Battery Terminal

[PVCruiser]

Hi Guys-

I am running a second battery with aux fuse block. I have a 4 gauge going to the battery on the positive side and leaving the positive side another 4 gauge wire going to the fuse block (130 amp block).


My questions is (don't laugh):

How does one join (2) 4 gauge wires at a battery terminal in a clean manner?

I've seen the "Bling" options on ebay for audio systems on ebay

Any other ideas?

Thanks

Seth

[re_guderian]

Military style clamp. You'll see pictures in some of the dual-battery threads.

edit -> More info: you can get the terminals at Napa, but covers are harder to come by. Here is a source for terminal covers with military-style terminals. https://www.stellmar.com/content/ele...ml/3534_35.php

[PVCruiser]

Originally Posted by re_guderian

Military style clamp. You'll see pictures in some of the dual-battery threads.

So.... I 've spent some time searching and came back with nothing. If you have any links, please let me know. Thanks Seth

[re_guderian]

Originally Posted by PVCruiser

So.... I 've spent some time searching and came back with nothing. If you have any links, please let me know. Thanks Seth

http://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/36775-dual-battery-install-way-verbose.html post #2 has some good pics. Also, does this help out?

[2mbb]

This post shows a pic of my setup with "military style" battery clamps.

http://forum.ih8mud.com/showpost.php...5&postcount=15

You can get these clamps at stella maris too, but they are called "marine" and/or MilSpec:

https://www.stellmar.com/content/ele...ml/3534_35.php

Also shown in the picture in the first link is a power distribution post that I also got from Stella Maris. This allowed me to move all the auxillary wires off the battery and to a remote location, giving a cleaner set up at the battery.

https://www.stellmar.com/content/ele...utionPosts.php

I've had good success with the product from Stella Maris. The parts have a low unit cost, but they have a minimum $15 order...

I'm not sure what fuse box you are using, but can you connect the two cables at the fuse box. Terminate each in a ring terminal then bolt the two rings back-to-back to the fuse box.

[Godwin]

Saturn Surplus is another source for the military battery clamps, and they're a little cheaper than other soureces I've seen. Here's a link:

http://www.saturnsurplus.com/electrical/electrical.htm.

You'll have to scroll down to find the terminals.

[PVCruiser]

Thanks guys. This is all very helpful...


Del City Wire is a great company for parts, but their tech is a bit iffy. I was headed down the road y'all have suggested only to be disuaded by the Del City Tech.

Thanks. I now know I was headed down the correct road.

[sandcruiser]

I was looking for the size of the studs and whatnot on mil-spec terminals, and found that this site has a full description http://www.ecvcinc.com

here is a gif w/ the dimensions. It appears that the stud is 3/8" and that the bolt to tighten the clamp is 5/16" Thought this might be good info for someone else.

Oh, and for the trivia-fans out there, the antimony content of the lead of the body of the terminal must be between 4% and 7.5%. Who knew?

[Grim Reaper]

I have a pair of SCOSCHE UBT1 battery terminals. Similar to these: http://www.scosche.com/efx.aspx?Cate...&ItemID=PDBTMI
The ones I have will take two 4 gage and two 8 gage wires. I found them at Walmart in the auto audio section and I don't think I paid much more then $10 each.

I have a bunch of High quality 4 gage that I plan to build my own cables out of. I Will also have a set of big plugs at each end to hook jumper cables too or swap winch from end to end.

I am actually going to run each battery to a Power switch that will allow me to choose what battery is primary or gang them for extra power for winching. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...0001/297/207/9

I will have a 80 amp isolator so that as soon as the engine starts both batteries will be on charge. All accessories including a 12v fridge will be running off Battery #2 to isolate the start battery to make sure I can't possibly kill it when camping. I am thinking of only hooking the start circuit and starter to that battery so even a open door with the dome light on will not effect the batter that starts the truck.

[sandcruiser]

had an interesting conversation with the auto electrician yesterday regarding my mil-spec terminals. He was adamant that they were crap. Complete crap.

His reasoning: they are lead! Good for fishing! Bad for battery.

I smiled and nodded and told him I'd get right on it. He told me where to go to get "metal" terminals and I smiled and nodded. But after a little while (he really doesn't like lead terminals!) it got me to questioning it a little. After all, we know that tinned copper is the way to go on cable ends. Does that mean lead is bad?

Then I got to thinking some more and figured that the battery posts are mostly lead anyway, so it can't be too bad.

Just thought I'd share

[photogod]

Here is what I have installed

[mobi-arc]

Originally Posted by photogod

Here is what I have installed

I've not seen that before. What's it called and where do you buy those multi-gang plastic doohickies?

[photogod]

Red and black terminals and the add ons. And for those that don't like lead terminals, West Marine has military style tinned copper.

West Marine: Battery Direct Connectors Product Display

[sandcruiser]

Is there really much of a difference between the lead and the tinned copper terminals?

[photogod]

I have no idea. I was just responding to the above post. Seems like it has been working since the battery was invented with no changes. I see no reason to do any different.