The ultimate jumper cable setup

[4shorts]

I did the same thing this spring when I finished restoring my old forklift. Good system and works well.

 

[mcd176]

I tried the link to Mcmaster-Carr and it came up an error, does anyone know what page they are on?

 

[tlbuser]

page 721, under battery connectors

 

[mcd176]

Thanks tlbuser

 

[cityfarma]

I was fixing to jump in and say "always CRIMP anything bigger than a #6AWG and CRIMP-then-SOLDER anything smaller"; but then I read PILOON's response and I agree on the soldering only when it is something expensive that you might want to re-use later, as you can apply a little heat and salvage the connectors.



On anything that is intended to be permanent and not likely to ever be taken apart, the following applies :

On the small stuff, crimping-then-soldering is absolutely the best way to go; the crimp provides a strong mechanical connection and the solder seals everything up against moisture and corrosion.

On big stuff, vibrations and occassional high heat will soon weaken a soldered bond and therefore a good strong crimp is by far best.

I have always believe that you should NOT solder crimped lugs as this increases the breakage of the strands when the cable is flexed. On soldered lugs, the bend happens at the junction of the solder and over time, this weakens the strand. With crimp only, the strands flex and slide over each other and do not have a single point of stress.

Cityfarma

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Hmmm, let's see, crimping crushes the copper strands weakening and damaging them. Soldering them causes a weak spot where they may bend and break. I have seen both on copper cable from 4 gauge to 2/0 cable. Personally, for my own stuff, I solder. I will take a stronger electrical connection even if it doesn't last quite as long. If you are going to solder them, you better know what you are doing. Otherwise, you end up with a cold joint which is very bad.

If you want those neat red or gray battery connectors, go to a forklift shop. They sell them by the hundreds. They are known as Andersen SB connectors. The model is the amperage rating. You want the 350's. The 175's are too small. They also come in blue, yellow, green, and maybe a couple other colors. The colors are not supposed to interchange. They are made different colors so that different machines in the same building can have different voltages without getting batteries, chargers, and machines mixed up. The different colors have absolutely nothing to do with the quality. They have everything to do with keeping different voltage machines from getting hooked to each other. Traditionally, in the forklift industry, 350 reds are 24v, gray 36 volt, blue 48 volt. This is just the way I usually see it done, it's not any kind of regulation. Usually a 72v machine is two 36v batteries in series.

 

[Lazy]

Hi
This is what you use to solder large connectors to cables
American Beauty 10505 | Non-ESD-Safe Soldering/Rework Stations but at the cost you might want to build one using your buzz box welder or battery charger as a power source, and a home brew hand set using motor brushes or carbon rods from an old battery? or talk a friend into buying one and then borrowing it when you need it.
Charlie.

 

[elektro21]

Those looking to purchase the Anderson power connectors may want to try Authorized Stocking Distributor for Anderson Power Products they are an authorized reseller of nothing but Anderson Power products. I have not ordered mine yet but will soon.

 

[FlaDon]

When I worked for Norfolk-Southern, we were forever more having to "jump" locomotives; they usually idled all the time, but when one was shut down for whatever reason, you may as well expect to have to jump it.

The Southern engines all had those huge jumper connections at each end of the engine, right alongside the big M.U. cord.

By plugging the connector-cables between each unit, one could jump-start for instance the fifth unit from the first unit, so long as no "foreign" units were in the mix.



Along the same line of thought, the local Ford garage has their service truck permanently hard-wired with a set of jumper-cables.

The portion of the cables that connect to the service truck battery have copper lug-terminals crimped on and are bolted on to the battery terminals.

The cables are routed through the grille and are neatly wound around a purpose-built bracket.

The "alligator" ends are clamped onto an insulated rod when not in use.

I have a set of jumper cables made out of 3000 volt silvercoated fine wire railroad cables that are about 75' in lenght. Nice thing is they are heavy enought to jump a loco with completely dead batteries. 500 amp rated clamps to complete the job. USAF EMD SW-8 jump started a NASA Alco S-2 without batteries even hooked up and no heating of the cables.

 

[BearKiller]

USAF EMD SW-8 jump started a NASA Alco S-2 without batteries

You just gotta love the ALCOs.

I wish I had an ALCO engine in my 1-ton truck, even at the cost of extending the frame and beefing everything up to handle it.