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Any recommendations for someone to make up DC wires in Pretoria?


JustinSchoeman

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These are lugs:

Cable-Lugs-F-Type.jpg

You need to buy them regardless.  So if they are already too expensive, maybe you need to rethink what you are going to do.

The crimper is another story, I have a crimper I bought because I do a lot of these, but I'm in Cpt.

Also don't just expect someone will help for free.  Actually making these cables takes a bit of time.  Need to cut to length using bolt cutters, then cut off the insulation (yeah sounds easy but on these big wires it is a mission), then put it together and crimp it.  Takes me roughly 10 minutes to make 1 crimp.  You could probably cut that down a bit if you have more experience or don't care about the quality.  But considering a single lug costs R50, I wouldn't want to make a mistake.

EDIT:

Oh some notes:

These wires don't bend too well.  So make sure you take the exact lengths you need and that the lugs face the right direction.  I always make the cables for a specific setup to make sure the cable is the right length (not too long to avoid loss, not too short so it is super tight).  Once I cut the wire I then crimp the one side, measure again to make sure everything looks good and then make sure I know which direction the other crimp needs to sit.

EDIT2:

You can also try find one of these for cheaper: https://www.amazon.com/TEMCo-Hammer-Crimper-Tool-Warranty/dp/B00E1UUVT0/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=0+gauge+crimper&qid=1597851770&sr=8-5

Those crimpers are perfectly fine.  Personally I bought one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Goplus-Hydraulic-Crimper-Terminal-Crimping/dp/B00ZA2P3XM/ref=sr_1_12?dchild=1&keywords=0+gauge+crimper&qid=1597851811&sr=8-12

Mine works ok.

Edited by Gnome
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Sometimes the guy who sells you the lugs and cabling will be willing to also crimp them.

A crimper isn't that expensive these days. Cheap ones are around the 1k mark, I've seen them for as little as R700. But at 95mm^2, the cheapies are probably not going to do it.

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8 minutes ago, plonkster said:

Sometimes the guy who sells you the lugs and cabling will be willing to also crimp them.

A crimper isn't that expensive these days. Cheap ones are around the 1k mark, I've seen them for as little as R700. But at 95mm^2, the cheapies are probably not going to do it.

Yep, the hammer kind is good for up to 4/0 which is around 107mm² and you can get one right now from Amazon for just under R1000

crimp_cost.thumb.jpg.a7aac782e684c69dc1e371fe420b93b0.jpg

Even cheaper on banggood:

crimp_cheap2.thumb.png.92e9a25f4c0879901facb71c15608e06.png

Edited by Gnome
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24 minutes ago, Gnome said:

I have one of those too. I bought it second-hand from someone who got rid of all his solar stuff because it didn't work out as he planned. He probably used the wrong equipment... but I'm okay with that, I got a crimper at a good price 🙂

 

Edited by plonkster
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3 minutes ago, plonkster said:

I have one of those too. I bought it second-hand from someone who got rid of all his solar stuff because it didn't work out as he planned. He probably used the wrong equipment... but I'm okay with that, I got a crimper at a good price 🙂

 

It isn't perfect fit, like when I crimp a 50mm² wire with the 50mm² die block, it can slightly over compress the crimp (you can tell because the crimp has these little wings forming on the sides of it).  But I've gotten used to it now.

I sure as hell am not paying 3x the price just to get past that problem, can handle it myself by using it carefully.

Not sure if yours does the same?

Example:

image.png.06ef38fa313d42416a16e2d0b9d51037.png 

Edited by Gnome
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Yeah, thanks.  The problem with the 95mm lugs is people don't sell many of them, so they just want to sell the shop packs of 50 - which adds quite a bit to the cost. (Actually, I have managed to find singles of all the round lugs - pin lugs for the DC breakers are the issue at the moment.)

I am making up sample cables from 25mm welding cable to make sure everything fits well (that is the limit of my crimping tool).

Ideally I would like some electrician/electrical supply store who I could just pay to make up the cables. Proper O2 free crimps require good equipment and the correct technique to get them right - and I have neither...

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1 hour ago, JustinSchoeman said:

deally I would like some electrician/electrical supply store who I could just pay to make up the cables.

Hi Justin, I recently replaced batteries with new cables, I have these 1.3mtr long 95mm2x8mm  cables with lugs on if they can work for you than about R500 you can get them. I did not use lugs on the circuit breaker side but can crimp them on for you as I have the stuff here to do it, I’m in Alberton.

8349F268-EAE0-40F3-B713-704BC53318D5.jpeg

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5 hours ago, Gnome said:

Not sure if yours does the same?

No. Mine looks the same but is a different brand, it says "Three-D" on the orange plastic case. It makes beautiful hexagonal crimps with the size imprinted on the lug.

I did one crimp a 16mm^2 lug onto a 10mm^2 cable, figured I could make it work... and it came out like that with the little wings.

1 hour ago, Vassen said:

Cos I like buying tools

Oh don't get me started. I started a pattern of finding out what it would cost to have the job done by someone else... and then buying the tool and doing it myself for the same price (or less), and then I get to keep the tool. The next thing I want is a bootlace crimper... but I want the biggest one possible, 16mm^2 if possible, otherwise 10mm^2. Up to 6mm^2 they are cheap...

