Making some Battery cables

[Pressure washer]

 

[Texasmark]

Neat but lots of places make them and hydraulic hoses for the price of the parts.

 

[WranglerX]

IT will work but there are a lot better methods, I prefer crimped on connectors and to seal them heat shrink.... The thing is with solder the cable becomes brittle and will break right where the solder that wicked up the cable ends..

There are very few places in any industry today the uses soldered on terminals...

Dale

 

[Fallon]

IT will work but there are a lot better methods, I prefer crimped on connectors and to seal them heat shrink.... The thing is with solder the cable becomes brittle and will break right where the solder that wicked up the cable ends..

There are very few places in any industry today the uses soldered on terminals...

Dale

Yup. a proper crimp is as strong as solder & less prone to vibration related fatigue. I put Anderson connectors on mine. Hook up the clamps, then connect the plug. Dont get dangling sparking clamps that way. Plan on mounting an Anderson plug to the grill on my next truck too. Never even have to pop your hood to jump somebody. I'd do it now, but the Tacoma & old beater F250 are likely to get sold or traded in for a newer diesel 3/4 ton within the year.

 

[PILOON]

Yep, have Andersons on my tractor and vehicles.
My cables have one end Anderson fitted plus a shorter version that allows me to be double end clip.

 

[newbury]

IT will work but there are a lot better methods, I prefer crimped on connectors and to seal them heat shrink.... The thing is with solder the cable becomes brittle and will break right where the solder that wicked up the cable ends..

There are very few places in any industry today the uses soldered on terminals...

Dale

Yup. a proper crimp is as strong as solder & less prone to vibration related fatigue. I put Anderson connectors on mine. Hook up the clamps, then connect the plug. Dont get dangling sparking clamps that way. Plan on mounting an Anderson plug to the grill on my next truck too. Never even have to pop your hood to jump somebody. I'd do it now, but the Tacoma & old beater F250 are likely to get sold or traded in for a newer diesel 3/4 ton within the year.

Yep, have Andersons on my tractor and vehicles.
My cables have one end Anderson fitted plus a shorter version that allows me to be double end clip.

A 4th vote for crimping if you can afford it. If I only had to do 2 fittings solder might work. But I've made a bunch of cables for power extension for my winches etc.

I've probably put on a dozen connectors. A decent hydraulic crimp tool runs about $30 to ???. And will mash the cable together like it's one solid piece.

Also I found that buying cable can be tricky. Make sure it is ALL COPPER. Sometimes it is less expensive to buy "jumper cables" (make sure they are all copper!) on sale and replace the clamp ends with Andersen style connectors.

 

[TractorGuy]

With the copper terminals shown I use vise grips to crimp THEN fill with solder to prevent corrosion. With vise grips you crimp, adjust, and crimp again until it won't close any tighter. I guarantee you won't pull the cable out.

On my backhoe I purchased some cast bronze terminals that would have been too brittle to crimp so those are soldered on. They were advertised as solder type terminals. Both methods have worked for me but I prefer the soft copper I can crimp first.

 

[/pine]

If you ask lead/acid battery professionals they will tell you the best method is tinning (solder) the ends that go into closed end connectors then crimping...

If you are really interested in learning more about battery cables...some of the best information can be found on electric (golf) cart sites...

General consensus is that heat shrink creates an environment for early and rapid corrosion...

General automotive (and tractor) maintenance may require battery cables be replaced or addressed maybe a few times over the lifespan of a machine...Electric L/A battery powered carts often require cable replacement every few years...IMO this makes cart professionals much more aware of the best methods with the least issues...

BTW the most common quality cables used on carts employ 6GA to 2GA (high strand count) welding cable...

 

[jrsavoie]

Neat but lots of places make them and hydraulic hoses for the price of the parts.

That's true, but I keep stuff around here, rather than driving 1/2 hour plus to get to a place that will make them for me.

 

[jrsavoie]

Yep, have Andersons on my tractor and vehicles.
My cables have one end Anderson fitted plus a shorter version that allows me to be double end clip.

What's an Anderson? Anderson Power Product Connectors

I like to use tinned marine battery cable. I've been getting my ends from Waytek.com

I always use heat shrink - except when I forget to put it on.

I used to always fill the cable end with solder and then stick the cable into the molten solder. I had very good results with that method. Not much damage done to the cable coating.

I've had issues with welding cable losing it's coating. I had to scrap about 400 ft of 2/0. Broke my little heart and hurt my one and only feeling

I have a hydraulic crimper that works very well. I've used it on 3/0 cable

This is the crimper I bought - TMS Crimper-WL-YQK-300 16 Ton Hydraulic Wire Battery Cable Lug Terminal Crimper Crimping Tool 11 Dies - $49.95

TMS Crimper-WL-YQK-3 16 Ton Hydraulic Wire Battery Cable Lug Terminal Crimper Crimping Tool 11 Dies - - Amazon.com