Matt16

How do I do this? Its too big to solder, is there some kind of crimp that would work? I am hoping to relocate the battery.

mt_goat

In the past I have made a crimp connector out of a piece of copper pipe and used a propane touch to melt some solder around it. Crimp it with a punch and a hammer.

Hypoid

Nothing is too big to solder. Seriously, torches come in a wide variety of sizes.

You can buy lugs as large as you need to. If you don't find any at your local auto parts store, go to the local welding store. You can squash it in your bench vise (it's called swaging) or with incrementally tighter settings with a pair of vise-grips.

abecedarian

I wouldn't extend them, I would replace them...
... end-to-end with wires a couple sizes bigger.
so, if stock is 2GA, extend with 0 or 2/0.

thook

Stock is 2 guage?..... They didn't look that big to me.

Longer batt'ry cables are not that expensive. I just put some longer ones (38"/ 4 guage) on my '86. Cost me a total of $14. They go about $1 higher the longer they get.....at O'Reilly, anyway. Can't imagine it being much different at any other discount auto stores.

On the other hand, splicing them will work. It's done all the time on high voltage applications. The thing to do, though, is secure the splice to a stationary location so the splice can't pull apart/loosen. And seal it well with splice tape, rubberized coating, heat shrink, etc.

abecedarian

I said "IF stock is 2GA..."
It's probably more like 6GA, but that's fine.

If you are going to splice cables, fill the splice and the cable with something like No-alox or kopperkote to keep corrosion to a minimum. Personally, I prefer the former since it's designed to work with different metals, particularly splicing copper to aluminum or tin, or various combinations of....

rangerruck

by the time, you buy parts to do the job, and the time you spend, you coulda just bought another longer set...

thook

OH! silly me......gerf

No-alox is good stuff. I've used it a lot when I had to fix a few splices in the main feed to the house years ago. Then, I just rewired the house from the main pole to the new main panel I put in. Butt splices and shrink tube are better than bolt splices, fyi.....<<<anyone<<<

thook

(shush! no need to point out the obvious.....)

abecedarian

At work, we apply no-alox (or kopperkote depending on the contract) on every connection, whether an in-line splice or bolting a terminal to a block.
I will attest that I've seen terminals bolted to a buss bar within .5 miles of the ocean that have 0 oxidation at the point of contact when no-alox or kopperkote have been used, and the copper bar surrounding the connection have been covered green by cupric-oxide.
So, you know that end of the deal.

And if you're gonna heat-shrink, use marine grade heat shrink since the shrink is lined with a compound that flows and seals gaps.

thook

There is one splice in the 200amp, 4/0 ground wire running to the house (don't ask why). I used a butt splice and that type of heat shrink. That stuff is fantastic. I didn't realize they had it any smaller. Hmmm....

Yodaforce

Why not just buy a relocation kit with a longer positive cable? It still grounds to the frame at both ends of the vehicle (battery to frame in rear, frame to engine in front). Are you putting it in the rear somewhere or just a "little" further away from where it is now?

abecedarian

I've seen (and used) it down to 6GA wiring. Sweet stuff, actually.

waskillywabbit

iTrader: (-1)

You can get wire that big at a local welding shop. Buy some battery contact/crimps at the local auto parts and make your own cables. Pretty simple.

Jay351

Matt, just go up to the parts store and get a few lengths of wire and make your own battery cables. Defantly not rocket science