HOW TO: World's Most Expensive Jumper Cables
- Thread starter NLXTACY
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jtwopark
live, eat, sleep Land Cruiser!!!
can't sleep
Ya I was thinking make a welder attachment to swap out on the positive side. So it would be be able to connect in your quick disconnect, press a button so both batteries are connected and be able to weld. Either that or make a different set of leads to connect to tge disvonnect that's sole purpose is for welding. Hope this makes sense.
That's a good idea. I was thinking stick welder but it looks like "ready welder" offers a spool type for 24v:
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Yes. Isolating the batteries without having to pull them out of trays would be awesome but would necessitate longer welding cables. That spool welder looks pretty slick but I think a stick welder would be more beneficial to trail repairs and cheaper.
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That's what I'm thinking! I'd rather have a stick welder ayways. More reliable, easier and probably easier to construct. Keep us updated. I've been trying to get more into off roading with trails, camping and hopefully expeditioning. Problem is I go with a lot of jeep guys and almost every trip on of them breaks and we have to stop and fix. Half would of been fixed easy with a welder or them converting to 80's but hey.
You'd do more trail repair work than wheeling.
At least we'd be able to continue instead of calling it off.
NLXTACY
Wits' End
Gotta throw a wet blanket on this idea, or at least some counter arguments.
Not claiming to be a wiring guru or anything. It's not like I spend much time getting deep on wiring, but...
Do have some perspective as an electrical engineer for 37 years.
I do understand the "belt and suspenders" approach, as I tend to do that myself, however...
During the original soldering operation, an unknown amount of solder will wick along the strands of the cable up inside the insulation, to an unknown distance. This turns a flexible multi-strand cable into a rigid single wire cable, causing a stress concentration where the solder wicking stopped. In a high vibration environment (like a car or aircraft), or in high movement service, like a jumper cable, this is where your cable will eventually fail due to cracking.
If your crimp connection is not low resistance in the first place, then your crimp process was ineffective. Fix that.
It really should be gas tight at the metal interface, strand to strand, and lug to strands, if the crimp is tight enough.
Should pass a pretty tough pull test as well. Maybe a "test coupon" with test to failure is a good idea? (What a good welder does. Right?)
A crimped and soldered connection can give a false positive "pull test" result, convincing you that the joint is good.
And it might be, now, due to the solder alone, even if your crimp was wimp.
Then, later, under high heat stress due to an over-current condition, the solder melts, the wire pulls out, giving a catastrophic failure.
FACT: It is widely recognized in the electronics industry that interconnections are responsible for about 70% of failures.
In spite of that fact:
- Your car's wiring harness is made almost exclusively with crimped connections.
The auto manufactures never crimp and solder.
How's your wiring harness doing 20-25 years down the road? Failing at crimps? No?
Even the battery cable, right at the battery, is crimped or clamped, but not soldered.
I know - battery cables fail a lot sooner, but they live with sulfuric acid. Surprising they last as long as they do.
- Military aircraft have crimped connections, and maybe some solder cup connections too.
The crimped connections are qualified as such, with no solder.
The solder cup connections are qualified as such. Under specifically restricted applications only. (like harness field repair?)
A crimped and soldered connection would fail inspection as unqualified, and would be pulled and replaced.
- @mobi-arc - From your name, guessing you are a welder?
And you probably spiff up your cable with solder enhanced crimp lugs...
And you probably don't have cable failures plaguing you...
But, maybe you are a bit careful how you treat the equipment, not rudely yanking things around by the cables.
So, your success with this technique does not really prove it's viability in a wider, less controlled world.
Just sayin'.
On the other hand - using sealed closed end crimp lugs (an upgrade from the normal sheared ones) will significantly reduced air/water ingress into the joint.
Then, add heat shrink sleeves with built-in hot glue sealant.
That cuts off the last air/water ingress pathway into the joint, and adds mechanical stress relief as well.
Practically air tight now, turning your 20 year component into a 40 year component?
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Seems to me that the concern with "do-it-yourself" crimp lugs is process consistency.
Just whacking it hard with a hammer will vary all over the place.
High unit to unit variation.
Need something repeatable. Press? Compression depth set? Something.
Yeah! Now we're cookin'! That thing will take no sass from a lug.
I couldn't seem to find some of the part numbers anymore, so here's what I was able to find as the equivalent parts:
Anderson Power product SB350 series for the housings, terminals, etc.
The flip latch and catch are:
919 is the flip latch
919G1 is the housing (I think this is for both sides, but their information is not clear, maybe someone can research this better)
922 or 922G1 for the catch (again, this was not clear in the info I found)
Search Mouser.com for "Anderson 919" and "Anderson 922" and you should find them.
I worked for a wiring harness company for years and I agree with Bambusiero that a correctly done crimp is superior, we never soldered terminals, but did tin-coat the bare wires occasionally when the customer specified it.
That said, I have soldered terminals on many times in circumstances where I knew I was not going to get a crimp done right.
Anderson Power product SB350 series for the housings, terminals, etc.
The flip latch and catch are:
919 is the flip latch
919G1 is the housing (I think this is for both sides, but their information is not clear, maybe someone can research this better)
922 or 922G1 for the catch (again, this was not clear in the info I found)
Search Mouser.com for "Anderson 919" and "Anderson 922" and you should find them.
I worked for a wiring harness company for years and I agree with Bambusiero that a correctly done crimp is superior, we never soldered terminals, but did tin-coat the bare wires occasionally when the customer specified it.
That said, I have soldered terminals on many times in circumstances where I knew I was not going to get a crimp done right.
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Sadly no
In the morning I will update the list with all of the part numbers and pricing. I DID actually order some stuff that wasn't used because I was trying to figure out what I wanted and well...its easier to visualize when you have the stuff in front of you.
I KNOW this wont appeal to 98% of the people on this board which is cool. I like being in the 2% crowd. What's funny is while I was creating the cables and such I kept fantasizing about quitting my job and just putting together "kits" like this and coming up with more nonsense.
Alas, I need money to keep doing fun stuff and I don't see a few dozen orders of these waiting in my mail box anytime soon
More accurate info to come. I need sleep first and I have another project to finish first.
@NLXTACY
Made my morning coming across this prophetic post from over a decade ago (see B I U portion).
Joey - you're a legend. Thanks for all of your dreamed up "nonsense" and countless contributions to this community. My hat's off to you.
Holy crap! I totally remember writing that and my frame of mind at the time.
And I’m no legend...unless you just mean that I’m getting old
When you have nothing to think about, look up some of @NLXTACY concocktions
glad you don't do meth Joey, you wouldof spun out hard 
