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Source for crimp on battery terminals?

Fishnbeer

The dude abides
Joined
Jun 8, 2020
Member Number
1907
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485
Loc
CA
I am going to run some new cables to my starter/batt/alt and winch. A buddy has one of these hydraulic cable crimpers for attaching the terminal ends. It was perfect for when I wired multiple batteries on my boat. The cable lugs for connecting to the stud on the starter and alternator are easy to find. But my local parts store only has those cheesy battery terminal repair kits that has 2 bolts to sandwich the stripped cable end.

I am looking for the top post pos and neg terminals. Both will need to be able to accept multiple connections. I have 20 ft of 6 gauge that will run to starter/alt, engine and chassis ground. I think my 8.5k ramsey winch needs 4 gauge.

What are my options for terminals and where to find them?
 
I use mostly 2/0 for everything but also use 5/16 hole lug ends for cables that end up at the terminal connection on the firewall connection spot on my M1028 or M1031 CUCV'S.

I have mostly bought cable ends at a local branch of a chain called battery systems.
https://www.batterysystems.net


Fishnbeer it would help if we knew where you are to know where to send you.
 
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I originally had something different in mind, but after seeing the military style terminals it is pretty clear that is the way to go.

Debating whether or not I want to run dual batteries because of the winch. I have some 900CCA AGM batteries that I plan on running. Not sure if dual batteries is totally necessary...
 
I originally had something different in mind, but after seeing the military style terminals it is pretty clear that is the way to go.

Debating whether or not I want to run dual batteries because of the winch. I have some 900CCA AGM batteries that I plan on running. Not sure if dual batteries is totally necessary...

Those military connectors are great.

For the wire ends use the solder slugs. It's a chunk of solder with flux inside. You hold your lug with the wire hole straight up, pop in the slug, heat until molten then shove in your wire. After that some adhesive heat shrink and good to go.

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Those military connectors are great.

For the wire ends use the solder slugs. It's a chunk of solder with flux inside. You hold your lug with the wire hole straight up, pop in the slug, heat until molten then shove in your wire. After that some adhesive heat shrink and good to go.




That's exactly what I use and how I do it. Works awesome every time.
 
I thought you weren't supposed to use the solder ones because they can de-solder under a high current load? I bought one of those hammer crimpers and it seems to work great up to 1 gauge, but that's as high as I've tried.
 
Military terminals ftw. I am looking at doing all my cables on my jeep and plan on using them. They just work
 
I like to crimp and then use flux core wire solder. I have never used the solder plugs before. Then I like to use the marine grade anchor brand heat shrink tube. Glue comes out when you apply heat and is really good at preventing corrosion.

For the cable lugs, what material do you guys think is best for the winch connection? Regular old copper lugs or something else?
 
I just redid all the positive and negative cables in my Jeep. Military style ends are the only way to go. Secure and easy to work with. You can even add a longer bolt if needed to stack more stuff on there.

Crimp connectors are better than solder. Always use the good quality hear shrink with glue. It will make a nice water tight cable that won't corrode and will last forever.
 
I thought you weren't supposed to use the solder ones because they can de-solder under a high current load? I bought one of those hammer crimpers and it seems to work great up to 1 gauge, but that's as high as I've tried.

I do a lot of high current shit and in a high vibration like a moving vehicle I prefer crimping, solder will break and give you high resistance and burn shit up. -IMO
 
I like to crimp and then use flux core wire solder. I have never used the solder plugs before. Then I like to use the marine grade anchor brand heat shrink tube. Glue comes out when you apply heat and is really good at preventing corrosion.

For the cable lugs, what material do you guys think is best for the winch connection? Regular old copper lugs or something else?

I can’t imagine that anything could be better than copper.
 
