Battery cable maker-upper

[JumbleDuck]

In a spirit of wild enthusiasm I took all the battery cables out of my boat yesterday, and I now need new ones made as I change battery setup. The only place anywhere near me which makes up cables is an agricultural machinery place and their lightest weight would cheerfully hold up the Forth Road Bridge. Can anyone recommend a company who, given lengths and terminal specifications, can make up these things?

 

[rosewood]

Halfords do them in various lengths

 

[JumbleDuck]

Halfords do them in various lengths

Thanks. The trouble is that I need rather thick ones up to 8' long ...

 

[joha]

Perhaps a Welding equipment supplier?

 

[David2452]

I could do them but you wouldn't have them until Wednesday.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I could do them but you wouldn't have them until Wednesday.

PM sent.

 

[Puggy]

If you feel inclined, They are actually very easy to do yourself. You need 25mm2 or 35mm2 cable (depending on current draw) from wwww.kojaycat.co.uk, and also solder coated tube ring terminals also from Kojaycat. Then buy cheap hydraulic terminal press from eBay (search for item 321143810297). Then get some adhesive lined shrink wrap from RS Components (you will need a heat gun) and you can make up your own leads. Once you have these relatively inexpensive parts, you can make up really good looking quality battery leads to exactly the right length and make everything look really smart.

No connection to Kojaycat - just a happy customer that has bought lots of their tinned marine cable and battery cable and been very happy with the quality and value.

P

 

[macd]

Further to Puggy's suggestion, this e-Bay hydraulic crimper is also excellent: 290739583381
It's able to crimp up to 120mm2 cable; the same supplier offers a similar model for cable up to 70mm2. Truly exceptional kit for the price.

 

[fisherman]

I did some, put the terminal in a vice, heat and fill barrel with solder, insert hot cable end. Welding cable, nice and soft and little voltage drop.

 

[richardbrennan]

Make sure that you note the size of the terminals. I assumed all would be the same size when I beefed up mine which they were not!

 

[JumbleDuck]

Make sure that you note the size of the terminals. I assumed all would be the same size when I beefed up mine which they were not!

Good point! I have the old ones to check the connections at the switch and engine earth ends. and the other ends will be going on new stud connectors at the batteries, so I'll make sure I check those carefully.

 

[oldsaltoz]

The cables used on ark welding machines are thick and flexible, the scrap yard merchants often get almost new lengths that have been cut off due to a slight cut in the insulation.

Top gear and cheap.

Good luck and fair winds.

 

[nigelmercier]

You need 25mm2 or 35mm2 cable (depending on current draw) ...

A bit of a generalisation I feel. Are you suggesting that my 95mm² cable is excessive?

A good crimping tool is also available on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1nkd6CG

Max working pressure: 12 ton
Hexagon die size: 10, 16, 25, 35, 50, 70, 95, 120mm²

 

[Elessar]

In a spirit of wild enthusiasm I took all the battery cables out of my boat yesterday, and I now need new ones made as I change battery setup. The only place anywhere near me which makes up cables is an agricultural machinery place and their lightest weight would cheerfully hold up the Forth Road Bridge. Can anyone recommend a company who, given lengths and terminal specifications, can make up these things?

If you were nearer you could have borrowed mine. If David makes the cables he knows what he's doing. If getting one locally, with talk of cable sizes, try this
http://www.solar-wind.co.uk/cable-sizing-DC-cables.html

Length is there and back don't forget.

 

[JumbleDuck]

If you were nearer you could have borrowed mine. If David makes the cables he knows what he's doing. If getting one locally, with talk of cable sizes, try this
http://www.solar-wind.co.uk/cable-sizing-DC-cables.html

Length is there and back don't forget.

Much obliged, thanks. That calculator is very useful. It's really only the starter feed which I have to worry about, so assuming 100A (1GM10), 3% acceptable loss and 4m there and back, it says 50mm^2, which is what is fitted at the moment. The cables have a rather tight path at one point, so I don't want to go up in size if I can help it.

 

[Poignard]

It hardly seems worth the expense of buying a heavy duty crimper for a one-off job. Surely cheaper to have them made up or borrow a crimper (someone has kindly offered to lend me one).

Imcidentally, I saw someone on YouTube demonstrating fitting ring terminals and he crimped the terminals and then soldered them. Is there any need for this? Wouldn't one or the other would be enough?

 

[David2452]

Imcidentally, I see someone on YouTube demonstrating fitting ring terminals and he crimped the terminals and then soldered them. Is there any need for this? Wouldn't one or the other would be enough?

Absolutely not, in fact on a properly crimped terminal using a quality shop crimper and matched dies and lugs there will be no room for solder anyway as it virtually fuses the whole assembly, cheap Chinese crimpers and mismatched terminal lugs / dies may well leave room for solder but it's not needed, in fact it just produces hard spots.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Absolutely not, in fact on a properly crimped terminal using a quality shop crimper and matched dies and lugs there will be no room for solder anyway as it virtually fuses the whole assembly ...

Yup. Aluminium and copper cold-weld very nicely, so there is continuous metal with each-way penetration at the boundary.

 

[Poignard]

Yup. Aluminium and copper cold-weld very nicely, so there is continuous metal with each-way penetration at the boundary.

Aluminium? Please explain.

I thought the crimp connectors were copper, eg:

http://kojaycat.co.uk/epages/950000...gories/Battery_Terminals/Terminals_Tube__Ring

 

[David2452]

Aluminium? Please explain.

I thought the crimp connectors were copper, eg:

http://kojaycat.co.uk/epages/950000...gories/Battery_Terminals/Terminals_Tube__Ring

Oranges are not the only fruit, Kojaycat and many other suppliers of their ilk are very limited in their range, aluminum lugs and conductors are not uncommon in some industries, though less so nowadays and obviously not in a marine environment.