Dual Battery Setups! Let's see them! Multiple Batteries Thread!

I found a crimper at Harbor Freight. So far, it's worked great.

 

im crimping for the fuse blocks almost daily. Reliability needs to be there

 

Probably done over 100 crimps so far. Doesn't show any signs of shitting the bed

 

Wasn't implying that. I do like to be able to call a company and complain when they do fail. Then have them replace it under warranty.

 

HF has a warranty. You can pay a little more for the exchange in store thing. But I definitely understand where you're coming from.

 

moving battery to bed but got questions for wiring. Do I just wire positive terminal to alternator and negative to the frame and just wire fuse box to alternator? Or do I have to wire another cable from the battery to the fuse boxes? Also do I need to put breakers or something?

 

Yes you'll have to rune a wire from the alternator to the battery. Then from the battery to the fuse box.

Anything wire that is on the positive terminal should be fused or have a breaker on it within 12" of the battery.

So yes. You'll need to fuse/breaker both

 

IM going to open the Big 3 and Battery relocation kits again as there is some demand again. The kits supply everything you need to do it right

 

Everyone should upgrade the Big 3~ or more!

 

Big 3 ?? What is that, you make kits?

 

Yes, he deals with a company that does them. I keep telling him to link them all in his thread.

 

Here is the link http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/group-buys/309921-shok-industries-big3-wiring-gb.html

 

I'd love to get the Uber 3 from you. If you end up putting it back up.

 

Greenlee 1 shot, will never let you down and is adjustable. Pricey but well worth the money since there are no dies and you can adjust it to whatever size you want, I use it for almost everything #2 and up.

$522 Greenlee Dieless Crimper,8 to 4/0 AWG,22-3/8" L

http://www.amazon.com/Greenlee-1981-Indentor-Crimping-Tool/dp/B000R84T2A

 

I have to admit I like the looks of some of the crimp tools and such, but personally when I build the Big 3 Kits that I sell, I prefer to solder all of the terminal ends. I have learned in my long career that a soldered connection is much more reliable, and less prone to current loss issues.

 

I will be the devil's advocate. Soldering is okay (just okay) for anything up to a #12 wire. If you go bigger, I would definitely crimp it. A proper crimp is stronger than the wire itself and will not fail with vibrations, solder will. I've made at least 20k terminations ranging from 5VDC to 138kv, all crimped in residential to industrial applications and not have one fail.

 

I go for the best of both worlds, both crimp then solder. Follow it up with heat shrink. It's like the wire was never spliced, solid as hell.

 

Here's the extentions I made for my positive/negative cables when I did my dual battery setup


My winch wire I made up (shown next to the stock wiring) so I could relocate it to the engine bay, this was obviously before I soldered/heat shrinked it. I use the ebay hydraulic crimper and it has worked for the 20+ crimps I've needed it for

 

I was going back over some stuff I missed in this thread. (which I love some of the ideas I have seen here) The down side that I see for putting a breaker on the ground side, is that if that breaker is tripped, then EVERYTHING connected to that battery then looses power. If you are running a winch, a fridge, some lights at night, etc, and there is a major short in the winch cable, then you would lose power to everything when a ground breaker tripped. If you put the appropriate sized breakers on a larger load circuit, and the other loads (fridge, lights, etc) were on their own fused or breaker protection, then you would only lose power to the one circuit that went bad, but the other items would still be hooked up. Just my thoughts on a ground-side breaker.

 

See, when I was in my degree program, one of the things we were taught was that a properly soldered connection is the equivalent of a welded connection. The secret being that it has to be done properly, by cleaning and tinning all connections before you solder them. If done correctly, they will not break. In the 25 years I have been doing this, I have never had a soldered terminal break or crack. I guess a lot has to do with what we each have learned, and done. Granted your work is at a much higher voltage than the 12V/24V systems I work with, but that does not mean that my method is just "okay" up to 12 gauge wire. I solder 00 cable, and have never had a single one fail in 25 years, so I think my method works just as well. Again, it has a lot I think to do with what we are taught, and what we have learned.

I do agree that a lot of these crimpers are impressive, and crimping from all sides is certainly the best way to crimp. Most automotive crimp tools are centerline crimps, which I don't care for because they don't compress properly. The crimpers that it looks like you all use are not like the ones that are typically used to crimp in the auto industry. I am not saying I will convert, but I will definitely give appropriate consideration that crimping like you all show with the hydraulic crimpers should be a solid connection.

An interesting thought to say the least. However the only thing I can see wrong with a crimp then solder process is that a properly crimped connection shouldn't have ANY air gaps. This means that the solder wouldn't have anywhere to flow into. I am curious how it would work if you soldered it, THEN crimped?