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Helpful way to fit large 1/0 flexible cable into a 1/0 lug and crimp

Snook

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I said I would put together a post showing how I do my large cable crimps. The pics below are of a high flex 1/0 battery cable to a 1/0 3/8" hole lug. See attached pics.

- Pic 1: all the materials I used
- Pic 2: Measure and mark how far back the cable jacket will be cut using the lug as a guide.
- Pic 3: Cut the jacket and slide up just enough to apply the first cable tie, apply some lube to the copper (I use spray white lithium grease) and then slide the cable tie over the exposed copper and hand tighten - don't go nuts here.
- Pic 4: slide the jacket up some more and apply 2 more cable ties and lube - make sure you stagger the ratchet heads - DO NOT stack the ratchet heads on top of each other.
- Pic 5: Move the last cable tie up close to the end of the cable copper and then slide the lug over the end and force it onto the cable - the cable tie will slide down as the lug moves onto the cable. If you gat a few copper strands oputside the lug, no big deal, just trim them off at the end of the process before you heat shrink.
- Pic 6: cut the cable tie that's closest to the lug body and continue to force the copper into the lug - repeat for the last cable tie.
- Pic 7: This is what it should look like when the cable has been completely inserted into the lug.
- Pic 8: Crimp the lug with a crimper of your choice. I use a Tepco hydraulic crimper for this, a hydraulic crimper is the right tool when you dealing with big copper and battery connections.
- Pic 9: The finished crimp.
- Pic 10: Completed connection with some nuclear grade Raychem heat shrink. You can find old nuke plant stock on eBay. People are catching on so it's getting expensive and they sell it by the stick now. I bought a ton of this a few years ago for cheap, all different sizes.

Chuck (snook)

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Good idea using the zip ties; its almost impossible to gather all the strands into the terminal. Having the 1/0 anvil is a must to crimp correctly; don't try to jury-rig the crimp.
Another tip I saw was after the crimp but before laying down the shrink tube, drill a 1/8" hole in the top of the terminal where it ramps up. Using a propane torch, heat the terminal and flow some solder into the hole. Then cover with the shrink tube.
 
Suggestion for the process.

To eliminate the wings on the crimp. Start the crimp but do not close the gap on the dies. Leave about 1/8" gap. open jaws and turn the terminal one flat either direction. Crimp to closed. Turn flat back to original position, crimp to closed. The wing should not be present at all. Nice hex around entire terminal

This process will crimp the terminal tighter to wire. With the wing, the crimp is not as tight, greater cross-sectional area, less force to solidify the cable.
 
A far better approach to crimp cables is buy copper ends and place a 50/50 pellet in connector apply heat with propane tourch. Push stripped end into hot solder wait 20 seconds with pressure on the install. Cool it wrap with 3m tape then heat shrink wrap over.
 
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