www.iFourWinns.com

Just wondering what kind of connectors you guys used for making new battery cables up? We have some copper ones here at work, but worried about them reacting in a moist enviornment. I plan on using some 2GA. welding cable we have to make the cables.

_________________
1998 Baja Boss 252 7.4L MPI Bravo 1 (SOLD)
2007 FW H200SS 5.0GXI (Sold)
2004 Chevy Silverado 2500 Crew 6.0L (tow vehicle)
1991 FW 170 Freedom 4.3L (SOLD)

I had my cables made by somebody who does marine "stuff" and they used copper on them.

_________________
Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

Didn't they turn green and corode?

_________________
1998 Baja Boss 252 7.4L MPI Bravo 1 (SOLD)
2007 FW H200SS 5.0GXI (Sold)
2004 Chevy Silverado 2500 Crew 6.0L (tow vehicle)
1991 FW 170 Freedom 4.3L (SOLD)

Well, since I put it in a week ago, nope, haha. Seriously though...take a look at your factory wires...copper terminals.

_________________
Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

Just out of curiousity where did you mount your switch?

_________________
1998 Baja Boss 252 7.4L MPI Bravo 1 (SOLD)
2007 FW H200SS 5.0GXI (Sold)
2004 Chevy Silverado 2500 Crew 6.0L (tow vehicle)
1991 FW 170 Freedom 4.3L (SOLD)

Tin your ends before crimping!

_________________
Walt B
"Debt-Charged"
Black '07 H210SS
6.2L Bravo One turning a 21P HIFive
Wakeboard Tower with Perfect Pass Stargazer version
Missouri River; Kansas City, Mo.

Its on the starboard side. I mounted the other battery on the port side, in basically the same location. I had some 10 foot each color wire made (from a guy on ebay)...cost me about $45.00 for those. I bought some cable clamps and some black wire loom to cover the wires. I ran the wires around the front end of the engine bay. It looks factory, or better. I attached the cable clamps with the existing screws for the brackets that are used to secure the side panels of the engine bay.

_________________
Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

These guys have great prices on honest to goodness marine grade battery cable and will install terminals for you at a buck an end. I bought from them when I added my second battery & switch and they do real nice work.

http://genuinedealz.com/

_________________
2007 Horizon 200
4.3L GXi/ SX 225 HP

Thats who I bought my wires from....good people, good prices and good fast shipping too.

_________________
Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

I picked up the wire from http://www.skycraftsurplus.com as their prices were pretty good. I used Ancor brand marine ones from the boat store. The kind that require a hammer strike crimper, which I found cheap at a local auto battery store. Like one of these:



One smack with a BFH and it's crimped tight. Then cover the ends with marine heat shrink tubing. Just remember to put the heat shrink on the wire BEFORE you attach the connectors. And once you're done make SURE the wires are securely held in place throughout their placement in the boat. Vibration is your enemy (which is why you never solder wires in a boat).

_________________
-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

There's always solder... crimp as best you can, then solder the heck out of it.

_________________

2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

Luckily for me we had one of these at work.

_________________
1998 Baja Boss 252 7.4L MPI Bravo 1 (SOLD)
2007 FW H200SS 5.0GXI (Sold)
2004 Chevy Silverado 2500 Crew 6.0L (tow vehicle)
1991 FW 170 Freedom 4.3L (SOLD)

NO NO NO NO! Do not solder wire connections in a boat. Solder makes a hard joint, one that's too brittle for the vibrations in a boat. That's why the ABYC recommends against using soldered joints. That and a crimped connection has enough 'give' in it to maintain a SPARK FREE connection.

_________________
-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

From being an electrician, and doing thermography I found a good connection was made by "tinning" the connections. That means soldering the wire before crimping. It gives much more surface area in contact with the lug. It shouldn't make the joint less flexible, or brittle either. Just my $.02.

_________________
Walt B
"Debt-Charged"
Black '07 H210SS
6.2L Bravo One turning a 21P HIFive
Wakeboard Tower with Perfect Pass Stargazer version
Missouri River; Kansas City, Mo.

It's one thing to be dealing with a connection that's stationary. When neither side of the connection is going to have any movement then solder makes for a great connection. But when there's movement, even minute amounts due to vibration, you're asking for trouble. Cars generally don't solder any wire connections, nor do airplanes. Same thing for boats. This is due to vibration eventually breaking the solder joint. Broken joints mean not only lost or intermittent connections, they also mean greater risk for electrical sparking. A battery cable in an engine compartment is not the place to have sparks. Either from gasoline or a failing battery outgassing hydrogen. Ka-BOOM!

Note I'm talking about connections where wire is involved. Obviously there are plenty of soldered connections inside devices on boats, cars and planes. But those joints aren't going to move. Nor do the components using them usually have enough weight to leverage the connection loose. A battery cable is heavy and probably not fully supported, so soldering really is a bad idea for it.

Yeah, it might never fail. But the side effects of failure range from the boat being left dead in the water, or you being blown clear out of the boat (and literally dead in the water). But hey, go with what you think works, just be informed.

_________________
-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista