Battery cable video. What do you think?

[In The Ten Ring]

I want to do this by the weekend, what do you think of how this guy did it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4MapRlYG7A

['68OrangeSunshine]

Good video. I've done it that way. He forgot to mention flux.

[mike16]

IMO he should have trimmed the insulation back further.

he should have used more solder

he should have heated both the copper cable and the terminal-

good terminal end... not that junk lead end

dont use acid core solder flux. rosin core only

and one should always use the largest diameter cable,

weldeing cable is almost always best.

[In The Ten Ring]

What I bought at NAPA is still out in the car but the clerk said "that solder contains resin." If so, is extra flux needed?

I bought 2 gauge wire, compared to my old cables, that is what the wire diameter seemed to be.

[mike16]

rosin core.

biggest diameter wire with the highest number of strands. be carefull simply eyeballing guage based on insulation diameter.

cheap wire has thick insulation made from material that is soft and even feels cheap

welding wire is usually best. FAA-PMA approved is better still but maybe overkill.

bigger core diameter made up of many more strands of finer copper wire.

terminals are tin coated brass. but be careful as tin melts at only a slightly higher temperture than the lead soder.

you may notice in his video that while its hot enough to melt the lead and even melt the insulation, the mass of the terminal draws away heat befor it can bond the cable to the terminal. Thats why it pulled apart with such minimal effort.

and heat shrink should be used to reduce the corrosive effects of acid fumes at the connection between the terminal end and the copper cable. this is important because in that envirionment, with acid fumes so close by, dissimilar metal corrosion is always a consideration

[In The Ten Ring]

We actually compared the copper cores, not the insulation when we decided on 2 gauge.

So no extra flux needed?

What do you think of the heat shrink with adhesive inside? (billed as "being able to melt into the wire and seal it")

What do you think of clear heat shrink? It's available and would allow one to see the joint and look for green corrosion (although it would look bad).

[indymachinist]

The heat shrink with adhesive inside is the way to go, IMO.

Where I work we crimp terminals like that. Almost nothing gets soldered here.

['68OrangeSunshine]

Flux may not be necessary if using resin-core solder, but it's surprising how well it works when you do need it.
I like to ''tin'' the bare end with fresh solder before I put it in the terminal, then feed more solder into the gap as needed, until it starts to overflow.

[franken]

Rule one is never use flux on anything electrical. Rosin core solder is for electrical connections. Regarding the video, completely useless. Don't learn soldering from someone who has no idea of how to solder. I promise his soldered connections are bad.

[In The Ten Ring]

What I have decided to do is the following:

1). Get hold of some hydraulic crimpers. I may have to buy a set as no auto parts store in my area rents those.

2). Get hold of heat shrink that contains adhesive. *I'll have to order this.

3). Crimp the connection, solder, heat shrink wrap.

4). Put cables onto truck.

5). Post pics to this site.

6). Bask in the glory and thank everyone for helping me to do this.

Thoughts?

*I hear online that solder makes the cable less flexible at the end....thoughts?

[HO455]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

What I have decided to do is the following:

1). Get hold of some hydraulic crimpers. I may have to buy a set as no auto parts store in my area rents those.

2). Get hold of heat shrink that contains adhesive. *I'll have to order this.

3). Crimp the connection, solder, heat shrink wrap.

4). Put cables onto truck.

5). Post pics to this site.

6). Bask in the glory and thank everyone for helping me to do this.

Thoughts?

*I hear online that solder makes the cable less flexible at the end....thoughts?

You don't need a hydraulic crimper these manual crimpers work great, just don't get too heavy with the hammer. Almost any welding supply store will sell them.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/l...SABEgK67fD_BwE

Yes, soldering the connection can make the wire stiff. This happens when solder is wicked up the strands. Like soldering copper water pipe. Too much solder in the lug causes that. If your going to crimp and solder you don't need to put more than inch of 1/8" solder in side of the lug. (Obviously the bigger the lug the more it will need) Much more than that causes stiff ends. Tinning the wire usually is a good idea, but not if your going to crimp them. This is where using extra flux is a good idea. (BTW flux is the chemical cleaning agent used to prep the surfaces to be soldered. It comes in lots of varieties but the basic ones are Acid for joining nonferrous and ferrous metals and Rosin which is used for electrical connections.). So coat your wire end and the inside of the lug with Rosin flux before crimping. What method of heating the connection will you be using?
I recommend doing some practice connections before hand so you can get a feel for the process.

One of the key things when soldering is that once you have the solder applied correctly the wire and the lug MUST not move when cooling. Any movement will cause cracks or fault lines which can cause the connection to fail due to high resistance. Clamping things will prevent this.
After soldering and before heat shrinking rinse the connection off with clean water and scub it lightly with a brush to remove any excess flux. Dry and install the heat shrink.

[KQQL IT]

Have some crimped cables i did in 1990 still doing fine. No solder just heat shrink.
Been in 2 trucks so far.

[In The Ten Ring]

I was planning on using a propane torch as a heat source.

*The more I go over this, them more I kinda realize I am probably vastly overthinking it! *I guess Youtube videos can do that to you.

If a buy a crimper, I might go for something like this and use it in my bench vise.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E1UUVT0..._t1_B000M7LFKK

I may just forget about the solder part.....might be vast overkill.

I have red and black heat shrink but I might go for the adhesive kind.

I saw some online that are 3:1 shrink. What NAPA sold me might be adhesive-lined, but they didn't say. I need to call and ask before spending more money.

HO455, your crimper link has gotten me to thinking....there is a welding supply shop in town (I drove by there twice yesterday but didn't think about stopping) and they might sell these. If dad's tool isn't up to snuff, I'll give that place a check and if they don't have anything I like, I'll probably buy that tool you suggested.

[HO455]

I finally got the video to play. The guy has the basic idea but fails with the process. Doing it without crimping means you should "tin" the end going into the lug. And with a lug of that size putting flux in it before heating and adding the solder is a good idea. Then heat the lug till the solder melts and put the wire in. Then you need to keep it hot until you can melt solder on the wire. You then know the solder will adhere properly to both the lug and the wire.
The other problem is he is wiggling the wire as it is cooling.
You are correct that soldering is overkill if you have good quality crimp lugs and the proper crimper. Welding leads are very rarely soldered and they regularly carry loads greater than 300 amps continuously. You may be able to have the welding shop put the lugs on for you if your other options don't pan out.
PS I am a fan of the glue style heat shrink tubing.

[Overdriven]

+1 on the glue style heat shrink tubing. No need for it to be clear, trust me the stuff seals.

[special-K]

What do I think? I think we need to start a new battery cable sub-forum. It seems to be a big topic lately

Honestly, there is no reason not to just go out and buy a set of cables for as cheap as they are and as well as they work. Just don't allow corrosion to develop at your battery connections...or any others. Are these the original cables you are replacing? Crimping works downright excellent. Battery cables/posts can get darned hot. I have had a hard to start diesel cause the post to melt out of the battery. Same as on my high compression Harley. The battery cable was fine. If they were soldered, that would have melted away.

[CG]

I went through this with my last project. The battery had been moved to the frame rail under the truck. I over thought it like you did. Finally went down to the local battery store and told them what I was up to. They gave me the right cable size, the correct ends, and one of those hammer crimpers. No soldering, easy peasy. Worked great with no problems. I later moved the battery back up to the firewall. Cut, strip, new end and crimp again.

[Greasey Harley]

I use this:
http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDi...iABEgJJjvD_BwE
Works great and cheap.
I usually don't solder. I f I do solder, I use solder on ends, not crimp on ends.

[In The Ten Ring]

OK guys, here is the update. I ordered some glue-lined heat shrink off ebay as the local NAPA only had one color and wanted 2 dollars per inch. They'd have to order theirs too and it only came in one color.

Dad found his crimp tool and it is massive! It has a screw that turns down the crimper to different gauge sizes and the handles are over 12 inches long! I'd post a pic but I'll have to wait till I get home.

Now about this heat shrink with glue lining....do I need to strip off enough wire leaving a gap between insulation and connector to allow the stuff to flow into the wires or do I just allow the insulation and end of connector to touch?

[Overdriven]

The heat shrink with glue doesn't need to contact the wire. Strip off enough insulation to get the wire fully into the connector, if there's a little gap between the insulation and connector it's not the end of the world as the shrink tubing will cover it. Speaking of, slip some shrink tubing over the wire, push wire into connector as far as it'll go, crimp, use heat gun on shrink tubing. Done.

About shrink tubing with glue. I've only used one type and the glue was basically a thin layer of hot glue, my buddy used to work for a defense contractor and snagged a bunch. Anyway that stuff required a bit more heat than the average shrink tube available in the electrical aisle at pep boys. Something you may want to keep in mind or if you're that worried about it do a test run on a scrap piece of wire to see when the glue melts and how much heat the shrink tubing can take.

[In The Ten Ring]

Originally Posted by Overdriven

The heat shrink with glue doesn't need to contact the wire. Strip off enough insulation to get the wire fully into the connector, if there's a little gap between the insulation and connector it's not the end of the world as the shrink tubing will cover it. Speaking of, slip some shrink tubing over the wire, push wire into connector as far as it'll go, crimp, use heat gun on shrink tubing. Done.

About shrink tubing with glue. I've only used one type and the glue was basically a thin layer of hot glue, my buddy used to work for a defense contractor and snagged a bunch. Anyway that stuff required a bit more heat than the average shrink tube available in the electrical aisle at pep boys. Something you may want to keep in mind or if you're that worried about it do a test run on a scrap piece of wire to see when the glue melts and how much heat the shrink tubing can take.

Very good suggestion, thanks! I ordered a bunch which will give me room for testing. I will try to use a heat gun but could use propane torch if needed.

Here is my dad's crimper.....it is adjustable for different gauge wires. What do you guys think?

*My cell phone is just a flip phone, not very large.

[In The Ten Ring]

Got the cables made! That crimper is da bomb!

I'll try and post pics in a day or so. I used glue-lined heat shrink but no soldering.

[HO455]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

Very good suggestion, thanks! I ordered a bunch which will give me room for testing. I will try to use a heat gun but could use propane torch if needed.

Here is my dad's crimper.....it is adjustable for different gauge wires. What do you guys think?

*My cell phone is just a flip phone, not very large.

Good quality crimper. Glad to hear you have them done.

[100%Chevy]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

Very good suggestion, thanks! I ordered a bunch which will give me room for testing. I will try to use a heat gun but could use propane torch if needed.

Here is my dad's crimper.....it is adjustable for different gauge wires. What do you guys think?

*My cell phone is just a flip phone, not very large.

That's what we electricians call a "One Shot " crimper.
I have that pair and it's big daddy-About 4' long handles.
Just make sure you pull the handles all the way together for the correct crimp!
Mike.

[In The Ten Ring]

Originally Posted by 100%Chevy

That's what we electricians call a "One Shot " crimper.
I have that pair and it's big daddy-About 4' long handles.
Just make sure you pull the handles all the way together for the correct crimp!
Mike.

I'll have to measure this one, give me a moment. 22 1/4 inches long. It is screw adjustable for different gauges.

Dad said he bought that at least 40 years ago from an "Anchor Freight" store that is long gone now. He had to supply his own tools to work in the coal mines. I wonder what stories that crimper could tell! Dad was an electrician in the mines and worked almost exclusively in low top.