Where can I get battery monitor shunt leads made?

Skylark

Skylark

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I bought a Victron battery monitor in February and only now able to look at its installation. I need a couple of short length, 160mm of 75 mm^2 negative cables to and from the shunt. Any suggestions as to where made to measure cables can be bought? I've tried 12v Planet and while they have the individual components for sale they do not offer make to order.

Many thanks in advance.
 
Many thanks to you both. The ebay ads (same dealer) show 100 or 250 mm length. I'll contact them to see if they can/will make 160mm.

I'm intrigued by the crimping tool and the idea of DIY. I've always thought that crimpers for heavy cable were prohibitively expensive. Supplementary question, how do you cut the cable (neatly :) )
 
Next time I have some cables to make up I will be tempted to get a hydraulic crimper.
Crimper They seem too cheap but could be OK for occasional use.
In the past I have soldered and covered with adhesive heatshrink and not had any problems.
 
Skylark said:
Many thanks to you both. The ebay ads (same dealer) show 100 or 250 mm length. I'll contact them to see if they can/will make 160mm.

I'm intrigued by the crimping tool and the idea of DIY. I've always thought that crimpers for heavy cable were prohibitively expensive. Supplementary question, how do you cut the cable (neatly :) )
Click to expand...

There must be auto electricians in your area who already have the tools for the job.
 
Skylark said:
I bought a Victron battery monitor in February and only now able to look at its installation. I need a couple of short length, 160mm of 75 mm^2 negative cables to and from the shunt. Any suggestions as to where made to measure cables can be bought? I've tried 12v Planet and while they have the individual components for sale they do not offer make to order.

Many thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Where is the shunt? On my system, it is very near the batteries and there are two light gauge wires (i.e. not cables) to the instrument. They carry a minute current.
 
Baggywrinkle said:
I also fitted the Victron battery monitor - made all my 95mm battery cables myself using an E-Bay crimp tool and a set of cable cutters.

View attachment 95285

Get cutters with curved jaws, like these ........ Stanley Max Steel Cable Cutters 215MM 0 89 874: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

.. and a crimper like this .... 416374 Hydraulic Electrical Crimping Tool Die Set 16-300mm2 5056156029568 | eBay

Two years later it's all running faultlessly.

Go on, you know you want to (y) ?
Click to expand...

Stanley has a good reputation so you have my attention ;). With no experience to fall back upon, I'd worry that the jaws would want to push the cable away. Is this an issue when cutting cable.....would these jaws be better
Cable Cutter,HS325A Heavy Duty Aluminum Copper Ratchet Cable Cutter, Cut up to 240mm² Ratcheting Wire Cutter and Wire Cable Cutter (HS325A): Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

How does hydraulic versus mechanical crimper compare within this price bracket?

Interesting that you've used 95 mm^2. The shunt is 500 A so you are probably right. My bank is 4 x 110 AHr. 2 are located near the switches and have 75 mm^2 cables. The other two have 120 mm^2 cabling as they are located in another berth (so have a much longer run)

What type of cable did you use?
 
I bet the OP is already on the ball, but I'm sensing the mass psychic thought over the internet, so I'll just say it: Be sure to use pre-tinned cable.
 
Skylark said:
Many thanks to you both. The ebay ads (same dealer) show 100 or 250 mm length. I'll contact them to see if they can/will make 160mm.

I'm intrigued by the crimping tool and the idea of DIY. I've always thought that crimpers for heavy cable were prohibitively expensive. Supplementary question, how do you cut the cable (neatly :) )
Click to expand...

Dremel with a fresh cutting disc, working all the way round rather than one side to the other. Also 12 Volt Planet sell a good tool for manual crimping of large terminals. Get your heatshrink and terminals there too. When stripping back the insulation in large cables do it 1/3 of the terminal length at a time. If you strip it all back at once it may be harder to keep the strands together if the terminal is a tight fit. Once started do the next third, push it in further, then the final third, then crimp and heatshrink. It's not a complicated DIY task.
 
Skylark said:
Stanley has a good reputation so you have my attention ;). With no experience to fall back upon, I'd worry that the jaws would want to push the cable away. Is this an issue when cutting cable.....would these jaws be better
Cable Cutter,HS325A Heavy Duty Aluminum Copper Ratchet Cable Cutter, Cut up to 240mm² Ratcheting Wire Cutter and Wire Cable Cutter (HS325A): Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

How does hydraulic versus mechanical crimper compare within this price bracket?

Interesting that you've used 95 mm^2. The shunt is 500 A so you are probably right. My bank is 4 x 110 AHr. 2 are located near the switches and have 75 mm^2 cables. The other two have 120 mm^2 cabling as they are located in another berth (so have a much longer run)

What type of cable did you use?
Click to expand...

Those cutters would do it no problem. I used fine strand 95mm 500A Battery Cable like this .... Flexible PVC Battery Welding Cable OFC Black & Red 110A - 500A (16mm - 95mm) | eBay ..,.. tinned is more expensive, but as the original un-tinned battery cable was still ok after 18 years I didn't buy tinned, with 95mm cable, crimped and sealed with heat-shrink the rest of the wiring will have corroded to bits before the battery cables start causing a problem. Buy tinned if you want that extra peace of mind.

The crimpers need to be ones where the die is held on both sides, don't get open jawed hydraulic crimpers because the jaw bends at this price point. Much better than mechanical ones, just keep pumping until the crimp dies are touching each other on both sides and you'll get a perfect crimp. I cut a test crimp open to see how well it was crimped and it was excellent.

I completely overhauled my electrics and built this with E-Bay/Amazon tools and they are no way near worn out or broken ....

Unbenannt.JPG

One point of caution, there needs to be absolutely nothing connected between the shunt and the battery bank negative that allows any current to bypass the shunt - if it does then the battery monitor will not work properly - my alternator, charger and solar MPPT all go to a negative busbar and the shunt is then between that and the battery bank.

Also think about getting an equal voltage to your batteries when charging, if they are not all co-located and have different cable lengths and diameters, then they will be at different voltages while charging - and you don't want unbalanced charging.

Explained here: https://www.solar-electric.com/lib/wind-sun/Iota_balanced_charging.pdf

Otherwise if you plan first and execute methodically it`s quite an enjoyable job.
 
Daverw said:
Hydraulic crimp tool £18 off eBay last year, had a lot of use and no issues
Click to expand...
Two sizes of hydraulic crimpers seem to be sold on eBay. I found the smaller set struggles with terminals over 35mm2 so I bought the larger set too. Unfortunately the larger one died after a few months. So for any large terminals I now use this neat device from 12 volt Planet. There isn't much to go wrong and it does make a serious crimp.

Heavy Duty Sprung Loaded Terminal Crimping Tool
 
Just on tinned versus welding cable, Jeff Cote of Pacific Yacht Systems warns that the insulation on welding cable is not resistant - or as resistant - to diesel as marine specified cable. I don't know how valid this is but worth researching if you are doing a lot.
 
To add my twopence worth, I have found the anvil type crimper as per post #4 to produce excellent results. I got mine from Furneaux Riddall.
 
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