Stuck with hand crimpers forever, until a bad install changed my view

I always used hand crimpers for battery links. Last summer, a system failed because my crimp wasn't tight enough. The heat melted some wires. Now I use a torque wrench every time, and it's made my work more reliable.

3 comments

3 Comments

wyatt_sanchez251mo ago

Yeah when you mentioned the melted plastic housing, that's the heat from resistance in a bad connection. It's not just the outside getting hot, the metal itself is heating up from the poor contact. Spot on about it sneaking up on you though, @faithcampbell.

jaken281mo ago

Yeah, a buddy of mine learned that the hard way on his boat. He used cheap hand crimpers on a new battery terminal last spring. It looked fine, but the connection got hot and actually melted part of the plastic terminal housing while he was out on the water. Now he swears by his calibrated crimp tool too. Just shows how a small tool change can stop a big headache.

faithcampbell1mo ago

Melted the plastic housing? That's actually scary. For it to get hot enough to do that while he was just using the boat. A bad connection really can sneak up on you.