2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Soldering Question: Battery Terminals

[ProMac1K]

My truck is down right now with a bad battery terminal. I bought Marine terminals and some new lugs to crimp and solder onto the cables. But now i'm thinking I have the wrong solder. Can anyone recommend a certain solder to use, or a how to put the new lugs on the cables? Crimp then solder, or solder then crimp then solder seal? Any technical advice as to how this can be done?



Thanks,

Trever

 

[B.G. Smith]

If you have a point crimper I would crimp then solder. You need soldering paste or acid core solder to clean the wire, you will need a torch to get the terminals hot enough, do not use the torch near the battery or you could end up with an explosion. (hydrogen gas) bg

 

[ProMac1K]

I don't have a professional cable crimper, just thought I could see what I could find to make do. We have a lot of solder around here. 40/60, etc. The parts store guy gave me a spool of rosin core solder. I read some bad stuff about that, so I don't know if I want to use that. I thought about buying some solder paste, but I didn't know if that was for electrical or not. So you recommend solder paste or acid core solder then? Not sure if i'm familiar with acid core solder, does it have a rating to it? I had planned on leaving the cables in the truck. I'll just remove the batteries then.



Thanks

 

[RWhites]

Worked as a marine mechanic for many years. Best cables I made were crimped, soldered and heat shrink sleeved. West Marine sells Anchor brand tinned wire. The best. Welding cable would be my second choice and it's available at most welding supply shops. They can crimp the ends on for you if you ask nice. The problem with welding cable is the jacket will degrade in the underhood environment. Oil blowby swells the rubber.



Use rosin core solder if possible, acid core will contribute to corrosion.

Kester brand electronic solder is good. Be sure the wire is shiny clean and the results will be much better.

Rich

 

[B.G. Smith]

The rosin core solder will work if you can get the wire and terminal clean enough(soldering paste) and hot enough. The acid core just cleans better. Just mashing the terminals closed probably won't do much good. You should be able to pull the cables back away from the batteries far enough to be safe, just don't have the batteries on charge while doing the soldering. Acid core solder would not be recommended for electrical work, (circuit boards, etc. ) but the battery termonals are already subjected to acid anyway. A 60/40 solder should do the job, it will melt somewhere above 600 deg. F. bg

 

[Will24]

To make battery cables, I usually get solder type terminals, then buy the proper sized rosin-core solder pellets. You can get the pellets from any decent parts house (napa, federated, carquest etc. ) They come in sizes 2, 1, 1/0, 2/0 etc based on battery cable size. You just clamp the terminal in a vice, put the pellet in the terminal, then heat the outside of the terminal with a propane torch, as soon as you see the solder/resin begin to boil in the terminal, quickly and carefully put your stripped cable in, then heat shrink. You can PULL on a properly soldered cable with all your strength and you will not break the solder joint.





-Will

 

[rweis]

I just rebuilt my battery cable that goes from side to side. Here's what I did:



Use marine tinned cable so you minimize the possibility of corrosion in the new cable (corrosion IN the OEM cable is why I replaced mine). West Marine sells it. I got red 1/0 gauge. I also got 2 1/0 gauge terminal lugs (5/16" bolt hole) and 6" of red heat shrink for 1/0.



I cut the cable jacket back about an inch on both ends. Put pleanty of flux paste on each end. This helps the solder flow better.



I put the lug into a vise with only the smallest amount of lug in the vise jaw that will hold it well vertically. You are going to need 4 hands. 2 hands to hold the battery cable steady and in the verticle position, and 1 hand to feed the solder (rosin core, we used the heavy (1/8" diameter) spool variety, and one hand to hold the welding torch. We used a really small light weight welding torch that we use to solder window A/C refrigerant tubing when we make repairs on them.



