For hand crimping? We don't do anything like that. We have the pneumatic tool you can see in the upper left in the web page photo, we do up to 00 gage with it. I'm not aware of any hand tools that are mil spec quality that would do the heavy stuff (but I have not gone looking for them either). The pneumatic tool is great. regards, - Graham -----Original Message----- From: Robert Kondner [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 11:07 AM To: 'TechNet E-Mail Forum'; Collins, Graham (FN) @ PRG - ESI Subject: RE: [TN] Crimp/Solder Lugs for DLO 535 MCM Cable Graham, Thanks for the link. I went through their catalog, I didn't see anything for wire size greater than #12. Are you sure they have something? We are talking about a LOT of force here. I wonder if hand operated is really possible? Thanks, Bob K. -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Graham Collins Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 7:50 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Crimp/Solder Lugs for DLO 535 MCM Cable Hi Bob Big crimp tools - Astro: http://www.astrotool.com/ regards, - Graham -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Robert Kondner Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 10:45 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Crimp/Solder Lugs for DLO 535 MCM Cable Phil, I tend to agree that soldering crimp connections is not a good idea. It makes the connection stiff and concentrates flexing to a smaller area. Now this might be pure Hog Wash but I do not think that a crimp is not as "Air Tight" as solder. I did see a crimp fail near a farm silo system, plenty of bad NO2 and sulfur compounds. (These were #14 AWG stranded wires.) The wires were corroded and the terminal overheated. I have recently been playing with some # 4AWG cables with crimped 3/8 inch ring terminals. These are constructed from a large number of fine strands as to leave the cable flexible. Something so large seems to defeat the ability to apply the high pressures required to form cold welds. When you flex the cable near the terminal you can see some of the fine strands move. Does anyone have experience and/or vendor names for very large crimmpers? Thanks, Bob K -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Phil Nutting Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 6:37 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Crimp/Solder Lugs for DLO 535 MCM Cable If you want to introduce unreliability into your system, then by all means solder the crimped connections. Many years ago I fought this battle, and won, with the aid of a document from Amp. I think Steve Gregory posted it on his Homestead web site. The theory is that with a properly sized wire/crimp combination you form a gas tight mechanical weld. Adding solder creates a stiff failure point where the solder ends and the unsoldered wire begins. The one exception we have is for Litz wire. This is wire comprised of many small strands of enamel insulated wire that must be stripped to make a connection. Chemical stripping is one solution, but the added problems of removing 100% of the stripping chemical and chemical hazards make this a non-preferred solution. Instead we tin the wire ends in a solder pot that burns off all the enamel and nylon serve (thread "jacket"). And yes, we do get failures with this method on the smaller gauge wires (26-34 gauge) if we flex them too many times. Typically these wires are only used in inductors, chokes or transformers where the wires are terminated and no longer see flexing once terminated. For the larger 10 AWG Litz, once tinned, it might as well be steel for the stiffness it develops. Phil Nutting Design for Manufacturing Engineer Kaiser Systems, Inc. -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Graham Collins Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2012 6:27 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Crimp/Solder Lugs for DLO 535 MCM Cable Excellent article! In the sailboat world the myth of soldering crimped connections is healthy and thriving, it drives me nuts. But that is what you get with a large DIY crowd and some dockside "experts"... Thanks Steve. regards, - Graham -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve Gregory Sent: Monday, July 09, 2012 7:47 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Crimp/Solder Lugs for DLO 535 MCM Cable John, After looking around a bit, you really shouldn't solder a crimped connection, you could very well be compromising the crimp itself, and cause more problems than if you just left the crimp alone (assuming it was a proper crimp to begin with). Here's a article from Jim Dunbar a Product Manager for Terminals and Splices, and Senior Product Engineer Tom Michielutti of Tyco that spells it out: http://www.newark.com/pdfs/techarticles/tyco/ET.pdf Look down at the bottom of page 4... Steve -----Original Message----- From: Steve Gregory Sent: Monday, July 09, 2012 6:01 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Crimp/Solder Lugs for DLO 535 MCM Cable John, I always thought that you didn't solder a crimped connection. But if this is a requirement, then probably the best way to go about this is to get yourself an American Beauty... An American Beauty Resistance soldering unit that is, a model 10577 ought to do the trick: https://www.americanbeautytools.com/site/models/rs/109/features There's even a Youtube video of it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7vNQki7UgQ&feature=relmfu Steve -----Original Message----- From: John Anselmo Sent: Monday, July 09, 2012 4:36 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] Crimp/Solder Lugs for DLO 535 MCM Cable Ok, we need to solder the lugs (after crimping) for a 535MCM DLO Cable. What's the easiest way to do this? Thanks, John ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service. For more information please contact helpdesk at x2960 or [log in to unmask] ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service. 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