Positive cable from battery

[Plasticman]

as obg says, i also use a 200 watt iron that i use for doing leaded lights, very quick it is and yes marine stuff and subsea is soldered and wrapped and often scotchcast as well
mm

[Oldiebut goodie]

I have used to use an old fashioned soldering iron also - a fat lump of copper on a steel rod with a wooden holder heated up on the gas cooker. Handy for those jobs when you don't have electrickery to hand but have a gas ring. In an emergency I have even used a piece of old copper pipe hammered into a lump - you only need a means of transferring enough heat into the items that you are soldering. Copper is best because it heats up quickly and can be tinned to allow the heat to transfer quickly.

[ghost123uk]

Thanks for the info OBG

Couple of Q's if you don't mind =

What flux do you use ? ( mine is = Wickes Active Paste plumbers solder for copper)

The main thing to remember when soldering is to heat the terminal itself all around with a moving flame, not the wire - heating the wire will make the copper oxidize in the flame leading to that lack of flow of solder. The wire will get up to temperature once a little solder has made the contact between the terminal and the wire.( If you have the correct size terminal for the wire).

How about splicing 2 heavy cables together or more commonly for me = making a "Y" 3 way) with no terminal. This is were I find oxidation from the flame, even on very clean wires is a problem, and in that situation one cannot use the "dip it in a pot of melted solder", like I do with motor bike control cable nipples for example.

Onwards and upwards

[Oldiebut goodie]

You could try bending a piece of 22mm copper pipe into a U-shape so that you are not putting the flame onto the wire. I suspect that you are overheating the wire - you need to use a moving flame and don't use the hot portion of the flame (the tip of the inner blue flame is the hottest part), the smaller the flame the better also.
I use ordinary LA-CO flux paste as it's good for most metals except stainless steel and it's non toxic, non acid and is easily washed off with water. http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_sacat ... ux&_sop=15

[cubensis]

Well, thank you again, I've ordered the ring terminal of eBay. A pack of 5 for £2 so I may have a little experiment before I go for the final result. I'm thinking the van will start so much better with this fix tho, I cleaned up the original brass ring terminal and that has already made a big difference.

Maybe this is wiki worthy? Don't think anything is in there documenting this soldering process.

I ordered this replacement wire for the short connection between alternator and starter. I'm a little concerned that it'll get hot as it seems slightly less chunky than what was there.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170928657363? ... 1439.l2649

Can anyone put my mind at rest?

[Oldiebut goodie]

It will most probably be less 'chunky' because it is fine wires and has the modern thinwall insulation.
Is the cable doubled? (older alternators use 2 outputs for the capacity, the newer ones a single post) If a single wire it could do with being beefier unless you only have the 45A alternator I would have thought - as it is only rated at around 45A.

[cubensis]

Hi, Yea it's a single wire, we had the alternator replaced about 4 years ago.

I am unsure which alternator we have but i'll check, is it stamped on the body of the alternator somewhere?

[Oldiebut goodie]

Is it a single post with a nut and ring terminal or a plug in terminal?

[cubensis]

Is it a single post with a nut and ring terminal or a plug in terminal?

Single post, nut and ring terminal (thin blue wire also).

[Oldiebut goodie]

I would double that cable up then as that alternator is likely to be greater than the original 45A one. (Perfectly acceptable way of doing it - especially as you have already ordered the thinner cable )

[cubensis]

Thanks for that, I don't quite have enough to double it up which is annoying! Cheers though I'll see what I can find that'll do the job.

[cubensis]

Just a quick update, I ran two lots of 6mm wire from the alternator to the starter and all seems good, thank for the advice.

In the process of weeding out dodgy earths I replaced the earth strap from the battery, don't get the cheap ones of ebay because as i tightened it it cracked! Just a heads up for anyone else. I now need to find a decent quality one!

While I was under the van I had a look for an earth strap - I couldn't find one anywhere. Does anyone know where these are located? (a google image / wiki search didn't show anything up)

[Oldiebut goodie]

On the nose of the gearbox - well it should be!

[cubensis]

Nose being the end that is furthest from the rear of the van yea?

[Oldiebut goodie]

Yep.