the shop that I am buying my large gauge wire from offered to crimp on the terminals for free, if I also purchased the terminals them. Question, I have seen blogs where to attach teminals on say 0, 2, 4 gauge cable the terminal is heated, filled with melted solder then has the cable end plunged into it. I was going to use that method, but since I can get a professional crimp on a large terminal,, which would be better?
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DadTruck
Peersonally, I'd try BOTH but if they are doing it for free go with them, that's the method the factories use.
Your soldering method will not yield a good connection unless the wire is plunged into the molten solder and the heat remain on the connector long enough for the wire to become hot enough for the solder to bond to it.
I use one of those small bottle torches to heat my terminals with, it gets them hot enough that the solder will flow vary well into the terminal housing & bonds your wire cable good! You can get the kit just about any hardware store now-a-days.... I prefer solder over crimping..... Dave
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"Eagle View Ranch" in Arizona
thanks
I went with the crimp and solder method,, used a propane torch to heat the lug after it was crimped on and attempted to flow some solder down into the open crevis on the crimped lug, Think I got some down in there,
The solder definately flowed up under the insulation, the first couple of inches of cable is really stiff.
on larger cables, like the 0-1 and 4 gauge, does getting solder under the insulation hurt any thing? At the lug ends the cables run is straight, so the loss of flex has not hurt any thing.
thanks
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DadTruck
The cable being stiff will not be a problem as long as it is not consantly pressed against something with a constant bind on the stiff part of the wire.