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In my (unresearched) opinion you can also solder these lugs onto the cable. You simply heat the heat the lug on its own until the solder melts and then fit the cable into the lug and keep feeding the solder until it starts dripping off the lug.. (Take care not to burn the cable insulation with the flame)

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10 hours ago, Gerrie said:

Hi Justin, I recently replaced batteries with new cables, I have these 1.3mtr long 95mm2x8mm  cables with lugs on if they can work for you than about R500 you can get them. I did not use lugs on the circuit breaker side but can crimp them on for you as I have the stuff here to do it, I’m in Alberton.

Thanks  @Gerrie. As noted before, lengths are pretty specific, so they would need to be re-made anyway.

1 hour ago, Richard Mackay said:

In my (unresearched) opinion you can also solder these lugs onto the cable. You simply heat the heat the lug on its own until the solder melts and then fit the cable into the lug and keep feeding the solder until it starts dripping off the lug.. (Take care not to burn the cable insulation with the flame)

I have done that before in a pinch (even have a good old tinker's iron which makes the job nice and easy), but a proper crimp is electrically and mechanically far superior to a soldered joint.  I expect this to last at least 10 years, so I would like to do it properly.

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2 minutes ago, JustinSchoeman said:

mechanically far superior to a soldered joint.

Especially in aviation! With vibration involved, solder is bad news.

A proper crimp compresses the copper so hard it looks like a solid piece if you cut a cross-section through it. I do however still tin the wire tips whenever I wire a 3-point plug. Maybe that is wrong, maybe not... it is so much neater. I suspect the proper way to do it these days is bootlace crimps. Soon... 🙂

 

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50 minutes ago, plonkster said:

Especially in aviation! With vibration involved, solder is bad news.

A proper crimp compresses the copper so hard it looks like a solid piece if you cut a cross-section through it. I do however still tin the wire tips whenever I wire a 3-point plug. Maybe that is wrong, maybe not... it is so much neater. I suspect the proper way to do it these days is bootlace crimps. Soon... 🙂

 

Terminating small wiring in a screw terminal (e.g. 15A plug) is better with either nothing done to the wire (except stripping the insulation) or to crimp a bootlace ferrule.

Soldering isn't recommended since the soldered wire has no spring action when compressed. What tends to happen is that the screw thread will squash the solder but if it loosens due to usage there is a gap that develops between the tinned wire and the terminal which can arc etc.

For cables my passion is for moulded  plugs. :)

 

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2 minutes ago, Richard Mackay said:

Soldering isn't recommended since the soldered wire has no spring action when compressed. What tends to happen is that the screw thread will squash the solder but if it loosens due to usage there is a gap that develops between the tinned wire and the terminal which can arc etc.

Indeed, that is an issue. But I find the same kind of issue with just leaning it unsoldered. It loosens, it frays, it corrodes. Which is why I want to go for the ferrule option.

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1 hour ago, JustinSchoeman said:

As an aside... Does anybody know the crimped size of a 95mm^2 ferule? Will it go into a 10mm clamp terminal on a breaker, or do I really need to find pin lugs?

My first instinct is to divide 95 by 3.14 and take the square root of it, then multiply by two. That puts the diameter somewhere between 10mm and 12mm (mental math, 90/3 is 30, and that is about halfway between 5^2 and 6^2 🙂 ). So it's probably not going to fit.

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1 hour ago, JustinSchoeman said:

As an aside... Does anybody know the crimped size of a 95mm^2 ferule? Will it go into a 10mm clamp terminal on a breaker, or do I really need to find pin lugs?

Normally crimped terminals have their sizes stamped on them: (eye terminals have the diameter of the hole and the other is the cable size always indicated in area,  not diameter!

The huge pin lugs (booltlace ferrules) aren't great IMHO. Better to crimp a pin lug onto the cable..

But if you have a quality screw terminal with a clamp that grips the cable (not a screw thread) then you simply terminate the cable in that.. 

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1 hour ago, JustinSchoeman said:

Will it go into a 10mm clamp

I am almost certain a 95mm2 ferrule crimped won’t fit in the breaker terminal.

 

11 minutes ago, Richard Mackay said:

But if you have a quality screw terminal with a clamp that grips the cable (not a screw thread) then you simply terminate the cable in that.. 

This is how I done it just clamped the 95mm2 cable straight into the breaker terminal, but you might find the conductors on it’s own wont fit,  than a pin lug would be best.

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27 minutes ago, plonkster said:

My first instinct is to divide 95 by 3.14 and take the square root of it, then multiply by two. That puts the diameter somewhere between 10mm and 12mm (mental math, 90/3 is 30, and that is about halfway between 5^2 and 6^2 🙂 ). So it's probably not going to fit.

The ferules crimp square.  So a perfect crimp of the conductors would give you 9.8mm on a side.  No idea how much the ferule itself adds, but likely too much...

9 minutes ago, Gerrie said:

This is how I done it just clamped the 95mm2 cable straight into the breaker terminal, but you might find the conductors on it’s own wont fit,  than a pin lug would be best.

I don't really like stranded wire in a clamp (it is illegal in many areas for a reason)...  But pin lugs seem to be made of unobtainium at the moment.

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