Wow! You REALLY crimped that ring-tongue! So, do you have an idea how large of a ring-tongue you could crimp? Do you think it will it go to 2/0 on the 70mm2 die?

And, you've answered a question about the battery terminal. Since I want to do 2/0 for the boat, if I want to use the same type of terminals you used I'll have to go with the larger crimper - which means I'll lose the ability to do the smaller terminals. Hmmm.

But, THANKS for the review!

Oh yes - if I order the larger unit, let's compare the die sizes. Perhaps they'll interchange and you could buy die for one of the bigger units.

 

The largest wire I currently have is 1/0. I tried a crimp with the 70 die and here's the result:




The die was big enough it hardly distorted the terminal. All it really did was put a little resistance between the wire and terminal. So, this just may work for your 2/0 wire. But, 2/0 is only .040" bigger, so not sure how tight the crimp will be. .325" vs. .365".

 

Just found a site while looking for dies that the 70mm die will indeed crimp 2/0 wire. Not sure if that's accurate though.

10 Ton 9 Dies Hydraulic Wire Terminal Battery Cable Crimper - TheLAShop

 

Ok, so I have looked around the web. Surely this hydraulic crimper is a knock off of a brand name tool that is built well. SO far I cant find one.

 

From what I have looked at I am going to say the 16 ton unit seems to be designed better. I would think it would last longer for another $20.

 

Another $20? How about another $9?

• 16 Ton:
  16 Ton:
  $43.45 inc shipping
• 10 Ton: $34.50 from Evil Bay

Yes, the 10 ton unit will apparently do 2/0 ring tongue, but I'd bet it won't do 2/0 battery terminals like 81CT used. To do the #2 battery terminal took the largest die, so it was maxed out.

I put together a spreadsheet to get my head around the different die sizes in the two different crimpers we are talking about. Here's what I've found, but it seems to say that the 10 ton would be best since you can do down to #12 wire - if you don't want to do crimp-on battery terminals using 2/0 wire. However, if you want to do that I think you'll need the 16 to unit, as shown in the last column on the right, which is guesstimated based on the fact that a #2 battery terminal took the 70mm2 die.

 

Surely a die could be made that would do the smaller gauge wire. The design of the 16 ton where it is enclosed all the way around will take a lot more stress provided the casting is good. The "C" type frame the 10 ton unit made with seems to me like a failure waiting to happen. This is common in reloading presses. The "C" type just dont hold up to the use where what is referred to as the "O" style do.

These tools are no doubt imports and probably made somewhat cheap. The biggest issue I could see happening with it would be the casting quality of the frame. Everything else could probably be remedied such as the handle or perhaps the hydraulic seals inside. Those items could be fixed without it being a wash IMO. However if you break the casting up top then it is time for a new tool. So the "O" design on the 16 ton unit is more appealing to me. Just my 0.02

 

I agree with the concern about the "C" design. (Sorry, 81CT.) There are O-style 10 ton crimpers @ only & free shipping. But, as it turns out, that 10 tonner has the bigger die like the 16 ton units.

 

Doing some research I found the 10 ton "C" style in another brand that was $250. However, the big brands in that style were $800+. So the $250 unit had me looking at it with scrutiny because it was a far cry from $800. I would do the $40 unit before the $250. I just cant see it being a quality that much better than the cheap and certainly not in the same race with the big boys.

 

And, I found a unit called MIC-120 that had been on eBay. Had the right die to do #8 AWG to something like 4/0, but it otherwise looked exactly like the 10 ton units with the smaller set of die. Still, it sounded good until I looked at the price - $130 and it was no longer available. Let's see, buy one unit for $130 that does a bit less than two units that collectively cost $90? Not a good deal in my estimation, especially when it is the C style and the larger of the two for $90 would be the O style.

 

Here is a company that sells dies for some type of crimper. I dont know if these are the correct ones for the tools we are discussing. They look kind of neat because some of them are spring loaded so they will maybe spread apart upon release:

Presseinsätze D, Gesamtquerschnitt 6 - 185 mm2

 

There's no way of telling whether they will fit since we don't have dimensions. But, they have to be a perfect fit.

I've been wanting to contact some of the folks selling the crimpers to see if they would sell extra die. I'm thinking that they surely have had units returned with bad cylinders, so should have extra die. And, they should know if die for the 10 ton will fit in the 16 ton units. But, I can't find contact information for any of them - what does that tell you?

 

Aside from the previously mentioned benefits, If you use the mil-spec battery terminals you have greater flexibility as the cable lugs for 00 cable won't have as large a barrel OD as terminals that accept 00 cable.
Additionally, I'd stay away from plain copper lugs, they are very prone to corrosion as compared to quality tinned copper lugs.

 

The one on Amazon says it's by TMS. Several sites selling them (searched by part number) say they are made by T-Motorsports. I doubt that they actually make them, but it's possible they are the importer.
They list the 16 ton one for $27.50
16 Ton Hydraulic Wire Battery Cable Lug Terminal Crimper Crimping Tool 11 Dies - T-MOTORSPORTS Online Store

 

Tom - Thanks. I'll certainly be using marine-grade terminals, so no plain copper terminals. And, I agree that military style battery terminals give me the flexibility of connections and dispense with the need to crimp the crimp-style battery terminals. But, I'm just trying to find the perfect tool. For under $50, delivered.

And, the T-Motorsports 16 ton crimper does come in under $50, but not a lot when you add $16 in shipping. That puts it right in line with most of the others. But, in order to get some questions answered I called them and talked to Melissa. She said they just sell them and don't have any more information than what shows on the web site. So, they don't know if the die interchange and don't have a wider range of die available. Given that, I tried to work a package deal on their 10 ton unit ($32.95) plus the 16 ton unit ($43.45 with shipping). No dice.

So, I contacted Lewang Electronics, who have this 16 ton unit for . The gentleman than answered didn't know anything and said the only way to get information is to submit a request through Amazon. Here's my note to them:Having said all of that, I'm back to thinking I'll buy one of the 10 ton units that'll do #12 to 2/0. I'll have grounds to do that are smaller than the 16 ton units will do, and if I don't go with the crimp-style battery terminals then I won't need anything larger. So, if Lewang doesn't get back or doesn't have what I'm looking for in more die or a package deal on both sizes, then I'll order the 10 ton unit from T-Motorsports - unless I find a better deal elsewhere. Or, unless I wake up thinking differently tomorrow. Or, .......