Club 80-90 Forums

i have been thinking about this for a while as the battery is still under the engine hatch and it can be a pain in the back side too remove everything if its needed to either jump start to just trickle charge the main battery if the van ever goes in to storage. so i ordered some cable and fittings and set about making some leads.

the anderson connectors are the 170amp ones and the contact fitting that they come with is bigger than i needed for the cable that i was using, 25mm/s or 170amp so i ordered some reduced size fitting that are more suitable for my needs, the fitting on the left is the one i used. the cable is striped back around 25mm to insert in to the fitting.

next up clamp the fitting in to the vice and heat up and feed solder in to the fitting, i filled it about half way

then inset the cable i twisted the cable as i was putting it in.

a compressor helps cooling but its not essential

bit of heat shrink

on the other end (battery or the earth) the fittings that i bough had a small hole in them which the solder would run out of the solution is too screw a small self tapper in to it to block the hole while you heat and fill it with solder.

fit the cables to the connector

this is the same conduit that i have used and subaru used, so it should blend in to the engine bay quite well. the earth will be bolted to the engine block. i plan too mount the connector just behind the engine flap too access it. if you were to do this and you have a petrol engined van (ie battery at the front of the van) i see no reason why you could not connect the live terminal too the stater motor.


neil

Those terminals should be crimped really Neil, you affect the coating on the terminals by heating them.

Don't forget that by having the smaller terminals in there you are reducing the amps that can be handled by them too.

I'd recommend mounting the socket inside somewhere rather than outside too, I've experimented with both locations and the terminals suffer bad corrosion when exposed to the elements. Mine is mounted just inside the tailgate, I have to open it anyway as my jump leads are stored there.

I've fitted scores of them and always soldered them, no probs if out of the elements

The highest amp ones are best for jumpstarting

I've fitted scores of them and always soldered them, no probs if out of the elements

Yeah, I'm sure soldering is fine. I'm just saying technically they are supposed to be crimped. At least that's what I was taught when working substation batteries. More resilient to vibration too.

I spose the main danger would be if a cable shorts out the solder will melt and the end will fall off...leading to more shorts potentially...I would crimp myself but then I have a big old crimper...if I didn't I would solder!

big set of crimps here Neil, if you want to borrow them.

I guess that's why the likes of RAC etc. fit a trip switch in the system ??

Re. corrosion I guess it's the flux that causes the problem, so wash the terminals and fit with copperslip should be ok ???

Mine filling up with mud and silt was more the problem I think.

I've got a pair of these to fit for the purpose of jump leads being easier to access. Can anyone recommend the correct crimping tool to fix them?

They do fancy waterproof covers and all !!!!!!!!!!!!!

poshbuggers wrote:I've got a pair of these to fit for the purpose of jump leads being easier to access. Can anyone recommend the correct crimping tool to fix them?

These...http://www.remora.net/catalogue/cable-c ... tter-RM120" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

At £90 plus I think I will ask around local garages and see if anyone has one.

It's a bit much for 4 crimps

Try your local welding distributor
When we ran a welding shop we used to have a crimper for fitting lugs etc when making up welding cables,and often crimped up cables for auto use for people too
Should have kept it when we sold up as they aren't cheap!

max and caddy wrote:I spose the main danger would be if a cable shorts out the solder will melt and the end will fall off...leading to more shorts potentially...I would crimp myself but then I have a big old crimper...if I didn't I would solder!

If it shorts out the connector will probably melt so it would make little difference.
The terminals are tinned as a plating you can see the solder on the buckets where they are made.
As long as the flux is washed off can't see you having problems.

Rosin flux is best apparently !!