I’d highly recommend just crimping lugs on both ends of the cables and using military style battery terminals. They make adding extra shit easy, and you don’t have to worry about wearing out or damaging the terminals whenever you need to disconnect the battery

This. I’m doing the military style on this truck too. I did them on my crawler years ago and now it’s the only way. :grinpimp:
 
I just finished making up some replacement motor leads for an XD9000i

I didn't have solder slugs small enough for #4, so I just slobbered some flux in the barrel and on the bare wire, snipped off some flux core electrical solder chunks and put them in the barrel. Heated until molten, added an extra chunk of solder and bingo bango electrical connection.

TLDR: You can just use chunks of solder if you don't have "solder slugs"

I realize it's not rocket surgery, but someone might find it helpful...
 
so how does the price compare with getting some hard-core connections from a mobile audio establishment??..

the high-end stuff..

The car audio ones use a shitty set screw to secure the wire in the terminal. Military style terminals are better in every way.
 
If you use the set screw type, a least make sure to use a wire ferrules so the screw isn't tearing into the conductors.
 
If you use the set screw type, a least make sure to use a wire ferrules so the screw isn't tearing into the conductors.

Isn't that what makes for a great connection? If you schmoo the two metals together (while exposing fresh unoxidized layer) then they should conduct really, really well.
 
Isn't that what makes for a great connection? If you schmoo the two metals together (while exposing fresh unoxidized layer) then they should conduct really, really well.

Probably until you start cutting into the strands, breaking them off, creating a thinner section in the wire.

High voltage, which yes I understand we are not talking about here, the connections between two components are made with flat pads bolted together. The pads are often welded or crimped onto the conductor.
 


i bought a hydraulic crimper off amazon and was not happy with it at all. It looked very similar to that one you posted but there are so many chinese knock offs on amazon that it is hard to tell the difference.

It feels weird saying this, but the one from harbor freight is better. My buddy has one at work at it works great. I think HF crimper is $10-$15 more than the amazon one.

I think the hydraulic part is the same, but the problem with the amazon one was the dies. They have a number on the dies which you would think would be the gauge wire it is for, but no... you look up the wire gauge on the chart provided, and then it says to use a a certain number die and they are not in any particular order. Then, there is a threaded hole to screw in a pin to attach it in the jaws, the holes are in a different location on each die and some are drilled crooked, so the dies are crooked and can spin in the jaws so you cant get a straight crimp to save your life.
 
i bought a hydraulic crimper off amazon and was not happy with it at all. It looked very similar to that one you posted but there are so many chinese knock offs on amazon that it is hard to tell the difference.

It feels weird saying this, but the one from harbor freight is better. My buddy has one at work at it works great. I think HF crimper is $10-$15 more than the amazon one.

I think the hydraulic part is the same, but the problem with the amazon one was the dies. They have a number on the dies which you would think would be the gauge wire it is for, but no... you look up the wire gauge on the chart provided, and then it says to use a a certain number die and they are not in any particular order. Then, there is a threaded hole to screw in a pin to attach it in the jaws, the holes are in a different location on each die and some are drilled crooked, so the dies are crooked and can spin in the jaws so you cant get a straight crimp to save your life.

Thanks for the warning! I noticed that hydraulic one is calibrated in mm² rather than AWG.

And the plier one above makes a point of being AWG.
 
Isn't that what makes for a great connection? If you schmoo the two metals together (while exposing fresh unoxidized layer) then they should conduct really, really well.

No, you do need the pressure to make a good connection, just like with a crimp. But as Phil mentions, the bare screw tends to break conductors, and if you have to disconnect and connect it in the future, it really tears the hell out of them. The Ferrules are very thin, just enough to protect the wire, yet still deform to put pressure on the conductors. I put dielectric grease or Kopr-Shield anti-corrosive in the lug, and on the wire before installing them.

I bought a crimper on Amazon also, and while it does the job, I'm not real impressed. The hydraulics seem "leaky" , and you never feel it bottom out like I think it should. I'm considering buying a used Industrial T&B manual crimper on Ebay.
 
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