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DIY battery cable supplier

mchero
Explorer
Explorer
Going to replace some battery cables and wondering where you folks purchase your lugs, cable and shrink tubing. Looking for the go to supply house.

Thanks
Robert McHenry
Currently, Henniker NH
07 Fleetwood Discovery 39V
1K Solar dieselrvowners.com
2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Prior:1993 Pace Arrow 37' Diesel
29 REPLIES 29

C_Schomer
Explorer
Explorer
I just got 30' of 2/0 and all the ends/shrink tube/solder pellets from ebay. They had the most length choices for my diy job. Craig
2012 Dodge 3500 DRW CCLB 4wd, custom hauler bed.
2008 Sunnybrook Titan 30 RKFS Morryde and Disc brakes
WILL ROGERS NEVER MET JOE BIDEN!

fyrflie
Explorer III
Explorer III
I use Del City, which was already posted.

They also have the lugs with solder plugs that work very well. After I soldered the lugs I center punched them to get a little extra bite into the wire. Then covered with adhesive lined shrink tube.

Better than anything you can buy. IMHO

Dave_H_M
Explorer
Explorer
as I foggily recall i got what i needed at wally world a long time back.

campermama
Explorer II
Explorer II
Mobilesport wrote:
I ended up buying my 4 guage battery cables from Napa , they have red and black and will cut to the length you need.


Will they also put the connectors on the ends as well?
2018 Dodge Ram 3500 Laramie,SRW,CTD,4x4,Long bed
2020 Jayco eagle ht 274ckds

My Adventure Blog:
https://roaddivaontheroad.blogspot.com/2020/03/getting-ready.html

mchero
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks for all the suggestions. Evey post was very helpful. Ill follow up once I makeup my cables.
Robert McHenry
Currently, Henniker NH
07 Fleetwood Discovery 39V
1K Solar dieselrvowners.com
2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Prior:1993 Pace Arrow 37' Diesel

Mobilesport
Explorer
Explorer
I ended up buying my 4 guage battery cables from Napa , they have red and black and will cut to the length you need.

Mobilesport
Explorer
Explorer
@ Gdetrailer
Really good idea regarding the diy lugs

MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Explorer
Quicksilver is in Michoacan. I am in Ensenada better health care. Better move this to PM. I would like to pick your brain. ??

mchero
Explorer
Explorer
Yep, us IT folk have lots of pc's and parts but I got rid of my stash when we went full time. Kinda nice to be able to say, I don't have the room when offered free stuff!
Robert McHenry
Currently, Henniker NH
07 Fleetwood Discovery 39V
1K Solar dieselrvowners.com
2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Prior:1993 Pace Arrow 37' Diesel

Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Explorer III
Mex, that's a shame.

I don't have any laptops laying around, I only deal with desktop PCs and have lots of used parts like motherboards (have a few nice micro ITX I3 system boards that are 6"x8" size) and processor, memory, HDs, keyboards and mice along with a few tower cases.. Don't have any extra Wifi cards or monitors.. Otherwise I would be happy to cobble up something for you..

MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Explorer
I have only a cell phone with micro keyboard. Laptops are dead and I am missing 2p0 dollars a .onth from Social insecurity. I even started a Go Fund Me account things are so bleak. I fight the cellular and I am going to give up posting

mordecai81
Explorer
Explorer
Gdetrailer wrote:
Mex, glad to see you are back!

Things have been rather boring and quiet around hear while you were absent..


Iโ€™ll second that!

Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Explorer III
Mex, glad to see you are back!

Things have been rather boring and quiet around hear while you were absent..

Gdetrailer
Explorer III
Explorer III
mchero wrote:
Chum lee, McMasters good suggestion. I will look into them as well

GDEtrailer
Nice write up & pics. Great idea making your own lugs! I noticed those quality lugs can get up to the 5.00/pop! One pic looked like you sleeved that one end.

You guys got me thinking!
Thanks


I sleeved the entire lug end to end, mainly because I had the copper tubing on hand which happened to be the right size to slip over the other copper tubing.. In reality, most likely not needed but made for an extremely sturdy lug that could withstand many more amps than the copper wire.

Don't need solder pellets, I used good old rosin core solder for electronic/electrical work. This is not the place to use acid core or acid type flux.

As long as you have good shiny copper the Rosin core solder will work perfectly fine, the solder will wick right up between the two copper sleeves and even the wire into the copper sleeve.

The key here to soldering is to have clean copper surfaces before soldering.

Give the inside of the copper pipe a good cleaning with sand paper or a small round wire brush.

The trick to soldering my homemade lugs is to apply the heat to the outside of the lugs only, you will need a torch to get enough heat quick enough without melting the wire jacket. Applying the torch flame to the copper wire will oxidize the copper and solder will not flow between the wires.

This is pretty much the same idea as sweating copper pipe connections , heat the outside of the pipe near the connection then press the solder to the joint and when the copper gets to the melting temp of the solder it will wick right into the pipe joint..

Rosin flux is not as aggressive of a cleaner as paste flux for water pipes so you must start with absolutely clean copper. Most paste fluxes for water pipes you have to wipe and remove the remaining flux after soldering or it will start corroding the copper.. With wire, you cannot remove all of the leftover flux and the more aggressive flux for water lines will over time corrode the copper wire.