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SW “Ohia” | Von WC Ohio,
We made a lot of custom battery cables at my last job.
I am very particular about them myself. Just about every piece of equipment gets new cables when I get it home. They are unsightly and dangerous when falling apart.
The shop had a standard hand crimper made by NoCo, but I believe they are now out of production. QuickCable, http://www.quickcable.com , was where we got our terminal ends and wire, but they were purchased through a local battery wholesaler. Their catalog will help explain all the different terminal styles and designations if you want to learn them. They also have some nice looking crimpers available, and if I was to buy one, it would be from them. HK Porter makes some nice looking ones too.
Personally, I wouldn't buy a hydraulic unit. You never know the longevity on those things coming from an unknown supplier. Typical leverage crimpers work like a pair of bolt cutters with nothing to wear out. Any normal size guy can crimp with them. It does take a fair amount of force because you are essentially squeezing the lead end into the copper wire. We've cut them apart after crimping and those ends, when double-crimped the correct way, are now part of the wire. I have never liked the hammer style because it doesnt act all the way around the wire in a squeezing motion. More like riveting which I don't feel makes a good connection.
Get some heavy duty 1" or 1.5" ID heat shrink tubing as well. We use it at all connections to ensure they were water tight. It comes in 5' sticks of red or black. Grab both for positive and negative. You only need an inch of length at each connection.
Edited by Red Paint 8/19/2016 07:49
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Battery lug terminal crimper
