Battery Cables - what gauge - HJ 60?

[WAF450]

Got to use at least 750 kcmil al, and dont forget to use 3M cold shrink stress cones no VD should occur plus your saving wight going al lol. Actually im going to replace mine also and new terminals soon.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

We redid the ones on my brothers HJ over Christmas, his factory ones where falling apart. We did 2 gage and military style battery terminals. Looks much much cleaner now and welding cable is great, its soft and playable so routing was easy. Installed new Group 27f's (poles on the back of the battery) a month ago when there was that cold snap and no problem starting.

 

[markthemenace]

We redid the ones on my brothers HJ over Christmas, his factory ones where falling apart. We did 2 gage and military style battery terminals. Looks much much cleaner now and welding cable is great, its soft and playable so routing was easy. Installed new Group 27f's (poles on the back of the battery) a month ago when there was that cold snap and no problem starting.

Cool. I was thinking of getting 2GA welding cable from PA and get the lugs made there as well. Just ordered up my terminals too. I agree, the military ones are the way to go, especially with the clearance.

So did you change the one from the alternator and starter as well? All of it with 2 GA? The stock stuff looks really old, corroded and THIN! Heck, it almost looks like 6 GA wiring that I have!

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Cool. I was thinking of getting 2GA welding cable from PA and get the lugs made there as well. Just ordered up my terminals too. I agree, the military ones are the way to go, especially with the clearance.

So did you change the one from the alternator and starter as well? All of it with 2 GA? The stock stuff looks really old, corroded and THIN! Heck, it almost looks like 6 GA wiring that I have!

Yep got the 2 gage from PA, cheap and good quality. We did not use there lugs tho they are all to large. I went to Lordco and got the correct size ones. I used heat shrink that had heat activated glue on every connection to keep water and acid from getting on the cables. I also made sure each cable was colour coded to make sure hots where labelled.

We have not replaced the Alt or starter cable yet but they are high on the list. They will be replaced with 2gag as well, done in the same manner as the others.

 

[markthemenace]

Yep got the 2 gage from PA, cheap and good quality. We did not use there lugs tho they are all to large. I went to Lordco and got the correct size ones. I used heat shrink that had heat activated glue on every connection to keep water and acid from getting on the cables. I also made sure each cable was colour coded to make sure hots where labelled.

We have not replaced the Alt or starter cable yet but they are high on the list. They will be replaced with 2gag as well, done in the same manner as the others.

How did you crimp the lugs? Or did you just tin and heatshrink it? That must be some large heatshrink! Didnt know they came in those sizes!

 

[Wheelingnoob]

How did you crimp the lugs? Or did you just tin and heatshrink it? That must be some large heatshrink! Didnt know they came in those sizes!

I used a Vice and a centre punch, it holds very well and I have done it for years. I tried the solder filled method years ago and had some issues. The heat shrink I got from SMI in Langley, they are a hobbyist electronic supply store they have it all the way up to 1". I think I got 1/2" red and black for Gavin's just make sure its got the heat activated glue. Its also not cheap stuff about $15 for 3ft but it has lasted a few battery cable jobs now.

 

[markthemenace]

Vice and centre punch...could you elaborate please?

 

[canucksafari]

I' ve got a vice similar to this one.

I think the pipe vice would do a decent job of crimping. If you also punch it on two apposing sides, you'll jam the lead into the copper good.

http://www.princessauto.com/hlr-system/WebPhotos/81/812/8127/8127284.jpg

 

[Wheelingnoob]

I' ve got a vice similar to this one.

I think the pipe vice would do a decent job of crimping. If you also punch it on two apposing sides, you'll jam the lead into the copper good.

http://www.princessauto.com/hlr-system/WebPhotos/81/812/8127/8127284.jpg

That is exactly what I did, I slightly flattened the cable end in the vice and then used a centre punch to "pin" each side. Getting the right size cable ends makes there fit slightly snug when the wire is pushed in then the vice locks it in and the centre punch makes sure it will not move at all.

I have done my cables this way for a few years on a couple different trucks and have not had any issues. The key is to get the shrink tube with the heat activated glue to keep the moisture of of the wire.

 

[markthemenace]

I got kinda creative last night. I have that vice too, happened to see a large nut on my worktable and thought I remembered reading where someone had cut a nut in half and used that to crimp the lugs.

Having already had dinner and since I was outside taking the trash, I thought, hey...might as well. Hardly use my dremel these days anyway, so after three discs, cut the nut, ground it down a little smaller so that there's about 2mm or so space on each side of the nut with the correct sized lug in the middle, put the whole thing in the vice and cinched that bugger down tight.

End result is a pretty tightly crimped lug. I'm not sure how tight is tight, but lets say I could not have tightened that vice down anymore. Then again, I just thought of using a cheater bar on that vice handle. Might do that tonight.

To seal it all in (since this was a spur of the moment thing, and I hadn't bought the shrink tube yet), I painted the whole thing with some "brush-on insulator". We'll see how that works.

Wheelingnoob, when you say you "pinned" it with a punch, do you mean as in literally pounded the punch right in the centre of the lug after crimping?

 

[Wheelingnoob]

I got kinda creative last night. I have that vice too, happened to see a large nut on my worktable and thought I remembered reading where someone had cut a nut in half and used that to crimp the lugs.

Having already had dinner and since I was outside taking the trash, I thought, hey...might as well. Hardly use my dremel these days anyway, so after three discs, cut the nut, ground it down a little smaller so that there's about 2mm or so space on each side of the nut with the correct sized lug in the middle, put the whole thing in the vice and cinched that bugger down tight.



Wheelingnoob, when you say you "pinned" it with a punch, do you mean as in literally pounded the punch right in the centre of the lug after crimping?

Man I live that idea!!! Going to totally try that next time!

Yes I took a fat punch and hammered the centres of the lug to kind of bite the wire. I did not do it hard enough to punch through the lug at all just enough to put a good indents into the wire.