Be careful to not burn the rubber coating on the battery cable. Heat the lug with the battery cable held into the lug, the solder paste will start bubbling, start feeding the solder into the joint. We fed about 3" of the thick spool solder in till the lug was full of solder right to the top. The solder will wick up the cable some above the lug top. Hold the battery cable still and let it all cool. After it cools we cut 3" of the red heat shrink for 1/0 and put it over the joint. We had to use a professional heat gun (NOT THE TORCH, it will scorch the heat shrink tubing) to get the heat shrink to shrink properly. When the heat shrink is fully shrunk it will ooze a little brown rubber like sealant out at its joint on each end. The heat shrink has the sealant built into the heat shrink material.



On my 2002 the passenger side had the OEM cable crimped into the battery clamp. Since I put a lug on both ends I cut off about 3/4" of the OEM battery clamp part that had the OEM crimp in it. I then turned the battery clamp around so that I could bolt the lug under the battery clamp bolt nut.



Be sure to put a thin film of grease on both lugs when reassembling the cable to the batteries so minimize any corrosion possibilities.



I think I measured 4' of OEM battery cable and I built mine 4' 6". I used the OEM wire loom and the OEM battery cable holder clips that were bolted about every 9" or so on top of the intercooler shell.



Bob Weis

 

[Thomas]

Check this thread.



It has a linked picture of my ring lug conversion plus my experiences soldering the ring lugs to the OEM cables.

 

[ProMac1K]

Thanks for all the replies.



I was planning on using my factory cables for this project. I cut the factory cast terminals off and bared back the outer cover, the wires are clean. I bought 2 sets of 2 marine terminals, a number of 2/0 lugs and 4 ga lugs, and a spool of that rosin core solder at the parts store. Was hoping to find some solder pellets. Looked at a couple Runnings stores and at Auto Value, but couldn't find any there. I still may look for it as the heat shrink the store sent with me says 12/10 ga right on the package, obviously won't work on 4 ga lugs. So I need to get some different heat shrink anyways.



So what is the conclusion on the order of doing this? Crimp-heat shrink, solder-heat shrink, crimp-solder-heat shrink, solder-crimp-heat shrink, or solder-crimp-solder-heat shrink? :-laf



The major part where I get confused is the different soldering items such as soldering paste, flux, fluxless, rosin core, acid core, solid core, 40/60, 50/50, 60/40, etc. The only thing that I have soldered was some very small electrical wires years ago, for a small project. I've been around soldering pipes, but not enough, and electrical work is different too.



Trever

 

[RWhites]

Clean, Slide on heat shrink, Install lug, Crimp, Solder, Clean, Shrink sleeve.



Paste acid/ Flux is used for plumbing or mechanical joints. The remaining acid between the strands of wire will promote corrosion. Paste acid will make the solder flow great! It's just a bad idea for a long term electrical part.

I know we all want the lowest resistance cables with long life spans.



Another idea for crimping ends on cables. We use electrical joint compound (Penatrox is one brand) to assemble power cable and landing lugs in panels. It's a grease that is electrically conductive and displaces the air/water in the connector. Just partially fill the connector, slip in the cable and crimp. quick, easy and good results. On a battery cable probably get ten years out of it.

Rich

 

[ProMac1K]

Thanks!

 

[mechanic]

I don't have a professional cable crimper, just thought I could see what I could find to make do. We have a lot of solder around here. 40/60, etc. The parts store guy gave me a spool of rosin core solder. I read some bad stuff about that, so I don't know if I want to use that. I thought about buying some solder paste, but I didn't know if that was for electrical or not. So you recommend solder paste or acid core solder then? Not sure if i'm familiar with acid core solder, does it have a rating to it? I had planned on leaving the cables in the truck. I'll just remove the batteries then.



