Battery lugs
 

In the kit again this season, there were two different types of battery lugs: the silver compression ones, and the copper-looking solderless ones with the screws. We've used both over the years. The screw-fastened ones tend to lose the wire after a while, while the silver ones work a lot better for us, but I'm fairly certain we don't have a perfect crimp on them. The tool AndyMark sells to crimp them is about $200, and while I'd imagine there are cheaper ones out there, I'm not sure we can justify that with our current budget.

If your team is using something other than these two kit options, can you point me to them and let me know how they're working out for you? I'm interested in exploring alternatives this season.

Re: Battery lugs
 

The silver compression lugs i believe you can solder on with enough heat, if you have a scrap wire around i would test that first though.

Re: Battery lugs
 

We use the silver ones, put them in a vice, and turn until the table starts lifting up! :D

Re: Battery lugs
 

Screw lugs in use here. Grip lug body with vise grip and use a full-blade in the screw's slot. Tighten monster tight and use thread-lock on threads only. Don't get any on wire stands or inside grip zone. Make sure there are no renegade wire strands sticking outside the lug body itself. Remember to put shrink wrap onto each wire before connecting to terminals, if you prefer that insulation method. I have used a couple of sleeves on occasion. Orient the screw lugs toward the center of the battery to minimize having them scrape stuff during their lives. Thread lock again on the little bolts and use wrenches on the hex headed screw that holds lugs on the battery terminals. Then a tight tape wind of at least four layers over the top. Anyone need pictures?

Re: Battery lugs
 

We use the silver ones because one of our mentors has the proper crimper that supposed to be used with it. I cant remember the name off the top of my head (IIRC it's a TNB crimper).

Re: Battery lugs
 

Very bad idea, you cannot prevent solder from wicking up into the wire, and making it too Brittle.
My goodness, even worse, since the crimp will definitely fail. Before that, you will have high resistance - use Ohms law to calculate the voltage drop of 0.10 Ohm at 100 Amps....

A proper crimp actually deforms the copper wire and makes the small wires lose all air space between them in that area. Lacking the correct crimping tool you can use the crimping section of these pliers. The crimping section is found between the pivot point and the handle. We use a good smack with a hammer to make sure the lug is fully compressed

Re: Battery lugs
 

I found THIS to work well.

Re: Battery lugs
 

Today we tasked one of our mentors with converting all of our batteries from the screw on lugs to the crimp on ones. Because we don't have a crimping tool big enough to handle the wire, he tinned the wire and then soldered it to the lug.

As DonRotolo said in his post above, allowing the solder to wick up into the wire will make it brittle. To keep this from happening he used the lowest temperature that he could get away with and went light on the solder. Of all of the batteries that he performed this operation on, only one wire wicked up solder. That one was replaced to avoid any headaches later on in the season.

I would not attempt this on my own though. I'm decent with a soldering gun, but I would probably make the attachment too weak or allow the solder to wick up the wire.

Re: Battery lugs
 

If you are going to use the compression terminals don't bother with a flat head screw driver you need a #2 Robertson to properly tighten them. Our Canadian teams are more likely to have one available but for those of use that are in the US you can find bits or a screw driver at an electrical supply place, one that deals in house wiring supplies and tools. For the past 10 or more years the screws in electrical panels and the circuit breakers that go in them use the same dual drive screw and professional electricians will not use anything but the square drive.

If you want to use the crimp on terminals then you really need the Brundy crimper or a hydraulic one if you want a long term reliable connection. They are not intended to be soldered they have a slot to verify that the wire is fully inserted which precludes proper soldering. Proper soldering of battery lugs requires the use of solder pellets that are sized to the cable and lug to provide the proper amount of flux and solder. Personally for the automotive battery cables I make I only do the solder style for a much better long term connection.

Re: Battery lugs
 

At one point, Home Depot sold a 24 in crimper with three fixed dies and a bolt cutter for about $40. Critically, one of the dies was the right size for the all-metal crimpable terminals for 6 AWG stranded wire (both ring and Anderson SB). It's the perfect tool for the job, and at that price, it's worth a visit to the tool area of your local 24-hour Home Depot right now.

However, last time I looked, they only had an inferior 18 in one, with fractional-inch-sized dies (which are not quite right), for about the same price. (It's listed as a swaging tool, such as for wire rope connectors.)

Fastenal has a version of the good one, for about $200. For an FRC team, it might not be a good investment at that price point. For more demanding applications, it's still a good deal, because it's ridiculously fast and apparently very reliable.

Also, whatever method you employ, pull hard on the connector and wire after you've finished assembling the cable. There is no shame in it failing now, during assembly; there's lots of shame in the wires falling out of your battery during a match.

Re: Battery lugs
 

We have had great results with the Harbor Freight 66150 Hydraulic Crimper which is currently on sale for $50.

Re: Battery lugs
 

...I want one of those now!

Re: Battery lugs
 

This. If you use the supplied screws, it's near impossible to get the appropriate torque on those screws with a flat head. We use alternative products from Burndy (both the offset tongue and straight lug) because those are designed for flat heads, not Robertsons. I don't remember the exact specs on the types we have, but the ones we have accomodate 6AWG wire and a #10 stud (we use #10 hex hardware to secure the lugs against the battery terminals).

Re: Battery lugs
 

I have seen them for well under $10 online.

Teams will find these by the chain and wire rope display. Loews also sells them.

Re: Battery lugs
 

If you use a Husky (or any other brand for that matter) flat head with a square shaft (or bolstered shaft) you can put a wrench on it.