Fitting new battery cable terminal....great video

[Mr Googler]

Great YouTube video on how to install cable terminals properly.

Have a few to do so thought I’d share

 

[AndieMac]

Meticulous tradesman, I like his style. I was amused when he mentioned his OCD
Thanks for sharing P

 

[Boat2016]

The idea of crimp connection is that you don’t solder it.

 

[Gumpy]

Looked quite good until he soldered a crimp connector.
Lost all credibility at that point.

 

[MapisM]

I don't think there's any need to solder for electrical connection, as that chap says in the video.
Otoh, I like the idea of "sealing" the cable end, to protect it from moisture/oxidation.
Do you guys see anything wrong with that? I mean, really wrong, not just (possibly) unnecessary.

 

[sarabande]

He did mention that the solder was for the crimp connection, not for the cable. I see nowt wrong with that; there's no vibration in the connector.

Good to see manual dexterity allied with presentation skills.

 

[Gumpy]

Having done thousands of these lugs in my working life I have never soldered one. What I do to seal the hole is to bring the heatshrink over the hole so it covers it without interfering with the connection face.

 

[MapisM]

Fairenuff, but you didn't answer my question: is soldering just unnecessary, or wrong? And if the latter, why?

 

[Mr Googler]

Why would someone lose credibility due to soldering a joint? Bit OTT.

No doubt it would be fine without however, must make for a better connection by giving more surface area between the cable and lug for current to flow and more importantly , remove voids for moisture to get in and cause corrosion.

 

[Boat2016]

Why would someone lose credibility due to soldering a joint? Bit OTT.

No doubt it would be fine without however, must make for a better connection by giving more surface area between the cable and lug for current to flow and more importantly , remove voids for moisture to get in and cause corrosion.

It causes a weak point and can fail due to vibration, it’s not necessary and can cause an unnecessary issue in the future.

 

[petem]

Why would someone lose credibility due to soldering a joint? Bit OTT.

No doubt it would be fine without however, must make for a better connection by giving more surface area between the cable and lug for current to flow and more importantly , remove voids for moisture to get in and cause corrosion.

Wouldn't a drop of silicone be equally good in keeping moisture out?

 

[sarabande]

If the crimp is made according to spec, the interstices in the cable will be very small and the mechanical strength satisfactory. Solder within the crimp only ensures highest poss connectivity, and inhibits a failure point through ingress of moisture and hence possible corrosion (as noted by Farsco), even though tinned cable is used. Cutting the cable exposes the copper in the strand, and that is the immediate face within the inspection hole of the crimp....

Vibration cannot be an issue within the crimp and is absorbed across multiple frequencies by the battery cable being multi-strand and the only flexible link between the solidly fixed batteries and the next upline point where the cables are rigidly secured.

 

[Mr Googler]

It causes a weak point and can fail due to vibration, it’s not necessary and can cause an unnecessary issue in the future.

Sorry...that makes no sense. If you are happy with just crimping on...I can’t see how solder after crimping can make it weaker.

 

[Mr Googler]

Wouldn't a drop of silicone be equally good in keeping moisture out?

Quite possibly...I wouldn’t trust myself with a blow torch anyway

 

[Gumpy]

The solder will wick up the cable enabling the possibility of a stress fracture.

 

[sarabande]

umm, only if the conductor is hotter than the melting point of the solder, in which case the insulation will melt...

Soldering within the shroud of the connector to prevent (not minimise) corrosion does make sense.

 

[lw395]

The actual crimping looked wrong to me, compared with what the pro's do, so possibly wise to admit defeat and solder it.
If you look at a properly done crimp, there is serious movement of the metal, not just dressing it into a pretty round or hexagonal shape.
The idea is that the pressure inside the crimp is sufficient to cold weld the copper wire to the crimp.

If you're doing your own, do a spare one on an offcut of wire and hacksaw through it.
If it's proper, there will be no gaps you can see, barely even tell where one strand meets the next.

But in my view, if you don't have the pro tooling, it's fine to squish out most of the air space then solder it.
Use a few layers of heat shrink for strain relief and run the cable so the joint isn't stressed or fatigued.

 

[longjohnsilver]

I watched it and was impressed. I have exactly the same crimping tool, very useful when you need to crimp a larger cable. I’d. happily have him work on my boat judging by what I saw.

 

[Boat2016]

Sorry...that makes no sense. If you are happy with just crimping on...I can’t see how solder after crimping can make it weaker.

Because the solder then takes the flexibility out he crimped joint, if it was considered correct why don’t all the boat builders do it ?

 

[Boat2016]

I watched it and was impressed. I have exactly the same crimping tool, very useful when you need to crimp a larger cable. I’d. happily have him work on my boat judging by what I saw.

From what I saw it was just an amateur showing how he thought best to do a job with no real knowledge so he wouldn’t be allowed near my boat.