that I can absolutely rely on, as opposed to some kludge MacGyver improvisation just so I could use #8 somewhere.

Following your line of logic, why would use you an AWG10 instead of two AWG12's which have more current carrying capacity?

My counter question is: why do you want to double the number of wires and terminals? AWG 8 is a very common wire size, especially for AC where it is the standard size for 30A circuits.

[redsky49]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Following your line of logic, why would use you an AWG10 instead of two AWG12's which have more current carrying capacity?

If observing the best standards and practices, any circuit should minimize the number of wires and potentially troublesome wire connections. In lieu of vise-grip/hammer crimping methods however, I would readily double the number of wires and utilize a crimping technique that I had full confidence in, rather than some half a**ed approach.

My counter question is: why do you want to double the number of wires and terminals? AWG 8 is a very common wire size, especially for AC where it is the standard size for 30A circuits.

I guess this is perspective. My entire boat's total 120V capacity is 30 amps. My 120V branch circuits are 15 amps, with the exception on one 20 amp circuit for the heat pump, which are #12 and #10 (though NEC would call for #14 and #12 respectively).

If I had such heavy electrical demand that I had 30 amp circuits (and it was not possible to use a higher voltage or three phase service), I would invest in a proper tool to make crimped fittings/terminals.

In the past, I have made several crimped fittings on heavy wire sizes, 0000 - 350 MCM, for inverters for example. In that case I used a 12 ton portable hydraulic crimper that I was fortunate enough to borrow. A crimper of this type is certainly a luxury, but it makes a perfect crimp.

I think the old maxim, "the right tool for the right job" would serve you well. If your life, or the life of others, could be dependent on your wiring, I would use the correct tool, or maybe run two wires. Your call.