Custom battery cables?

I bought the Mega Crimp Sr. to use here at the shop. We have just about worn them out after using for a couple of years. Most of our customers aren't going to spend $300 plus labor on battery cables, but $150 parts and labor for me to rebuild theirs is feasible.

26 Long Mega Crimp Sr.
 
Begle1, Redsleeper, good to know. You crimping them while hot or not at all?

jasonc, I might give this borrowed hammer crimp a go. It's the free option at this point. You a boat mech down there? Just curious.

zachu812, that's the plan. I'm going to use the mil spec terminals for the threaded stud. Like the pic attached..

diesel_importer, I might give those a shot if the hammer crimp doesn't work well.

Thanks for all the help guys.
 

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I've never crimped battery cables, I've only inserted cold battery cables into a lug full of molten solder.

I theorize that the "best" way to do it would involve solder to make the connection and keep everything hermetically sealed, plus a crimp or strain relief to keep it all mechanically connected. But I have no expertise in these matters and defer to anybody who has made more than a dozen cables over the course of their career.
 
When you go to buy the military style terminals I recommend you go with the higher priced lead ones.
 
GAmes said:
When you go to buy the military style terminals I recommend you go with the higher priced lead ones.
Click to expand...

Thanks and agreed. I actually have some that were an over shipment when I was supplying hardware for military birds. Looks like some cheap knock offs out there when I did a search.
 
Begle1 said:
I've never crimped battery cables, I've only inserted cold battery cables into a lug full of molten solder.
Click to expand...



^^Same here.

Buy soldier loaded terminals, clamp terminal into vise with open end up, heat the solder, insert cable with heat still applied. Once cable is fully seated, remove heat and hold cable until solder cools. Heat shrink connection. Repeat.
 
dmigz57 said:
I bought a hydraulic crimping tool off amazon for under $50. Comes with different dies, works great. I made all my cables out of welding cable for a local hardware store with crimp on lugs and good heat shrink. Never buy pre made cables again.
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Only option for me, here.
 
bateman said:
Begle1, Redsleeper, good to know. You crimping them while hot or not at all?

jasonc, I might give this borrowed hammer crimp a go. It's the free option at this point. You a boat mech down there? Just curious.

zachu812, that's the plan. I'm going to use the mil spec terminals for the threaded stud. Like the pic attached..

diesel_importer, I might give those a shot if the hammer crimp doesn't work well.

Thanks for all the help guys.
Click to expand...

Yes I am.

I just crimp the copper lugs with the hammer fixture, then seal the end with liquid electrical tape, for marine corrosion. Been making them this way for yrs, never an issue.
 
Good info fellas, much appreciated.

jasonc, living the good life man. This 20 degree weather up here is killing me.
 
I got my cables from custombatterycables. The kit is really nice but expensive.
 
I just made new cables for mine from 2/0 welding cable and copper lugs. I used heat shrink over the lugs and converted to mil style battery terminals. I crimped all mine with a Greenlee crimping tool. It only cost me about $150 to buy everything minus the tool of course, which I already had
 
Usually it’s just the ends that are junk. I’ve fixed a lot of them by soldering a new end on. I put 3/8s ends on and do group 31 stud tops like a semi.
 
I’m still rocking the junk ends at this point. Too much sht tearing up around here to keep up with lol

I’ll order some lugs over the weekend and try to mash them on at work one day.
 
I've always had good luck with TEMCo's cable. It's affordable, super easy to work with and they have a range of lengths and gauges available. I still have about 100' of their 4/0 AWG in both red and black. The insulation material is a high grade EPDM, and it is resistant to cuts, tears, abrasion, water, oil, grease and flame. In a nutshell, it's welding cable. To crimp all of the lugs, I use a 16 ton hydraulic crimper that can be found for $50 or so. It came with 11 dies, the tool and a decent plastic case. The dies are good for 6 AWG, all the way up to 600 MCm - part# YQK-300
 
I have those cables with the military lugs;very nice quality and good fit up.As for the price I think its fair for what you get. Your going to spend the same amount or more making them yourself. The price of good quality battery cable is expensive.I priced it out using all new materials and I was around 250. The cables from Custom Battery were a little hard to bend around because they are thick other than that they fit really well. I rebuilt my engine and the old ones were questionable, for me it was an easy call to make when you consider all the time, effort and money to fix the truck up burning to the ground because you were nickle and dimming on cables.
 
I have 4/0 awg cable to spare so if you give me a some measurements, I could put one together for you and ship it out to see what you think of it.
 
I have finally got some battery cables on the way. Although I couldn’t find many reviews I went with Battery Cables USA. Money back guarantee and all the same ratings as other options.

I’m going to be using a single battery on the driver side for now and see how it does. No grids. Should be delivered tomorrow and I will update on the quality.
 
In the future I might go back with two batteries in or under the bed, but I want to see how one does through a winter here.
 
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