battery cables and tray

[Don in Missouri]

Is there a way to replace the ends on the battery cables or buy new cables anywhere other than the dealer?



What does the battery hold-down look like? Unless it was a bungee cord, mine is missing, and I'm not sure what to replace it with.

 

[dan brooks]

My ends were badly corroded, so I cut them off and soldered new "ring" style ends on (like is used at the starter or engine end), then picked up some heavy duty marine terminals for the battery. So far so good, and they're easier to keep clean than the originals.



My hold down is an "H" shaped metal piece that uses a J-bolt on each side of the battery. If you can find a universal one wide enough for the battery it will work fine, otherwise one could be easily fabbed from some flat stock and some angle.

 

[dodgenstein]

The end of the H shaped piece towards the fender also has a small flat strap to steady it to the fender.

 

[bgilbert]

A local light truck/auto/electric shop can make you up a new set of cables and ends. They use bolt cutters to cut the cable to length, then some big crimpers to crimp the ends on, heat shrink the ends. Don't know if they'd wanna just cut your old ends off and crimp new ends on, don't hurt to ask though. I paid near $30 for the negative side cable made up with new ends. For the hold down, I'm sure any 'big' universal hold down will work. Make sure the j-bolts are long enough though for that big group 31 battery you have, you do don't ya??

 

[Don in Missouri]

I need an education on battery sizes.



My truck is an '84 crew cab that was converted. Does the Diesel have a different battery tray than an '84 gasser?



I was thinking about using two batteries the same size as all my other vehicles. It is a good size battery with 1000 amps, but smaller than the group 31. I like the idea of having two with a manual switch between them so I always have one in reserve. Of course, that means I have to make up even more cables.



I found some clamp on battery ends made for large cable, but I will continue to look into getting proper cables made.

 

[Don in Missouri]

The battery I wanted to use is a group 34 battery. What would be wrong with that?



If I use two group 34 batteries I'll use a marine switch like this one:

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...=10001&classNum=297&subdeptNum=207&storeNum=9



That setup has worked great on my Wagoneer. I switch from one battery to the other each time I check my oil, so they get used alternately. If one goes bad, I can use the other, or I can use both if needed. I've never tried it, but theoretically, I could reroute the cables and use them in series for emergency welding repairs.



If I use good, heavy gage wire for the long cables to the battery tray, can I get away short, lighter gage cables to connect the batteries to the switch?

 

[JLEONARD]

For battery cables I agree. . go to a turck supply or a Battery supply house and get what you need to make them up. . or have them do it.

If you're buying at West Marine, they sell a crimping tool for large cables... I have that and that's what I used to crimp my new cables.

Keep the cables as large in diameter as possible to minimize voltage loss.

You know you're not supposed to switch the batteries while the engine is running don't you? I can fry the diodes when the field is suddenly disconnected. West sells a part that is supposed to prevent that.

There are also alternators available that are "load dump protected"... I have that type on my marine Cummins... it's a Delco 21 SI I believe with an internal regulator rated at 105 amps.

Hope this helps.

Jay

 

[Don in Missouri]

I obviously came to the right place to get an education.



The switch I use connects both batteries simultaneously before disconnecting the first. The dial on the switch goes form BATTERY 1 to BOTH to BATTERY2. Will that still harm the diodes?

 

[JLEONARD]

Some of the switches are set up to allow changing without harm.

Here is the description from the website you posted:



"Rated for 250A continuous/360A intermittent, with copper contacts and brass terminals. We strongly recommend field disconnect battery switches (or failsafe diodes) to eliminate the chance of alternator damage due to inadvertent switching. "



That is what I'm talking about.

It is possible that if you switch over at idle, the current being produced is low enough that it won't fry anything. In a boat, it's likely that you'd be cruising along at 2000 rpm and somebody (or you) would think of switching battery banks.

I think that's when you're really likely to get into trouble.



My boat's alternator must have a failsafe diode... . and it took several discussions with a Delco tech rep to figure this out..... but most alternators do not.

Jay