Service on a Wood Mizer mill.

[LeeB]

Don't just say they are a bad idea. Tell us why you feel that way.

[moodnacreek]

Don't just say they are a bad idea. Tell us why you feel that way.

Feel that way? When you use those repair battery cable ends you create 2 more corrosion prone places. Soldered or at least crimped and sealed is the way. With all the electric problems discussed here , on portable band sawmills, why add 2 more bad connections. You do what you have to to get going but that little detail is not the professional way.

[Southside]

What picture are you referring to? The one with the power strip is heat shrink sealed and soldered in place, per the narrative.

[moodnacreek]

What picture are you referring to? The one with the power strip is heat shrink sealed and soldered in place, per the narrative.

The 12 volt [car] battery.  I really should not condemn this valuable [to wood mizer owners] information that is from a professional. Maybe those aftermarket battery terminals where already there. After a lifetime of maintaining old junk I learned as a teenager on my first car [a 55 chevy] not to use those.

[Magicman]

Much depends upon the application.


 

[barbender]

 I use them all the time. Some guys get in a fuss about it. 

 One day one of the soldered and sealed battery cables on the forwarder game up the ghost, it had corroded through. So I busted out my stash of bolt on cable clamps and found one that fit. I cleaned the cable end and installed that clamp. I wasn't surprised when it worked, as intended. I made a note for Ponsse to replace the cable at the next service, but I really wasn't concerned about it. What's the worst that would happen? It corrodes and fails, like the original factory sealed connection?

 I put one on the positive cable on my dump trailer, too. Works swell. In fact, because I am a bit of a needler, I put those cable clamps on at every opportunity, just because I know some folks are so dead set against them🤷‍♂️😁 

[moodnacreek]

Bar, You would find some here also but they are not the best choice, time has proven. Another way to fix a bad battery end is to cut off the bad one and solder on a lug so you can use the marine style battery terminal, clean and covered with never seize or grease. A new, heavy copper cable with end sweated on is in the long run is the best, I rest my case .

[barbender]

I'm not arguing what is best, but what is completely sufficient😊

[Stephen1]

I am 25 mins to town , I also like the bolt on cable clamps, nope not the best but they work for a good year or two. I add dialectic grease when I put them together and that helps.

[Southside]

There is always the strip more wire and use vice grips to hold it to the post method too.

Gives you more surface area to hook the jumper cables up with as a bonus.
:D

[ladylake]

 
I wont use the bolt on clamps as they lose to much juice.  They sell good crimpers for not too much money.  Steve

[barbender]

 How do they lose juice? If they are the right size so the cable is making full contact, I don't see how a crimp on carries any more amperage. 

 That forwarder I mentioned earlier- my "daily driver" for 5 years, I got into it brand new. So I knew when something was different or changed performance wise. Sometimes the engine preheater wouldn't start on cold mornings, and that engine cranked and started the same with the bolt on connectors as the factory originals. I could give many more examples, but suffice it to say if I saw a performance drop I wouldn't use them. I never have🤷‍♂️

[ladylake]

 I've had them on old tractors that would barely crank over, put crimped cables on and cranked over twice as fast.  Steve

[Walnut Beast]

Exactly. It's all about good contact. A comparison to a crimped connection would be a pair of vise grips. Have a connection that doesn't make good contact. Put a little pressure with vise grips. 

Most all good factory connections are crimped 

[Ben Cut-wright]

I'm in the camp which believes "crimped  connections" provide the most reliability in harsh conditions.

[Magicman]

I have not seen where there was ever a doubt nor argument about the reliability of crimped connections.  The topic here was that there are also reliable alternatives especially where multiple wires/cables are connected to a common point.

All connections regardless of the connecting method should be clean/tight and free of corrosion.

[trimguy]

Yes, thank you for bringing this to the top. I don't need it at the moment, but this information will come in handy.