Cutting and stripping battery cables

[ratdude747]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

This is picture of the #6 cutters we use. Please note the warning on the handle, Do not use on steel.
We also use a vise to crimp our terminals. And we solder every one. It requires a large iron tip but we use a 35 watt iron. It is technique I have taught to our students. If you cut one strand from a 7 strand cable, you have increased the series resistance significantly. Cut off three strands from a 19 strand cable and you are doing the same. Cut off two of the 7 strands and you have reduced the wire to a #8.
As to heating the main breaker, that is the way it works. It is a bi-metal device. It is not the magnetic type used in house power panels. If it was tripping due to external heating, then poor connections can cause that localized heating.

My "2 strands" rule was for wires with a larger number of strands. Like 10 or more. Also note that the copper strands do connect internally (inside the wire), so the justification was that it's only missing for a short part, not the whole wire. Not nicking any strands is still a good thing though.

We used a butane torch to solder our vise-crimped cables... It seemed like everything was well connected. Obviously something was wrong, as like I was saying (and you are saying), the connection was too resistive and was getting hot, enough to thermally trip the breaker.

35W sounds a bit low... I'm not even sure my 60W Weller W60-P would have enough brunt to do a 6 gauge lug well. I've done them on 40W before but it was less than optimal. I'd recommend 100W, or a Soldering Gun (make sure the wires aren't connected to any electronics!). I assume we are talking about the lugs connecting to the battery/breaker/(pre-2015) PDP, not Anderson connectors.

But if you guys (and gals) of all people make it work, then I really don't know what to say. I guess "do what works for you, and to each their own?"