View Single Post
  #13   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 07-05-2013, 16:07
Tristan Lall's Avatar
Tristan Lall Tristan Lall is offline
Registered User
FRC #0188 (Woburn Robotics)
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Rookie Year: 1999
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 2,484
Tristan Lall has a reputation beyond reputeTristan Lall has a reputation beyond reputeTristan Lall has a reputation beyond reputeTristan Lall has a reputation beyond reputeTristan Lall has a reputation beyond reputeTristan Lall has a reputation beyond reputeTristan Lall has a reputation beyond reputeTristan Lall has a reputation beyond reputeTristan Lall has a reputation beyond reputeTristan Lall has a reputation beyond reputeTristan Lall has a reputation beyond repute
Re: Battery Leads Coming Loose

  • Use good quality finely stranded wire. (I like welding cable. Car stereo cable is fine if insulation durability isn't a huge concern.)
  • Use the right terminals for the wire. (I like to use the solid copper, tin-plated crimp sleeve terminals designed specifically for the wire gauge, with a #10 screw hole.1)
  • Use a a high-quality crimping tool. (Last time I bought one of those, it was less than $40 CAD. $65 is the best price I could find today; they're often well over $200 now. Consider the style Home Depot currently sells, but be aware the results may not be satisfactory due to the differently-sized crimping dies.)
  • The barrel of the terminal can usually accommodate two crimps with the tool. The whole process is completed within about two minutes (once you get used to stripping fine-stranded wire with a utility knife, without nicking the conductors too badly), and I've never had one fail.
  • The same procedure applies to Anderson SB50 and SB120 terminals; use the sleeve-type (not stamped) ones, and crimp once.
1 FIRST has often supplied ones with a Ø0.25 in screw hole. These don't fit the provided battery screws nicely.