Hydraulic electrical cable crimper, TEMco TH1818 - thumbs UP!

[John E Davies]

There have been mentions of tools for crimping battery cables, I had been making do with the kind you smash with a big mallet, crude but effective. I decided to buy a proper tool. This one is dieless, unlike most others. It is made for just electrical terminals, so it is limited to 5 tons. Many of the big ones (10 tons or  more) are intended for stuff like stainless steel fittings for a porch railing or yacht.

This one is very nicely made, has an infinite adjustment range, almost, from small 10 AWG wires to really big ones, much larger than the 00 cable Oliver uses for the inverters. It is easy to use and feels like a really high quality tool. The head swivels 360 degrees so you can position the handle properly in a cramped space.  It has a 5 year warranty. I just wish it came in a nice plastic case instead of cardboard....

 

 

 

 

This is the reason I decided on this type:

 

 

The instructions have a guide about how many “pumps” are needed for a given size wire, but in reality you pump and pump, and when the die starts to bottom out, the resistance starts to noticeably increase. A couple of more pumps and it is done. Don’t keep going or you can drive a hole clean through the copper. I have only done the one test but I am sure it will be useful the next time I have to make some big cables or repair one, like when I install lithium batteries. I really like and recommend this model.

TEMco TH1818 Dieless Crimper at Amazon

John Davies

Spokane WA

Edited October 9, 2020 by John E Davies

[katanapilot]

I recently bought a similar model, but it uses dies. I was planning to use it to redo the battery cables on our Forest River motorhome that were poorly made (FR used a hammer style crimper) - but we sold the FR and bought the Ollie.

We are now using it for the high current cables on the new airplane we are building. It does a really nice job crimping the large terminals. 

I did ask to see how Oliver made battery cables when we toured the plant. I was happy to see they use a proper crimper. 
 

[C&MCurrie]

Thanks for the review!  Just ordered one. Will need it for a complete solar install once we get our Elite 1 home from Hohenwald in March.