Gang,
I may have to make this, but I'm looking for a supplier for an oddball
battery terminal/connector setup. Situation: Pickup truck, wanting to
run #2 or #4 copper stranded cable to BOTH front and back of the
vehicle to operate a winch (with forklift type connectors connected on
the end of the cables and a matching connector on the winch AND also
want to attach a #2 or #4 cable for running a 2000w inverter which
will probably be mounted inside the cab in the extended cab area. The
battery is a top post type, and I am guessing I need some kind of a
busbar type of arrangement (ideally with a fuse link in it or a
disconnect lever for eliminating hot cables when they aren't being
used. I'm assuming I can use the frame (and clean connections) for
the negative.
Any links or information will be helpful. Please post to the
newsgroup. Thanks.
Ken.
I've seen kits over the years that consist of cable, terminals and a covered
box for locating battery terminals at the rear of a vehicle.
They might be called remote battery/jumper terminals or something similar, a
handy accessory (for a service vehicle, for example), to jump start other
cars without having to pull up front end-to-front end to jump a battery.
NAPA and other dealers probably have these kits.
WB
.............
<Ken Sterling> wrote in message
Back when I had a brand new '76 Ramcharger for a service vehicle I had
welder cable plugs on the front fender for boosters.. Had them
connected to the battery with a constant duty solenoid, switched in
the cab. I ran #2 welding cable from the plugs to both pos and
negative battery terminals.
(clip)with forklift type connectors connected the end of the cables (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Why not USE forklift type connectors?
Another suggestion: I have seen towtruck drivers, responding to a dead
battery call, jump out and plug in their jumper cables without raising the
hood. They must have must the kind of connectors you need mounted in the
grille area. Why don't you try to find out what they are using?
I AM going to use forklift type connectors - at the FAR ends to
connect to the winch, either front or rear mounted.... What I'm
looking for is a way to attach (with a good, solid connection) three
cables, #1 going to the front for the winch, #2 going to the rear for
the winch and #3 going to the 2000w inverter (probably #4 or #2
stranded copper) AT THE BATTERY post (along with the original starter
cable. I'm thinking of some sort of a heavy duty bussbar of sorts
with setscrews used for clamping the wire into a hole of the proper
size and having the bussbar mounted to the terminal of the battery.
Ken.
The link Ned posted was a nice site. We have a large Interstate battery
distributor down the road and he has all sorts of crimp-on connectors,
including pass-through types for double battery setups. The cheap and not so
dirty way is to get the type with the threaded stud on the top and crimp
eyelets to your accessory cables. Burndy has all sorts of exotic multi-tap
crimps if you want to avoid stacking the eyelets.
That site isn't bad, but still nothing like I'm looking for.
This link shows a terminal something like I need, so I know some
company out there makes them.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item069460454&categoryP549
The solenoid idea from Wayne (and others) is a GOOD idea as I was
thinking of somekind of a 200 amp fused switch - the solenoid wouldn't
act as a fuse, but would permit quick disconnect (as long as the
solenoid internal contacts didn't weld together <G>)
Ken
Nice thought, I wouldn't use it. Too many high amp connections in a
corrosive environment. Could lead to problems.
I'm with Wayne with this one. Get a new battery and starter cable made
and run it to a buss. That way if they arc and spark there is less
chance of blowing up a battery. Also makes for a neater installation.
I also like the idea of a remote battery. If you run the leads tot he
bed you can also use more than one battery. NOTE: this would bring up
charging and circuit issues, unless two 6 volts were used in series.
Unless your connections are going to be soldered make sure their
properly crimped/ lugged.
I've done plenty of this work. That's why I've stayed out of this
thread. You seem determined to stay with hooking this directly to the
battery terminal which is something I would resist. Given a choice I
never run anything to the battery terminal.
Mark,
Not *determined* to make the connection at the battery post - and
Wayne's and your idea of a short cable from the battery to the
solenoid with the starter cable being connected there makes sense...
I guess you gotta think outta the battery box <G>.... I like the idea
of doing it this way (other than the fact that the factory original
cable connected to the +terminal now is really short laced into the
harness (but I still think do-able). Thanks for the suggestions
(which is exactly what I needed).
Ken.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item069460454&categoryP549
I recommend crimping the connections. You can crimp 3/8" eyelets on the
conductors and then connect them on a copper busbar, then brush on
Scotchkote insulation. Doing the connections away from the battery will also
help.
