Battery Cables

[sandhills]

Does anyone here make their own, and if so how do you mold/attach the clamps?  I have 4 long ones on an old semi tractor that I made out of welding cable and just used the cheap clamp on ends, it doesn't work worth a hoot no matter how clean/tight I keep everything.  Every once in a while I get a good connection out of luck and boy does she spin, just getting tired of messing with them every time I need it. 

[Den Socling]

You answered your own question. "Cheap clamps". I had some a couple years back and threw them in the trash. If they did stay tight, they would crack.

[shelbycharger400]

i have used the cheap clamps ect.. crimp on ones ect.
The only thing that works, is to acid etch the copper wire  and clamp to get it really really clean,  break out the propane or map gas and solder the wire and clamp with  the same solder used for copper pipe.

[T Welsh]

i have used the cheap clamps ect.. crimp on ones ect.
The only thing that works, is to acid etch the copper wire  and clamp to get it really really clean,  break out the propane or map gas and solder the wire and clamp with  the same solder used for copper pipe.

I have had good luck and did the same as shelbycharger400. Go to an electrical supply store and buy good ends, clean the copper welding cable with acid and flux the living heck out of it and then crimp the bug ends really well and then solder then in.Dont forget the add a piece of heat shrink to the cable before you terminate and solder. ( I wont tell you how many times I forgot to add heat shrink) Makes a great battery cable. When done smear the cable ends with petroleum jelly, I will stop corrosion. Tim

[Slabs]

A few years ago one of the members suggested Del City Electronics for electrical hardware.  I've ordered a few cable ends and believe they are among the best.  Many are brass.

Don't remember the URL.  You'd have to google them up.

Ah!  Here it is.  www.delcity.net

Good luck

[bugdust]

After fooling with those junkie store bought cables I made a heavy set from welding cable.The leads were 12' long and have been used for several years with no complaints. Of course you probably wouldn't want to go out and by welding cable for jumper cables, just find a welder who changes out his leads periodically. From my experience a  a pipeline welder would be your best bet. 

[scsmith42]

I've been making my own cables for 35 years.

Start off with cast brass ends for the battery side, copper lug terminals for the other side, and welding cable.  I usually use 2/0.  Slip some heat shrink tubing over the cable, and strip just enough jacket so that the bare copper wire will fill the socket with only a 1/16" gap between the terminal end and the insulation

Clamp the terminal in a vise, with the tubular end pointing up.  Heat the outside of the tube end with a propane torch for about a minute, and then start melting rosin core solder into the wire socket, until the rosin is just below the end of the socket.

Steadily insert the cable end into the socket with the melted solder and rosin, keeping a torch going on the outside of the terminal until the wire is fully seated.  Insert it slow enough so that the rosin penetrates the wire (about 2 - 3 seconds to seat it).  Pull the torch away and hold the wire steady for about 30 seconds as the solder hardens.

Once it cools down, slip the heat shrink over the connection.  Do the same thing on the ring terminal end (don't bother to crimp it).

In 35 years, I have never had a cable pull apart.  I'm still using ones that I assembled this way back in 1985.

[hardtailjohn]

SCSmith does it the same way I've been doing it for 30 years. I've always had good luck with them and they sure crank the engines in my Kenworths over nice! Don't try to save a buck, or you'll fight them forever!
John

[sandhills]

Thanks everyone for the comments, and thanks for the link Slabs, I'm gonna order some good ones and do it as scsmith42 described, I hate stupid little irritations that are easily fixed.

[Magicman]

Two points to emphasize when doing the above.  Sure, acid works, but only Rosin Core solder is approved for electrical connections.   Soldering tarnished copper is difficult and I know that nothing works like acid, but acid migrates under the insulation and keeps on corroding.  Baking soda will neutralize the acid, but getting it under the insulation is iffy at best.  Rosin will not corrode. 

And second, do not allow the soldered connection to move until the solder "glazes over" and hardens.  Failure to do this will result in an unsatisfactory "cold solder" joint.

My preference is to tin the connector and the wire, crimp the joint, and then solder the joint, but if the wire is badly tarnished, then Scott's method of using the connector as a boiling pot is excellent.

[sandhills]

Thanks Magic, I just made these cables a year ago so everything is in good shape and I have enough I can cut them back a little if I have to, to get to good clean wire.

[Piston]

I've been making my own cables for 35 years......

That's the same way I do (did) it.  Although, I've only done it once, and used em twice, but they worked.  ;D

[Slabs]

Electronics paste flux is a viable alternative to acid also.  Get the paste well imbedded into the wire bundle and ease it down into the solder pool in the connector.  The evaporating paste will draw off some heat making the joint tin a bit slower but will result in a great bond.

Dont mistake the pipe paste found at plumbing supply.  It can be corrosive to wire (and pipe if not cleaned).  Get the real electronics stuff.

[Clam77]

I made new leads for a CB radio amp and some other equipment years ago when I was into causing trouble like that...  works like a champ. 

Rosin-core solder with 2/0 or even 1/0 (the expensive stuff) welding cable is best.