Thanks

I have been making up battery cables for several years. The aftermarket cables are not all that good or are to costly, so I bought the tools to make them. It has been found that a TIGHT crimp conection has LESS resistence then soldered. VW crimps all their connections (they also have a host of diabolical electrical grimlins when they get old). However that said, a crimped joint is not sealed and therefore will oxidize and loose some conductivity. If you get a crimper with a single point and crimp it tight then use a nonacid solder (solid wire solder and solder past is a good choice also) it will be best. They make a "solder slug" that has the solder past in it, that you drop in the lug, heat with a tourch, then insert the cable and let it cool. If you use that system, you could still crimp it then reheat the solder and let cool again. After all that, put a 2" or 3" section of self-sealing heat shrink tubing over the joint and shrink it untill the sealer seeps out at the ends. The crimper I refer to is not expensive. I have 2 types and I didn't pay over then $20 for either one of them.

 

[RCook]

Here's a description of how I make lug connections to battery cables for my boat. Should apply pretty well to our trucks. Maybe it's even better to crimp first, then solder - I don't know.



There's another way to do connectors on heavy battery cables that I like - soldering. If you have a propane torch and some rosin-core solder, it's pretty easy, but must be done right. A heat gun - like a hotter version of a hair drier - is the tool of choice for sealing and shrinking the adhesive-lined shrink-wrap. If you want to do the soldering on board the boat, have a big piece of cardboard or some such thing under your soldering area to protect the fiberglass.



Make sure you get the right size tinned lugs, and adhesive-lined shrinkwrap. Cut off the insulation maybe 1/4 or 3/8 inch further than the length that will fit up into the lug. Put a piece of shrink-wrap, maybe twice the length of the barrel on the lug, onto the wire, far enough away from the end that it won't get heated up by the soldering. Hold the cable in a vise, or with someone's help a pliers, with the end pointing somewhat upwards. Put the lug onto the wire, turned the way you want it to be. It should fit easily, but not sloppily, onto the wire.



Have solder at the ready, and it will take a good bit of it. With the propane torch, heat the far end of the lug, not the wire, until it's pretty hot, then poke solder at the wire/lug where the wire enters the lug. If it's hot enough, the solder will melt and be drawn up into the lug. Continue this until the lug is full of solder. It will do some dripping onto the cardboard.



After lug and wire cool down, slide the shrinkwrap up over the lug barrel, and use the heat gun to shrink it thoroughly and evenly all around the lug and wire. You should see the adhesive just starting to ooze out of the end of the shrinkwrap, evenly all around.

 

[Tim]

Having read this thread I both agree on points and disagree on others.



My only suggestion for those that use heat shrink tubing is that you use more than one piece at each end. Heat shrink needs to be as thick as the conductor's insulation. For those big wires y'all are using, that means 3-4 layers are necessary.



I make industrial electrical repairs at work on a daily basis, so I'm familiar with various types of electrical repairs.



Acid core solder is not for electrical parts, period.



I personally prefer soldered connections as they're harder to screw up. Crimped on connections that are done PROPERLY are just as electrically sound as solder, and more vibration resistant. That said, most of us do not have the tools to properly crimp a battery cable lug.



The solder pellets are a good idea.



If you're going to solder, remember to heat the work, not the solder.

 

[ProMac1K]

Got the job done this afternoon. I used 60/40 rosin core I believe. Crimped the connector, then soldered, then slid the sleeve on and shrinked it. Really worked well I think. Didn't have any extra room for lugs or connectors on the positive battery post, a lot of individual connectors. I could have done a better job at decreasing the amount of connectors maybe, but I was pressed on time and battery cable length since I used the factory cables. I already noticed a difference though. My pyro no longer jumps up, bottoms down, then slowly comes back up to temp when I start the engine. It was either the battery terminal, or the power wire terminal for the pyro box since that fell off right when I was about to hook it up to the post. I can get pics if anyone likes, but it wasn't a "show" job and with the marine posts it looks like there is a lot of wires stacked up on the post. I also only did the driver side terminals, since there is nothing wrong with the pass side terminals and I was pressed for time. I've got the materials for the pass side terminals and will do them either when I get some extra time or if they need to be replaced.



Thanks to everyone for helping me through this! Soldering was fun and was easier than I thought it would be! If I would have had more time, more patience, and new cables, I think I could have done a better job concerning looks. But I think they will perform good!



Trever