While doing this job earlier today, I came to think there is not really a "How To " section on AJOR. Not pretending to start one, but thought to just do a non-pretentious write up on the job at hand...
(More to test my new phone's camera), took some pics along the way and put them together with a few words. Who knows, it might help someone, someday,somewhere...for some reason.
One way to make your own battery cables
Making battery cables yourself is not rocket science. With some basic tools, you can make a few in no time.
I thought to take some pics when I did mine recently. There are several ways of doing this, of course, and below is how I did mine. Not at all claiming this is the best method, but it works fine, is quick and once you’re done, you’ll be happy knowing you can do this yourself
Needed:
Battery cable of your choice
Cable cutter (if you need the cable cut to correct size)
Utility knife
Lugs of correct size for your cable
Vice
Heat shrink
Here are the steps:
1) Cut the cable to desired length and measure the size of insulation you need to remove
2) Cut the insulation, taking care not to cut the strands.
Don’t worry, the strands are not silk. Just cut the insulation a little at first and bend it. This way you will get an idea of how deep you need to cut.
3) Slide a piece of heat shrink over the cable, put the lug in the vice and push the cable end in the lug. Make sure the cable doesn’t fall out and don’t forget that heat shrink!
4) Now “crimp” the lug in the vice. Give it a good go (if it is not tight enough, the cable will eventually work itself back out which would not be a good scenario).
I tightened it thoroughly and then finished the process with a few impacts on the crimped lug with a punch and hammer. Check if you’re happy with the ‘mechanical’ connection you just made, don’t go crazy, just make sure that cable is in there snug.
5) Put the heat shrink over the area (and heat it
) and it should come out looking something like this.
And that’s basically it. All in all takes only a few minutes per cable.
If you want to take more time or want an optimal conducting connection, you can consider melting solder into the wire strands inside the lug before you put the heat shrink on (Make sure you keep the heat shrink well away from the lug when you do this step, to prevent premature shrinking due to the heat of the solder process).
Hope this gives an idea about what is involved and convinced you that you can easily do this yourself.
Roler
How To... Make Your Own Battery Cables.
