Battery Cable Crimp Question
The ring connectors that connect to my battery are the type where you can see the cable strands on the ring side of the connector. If I wiggle the cable, the strands on the ring side move. My unde...
Forum Discussion
Soldering a 4/0 lug onto 4/0 welding or marine cable requires the following:
a) An adjustable propane torch. I can even use a pencil type but it takes too long.
b) A vise or pair of Vice-Grips to clamp to the very tip of the lug.
3) 60/40 or 63/37 electronics solder. For big stuff I like .125" solder.
4) Paste flux
5) Empty windex bottle filled with tap water
6) TRIPLE WALL heat shrink tubing
Stake or crimp the wire into the lug. Stuff a bit of flux in the interface between wire and lug opening. Start heating the bottom of the lug the tang end. Don't try to melt it. It takes TIME for the heat to transfer from lug to wire to solder. Remember it's all copper, one of the best thermal conductors on the planet. The edge of the lug will melt the solder first but it's going to glob. Be patient. It's OK to move the feed solder around the edge of the lug the more the merrier. It hasn't melted into the wire yet but it will.
Keep playing the across back and forth across the lug, while feeding solder. If the solder beads up and drips you're going too fast, slow down and let the heat SUCK the solder down into the lug. The lug will eventually fill with solder but before it does, the flux is going to over-fill and spill and CATCH FIRE on the outside of the lug. Play the torch off the work, grab the water and SPRITZ the fire out. The word spritz is specific, and has little to do with fire hose amounts.
In order to SPEED UP the task, keep spritzing water on the base of the lug while avoiding the area where the wire enters the lug. No this does not cause COLD SOLDER problems. That is a horse of another color.
The lug, and the wire strands have "Become One" If you look closely you can see solder coated wire strands in the little gap.
Slip the heat shrink over the lug and wire. Try as I might shrinking the tubing with charring it (especially RED) is hard to do without an electric heat gun. Harbor Fright sells them cheap. Heat until the meltable inner liner goobs out of the ends. For some odd reason, I found if the still hot heat shrink is chilled by spraying water on it, it seems to heat-treat it, don't ask me why.
99.9999999999999% (is that high enough for you?) of terminal fractures are caused by NOT SUPPORTING the wire lug or terminal with an Adel Clamp or screw zip tie about two to six inches from the end. For you crimp-only fanatics, vibration will cause the TANG of the terminal to snap. Any FAA PMA mechanic can tell you the regulations involved when performing an electrical repair on an aircraft. Supports, braces, or clamps not in place, cause no PMA inspection OK.
Laziness or cheapness provokes a few folks to NOT SUPPORT the termination. Yes, a crimped terminal is less likely to fracture than a soldered terminal. But do it right, and a soldered terminal will run rings around the best crimped terminal you will ever see. Autopsy a crimped and shrunk terminal after five years. Is the copper new shiny bright? No. That's oxygen at work and there is a TON of it inside the wire. Seal the ends of the wire and so what? A few trillion O2 atoms are trapped inside. They will go to work on the OUTSIDE of the copper strands, crimp or no crimp. The full length of the wire. Again so what? The problem occurs where the oxidation touches another surface. Like a lug. I like my stuff to last ten years with an ironclad guarantee. No excuses. Maybe some of you trade in your rigs sooner than that. If so, then there is no issue. You'll keep on crimping, and shrinking. For long lasting high amperage connections nothing beats solder.
Yes, HAM stuff is incredibly sensitive to oxidation and few connections are soldered. That's why DE-OXIT company is making millions of dollars a year. And companies are spending a hundred times that to gold plate sensitive contacts.
Time to go enjoy the afternoon sun...
a) An adjustable propane torch. I can even use a pencil type but it takes too long.
b) A vise or pair of Vice-Grips to clamp to the very tip of the lug.
3) 60/40 or 63/37 electronics solder. For big stuff I like .125" solder.
4) Paste flux
5) Empty windex bottle filled with tap water
6) TRIPLE WALL heat shrink tubing
Stake or crimp the wire into the lug. Stuff a bit of flux in the interface between wire and lug opening. Start heating the bottom of the lug the tang end. Don't try to melt it. It takes TIME for the heat to transfer from lug to wire to solder. Remember it's all copper, one of the best thermal conductors on the planet. The edge of the lug will melt the solder first but it's going to glob. Be patient. It's OK to move the feed solder around the edge of the lug the more the merrier. It hasn't melted into the wire yet but it will.
Keep playing the across back and forth across the lug, while feeding solder. If the solder beads up and drips you're going too fast, slow down and let the heat SUCK the solder down into the lug. The lug will eventually fill with solder but before it does, the flux is going to over-fill and spill and CATCH FIRE on the outside of the lug. Play the torch off the work, grab the water and SPRITZ the fire out. The word spritz is specific, and has little to do with fire hose amounts.
In order to SPEED UP the task, keep spritzing water on the base of the lug while avoiding the area where the wire enters the lug. No this does not cause COLD SOLDER problems. That is a horse of another color.
The lug, and the wire strands have "Become One" If you look closely you can see solder coated wire strands in the little gap.
Slip the heat shrink over the lug and wire. Try as I might shrinking the tubing with charring it (especially RED) is hard to do without an electric heat gun. Harbor Fright sells them cheap. Heat until the meltable inner liner goobs out of the ends. For some odd reason, I found if the still hot heat shrink is chilled by spraying water on it, it seems to heat-treat it, don't ask me why.
99.9999999999999% (is that high enough for you?) of terminal fractures are caused by NOT SUPPORTING the wire lug or terminal with an Adel Clamp or screw zip tie about two to six inches from the end. For you crimp-only fanatics, vibration will cause the TANG of the terminal to snap. Any FAA PMA mechanic can tell you the regulations involved when performing an electrical repair on an aircraft. Supports, braces, or clamps not in place, cause no PMA inspection OK.
Laziness or cheapness provokes a few folks to NOT SUPPORT the termination. Yes, a crimped terminal is less likely to fracture than a soldered terminal. But do it right, and a soldered terminal will run rings around the best crimped terminal you will ever see. Autopsy a crimped and shrunk terminal after five years. Is the copper new shiny bright? No. That's oxygen at work and there is a TON of it inside the wire. Seal the ends of the wire and so what? A few trillion O2 atoms are trapped inside. They will go to work on the OUTSIDE of the copper strands, crimp or no crimp. The full length of the wire. Again so what? The problem occurs where the oxidation touches another surface. Like a lug. I like my stuff to last ten years with an ironclad guarantee. No excuses. Maybe some of you trade in your rigs sooner than that. If so, then there is no issue. You'll keep on crimping, and shrinking. For long lasting high amperage connections nothing beats solder.
Yes, HAM stuff is incredibly sensitive to oxidation and few connections are soldered. That's why DE-OXIT company is making millions of dollars a year. And companies are spending a hundred times that to gold plate sensitive contacts.
Time to go enjoy the afternoon sun...