I completely agree but offer a word of warning. I was fortunate enough
to pick up a selection of AMP crimping tools surplus for $10ea instead
of the $200 retail price. These do a superb job compared to lesser
crimping tools. An example: I spliced a #10 wire lead that I had cut
in two places back together with high quality butt splices. One splice
was crimpped with an AMP crimper and one was done with the common
Yellow handled cutter/stripper/crimper. I then put about a ten amp
current through this lead and measured the voltage drop accros each
splice. The loss across the AMP crimped splice was less than half that
across the other.
If you don't have and can't borrow the use of really good crimping
tools, you would be better off soldering the 3/8" eyelets provided you
did a good job of the soldering.
Ted
Agreed. The regular non-compound action crimpers are kind of a joke. I was
lucky enough to get a large adjustable mechanical dent crimper which exerts
quite a bit of pressure. My preference, however is a Burndy Y35 or
equivalent, which uses cylindrical dies. I got one for $35, but I need to
buy or make some dies for it. The local utility will only accept round die
crimps on primary splices and elbows.
Soldered joints don't perform very well in high current applications.
Most welding shops which sell cable and connectors will have a
good hydraulic crimper, and will usually install the terminals for
you for no extra charge. At least the welding shop where I do
business will, and they've got a *monster* hydraulic crimper.
Gary
In what way? What failure modes? Before I had my AMP crimpers, I had
to resort to soldered joints. First I saturated the stripped end with
solder then made sure the solder flowed all through the space between
wire and connector sleeve. The highest current ones I did this way were
eyelet connectors to attach 00 Superflex welding cable to a 60amphour,
12volt bank of NiCds. This was tested at currents up to 500Amps and
routinely used at 300Amps over a period of about ten years and at
temperatures ranging from room temperature to -50C without any sign of
problems or heating at the soldered joints.
While I agree that _properly_ crimped connections are better and are
first choice, I think that _properly_ soldered ones are grossly under
rated.
Ted
Agreed!
Note that these yellow-handeled
cutter/stripper/crimper/screw-cutter devices can be found with "AMP"s
name on them -- but these are considered field expedients, not serious
crimping tools.
This does not surprise me at all.
Note, also, that the AMP tools don't stop at the #10 gauge sizes
(yellow insulation), but extend well past that, with two sizes of
hydraulically powered tools which accept interchangeable dies:
1) Hand-held, with hydraulic pump built in:
insul wire size
red #8
blue #6
yellow #4
red #2
2) Larger, with just the hydraulic slave cylinder and the
die-mounting frame:
insul wire size
blue 0 (or 1/0)
yellow 2/0
red 3/0
blue 4/0 (wire about the size of your index finger)
1a) There is also a stand-alone die and frame for the first range
of dies which are similar to those in (2) above. Both the (2)
and (1a) heads connect to your choice of power source:
a) Hand-held pump, 10,000 PSI like Enerpac makes
b) Foot-operated pump, similar to (a) above. This was
the first which I encountered on a set of dies for
4/0 terminals.
c) An electrically-powered pump which, on the press of a
button, runs up to a pre-set pressure (about 7000 PSI
IIRC), and then shuts off and automatically allows the
dies to open.
I've gotten all three kinds of heads, a full set of the dies for
the (1) series above, and three of the four dies for the (2) series --
everything but a 4/0 set. For power, I have the Enerpac hand-pump, and
the electric cycling pump (which was the first part of this I got --
thanks to a surplus sale in which I was bidding on something else, and
this happened to be in the lot. I only realized what it was when I was
packing it up to take home with the rest of the lot. That started my
collection of the AMP hydraulic crimpers. :-)
It takes a while of watching eBay to get this far -- plus a
little luck at other source, such as hamfests and surplus sales, but it
is possible, and should be done before you need it, because you can't
get these for anything affordable when buying new. :-)
Enjoy,
DoN.
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Aside, it's getting hard to find crimp *terminals* that aren't absolute
junk, nevermind having the correct crimper. At least, the last batches of
#10-12 spade and ring terminals I got from home depot and lowes were of such
thin gauge that they simply were not stiff enough to stay on the wire.
Whatever they were intended for, I have no idea.
Bob
Doesn't surprise me. If you want good ones, find someone who deals in
genuine AMP ones. Anybody who supplies them for aircraft would
presumably have the good ones.
Ted
In the larger sizes, at least in NY, HD is selling a major, reputable brand,
IIRC, it was Burndy, I just bought some last week and they were very nice.
WRT to the smaller stuff, I wish I could find more bare spade and ring
terminals that could be lightly crimped and then soldered.
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