Making high current/voltage battery cables for EV's

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lennonrodgers
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Making high current/voltage battery cables for EV's

Hi All,

I put together instructions on how I made the battery cables for my electric motorcycle - though it is general for all EV's. I made a soldered joint, which does not require a crimper. I am very impressed with the strength of the joint.

http://lennonrodgers.googlepages.com/cables

For more: www.electricmotion.org

Best,

Lennon

LinkOfHyrule
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Re: Making high current/voltage battery cables for EV's

Except for the hole thing, that's exactly how I do my Andersons. Works pretty good, doesn't it? ;)

The author of this post isn't responsible for any injury, disability or dismemberment, death, financial loss, illness, addiction, hereditary disease, or any other undesirable consequence or general misfortune resulting from use of the "information" contai

reikiman
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Re: Making high current/voltage battery cables for EV's

You're missing out on the fun of wailing away at something with a sledgehammer!

That is, for my heavy duty cables I use a bigger sized crimp tool along with a 2 pound sledge hammer. It works pretty well but there is this lingering concern about the quality of the electrical connection. On this site we'd had a debate last year with observations that a soldered connection forms a complete electrical connection but a) the pictures shown as 'proof' showed only one crimp point, b) there's a contention that when solder wicks into a cable it will be made more brittle.

When I use my crimp techniques I always make sure there are multiple crimp points. For the heavy-duty cables I wail away at the cable, turn it a partial turn, do some more wailing, move it forwards or back in the crimp tool, wail some more.. the point is I'm pounding on 3 or so points of the lug. That's gonna be a better connection than if there was only one crimp point. On the other hand, obviously, it's not as complete a connection as solder no matter how many places I pound on the lug.

The other thing is about brittleness. When you solder a braided wire, solder wicks up the wire a ways, and the wire becomes stiff. What happens if your cable needs to bend near the end? If the end has become stiff due to solder then it won't be able to bend.

lennonrodgers
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Re: Making high current/voltage battery cables for EV's

The cables are a bit stiff at the end - but they work great - even for some fairly sharp bends.

LinkOfHyrule
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Re: Making high current/voltage battery cables for EV's

IMO, if it has to bend sharply near the end, you need more cable. And the real trick to this method is to work fast. Feed the solder faster than it can melt, in particular. Should feel kinda crunchy if you're doing it right.

The author of this post isn't responsible for any injury, disability or dismemberment, death, financial loss, illness, addiction, hereditary disease, or any other undesirable consequence or general misfortune resulting from use of the "information" contai

sgmdudley
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Re: Making high current/voltage battery cables for EV's

I was thinking about making new cables for my Zapino. I plan on using Marine Battery Cables 6awg.
They come by the foot in various colors. This site also has the lugs.
http://www.danamarineproducts.com/BatteryCables.htm

Robert Dudley
E-Scoot Tech

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