Author |
Message |
Rusted64 Samba Member
Joined: December 24, 2010 Posts: 132
|
Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2022 9:39 am Post subject: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
Hi, The positive side battery terminal on my vanagon broke and all the local parts store had in stock were horrible.
I was able to get by with those but they occasionally ground out against the battery compartment.
What kind of luck have you guys had finding a decent replacement and what type did you use?
(originality isn't important )
thanks. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Silverghost500 Samba Member
Joined: August 01, 2018 Posts: 1089 Location: Atlanta, GA
|
Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2022 11:13 am Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
You may wind up having to order a similar terminal from NAPA Online or perhaps Summit Racing's web site. Most terminals on the shelves at a local FLAPS aren't that great. _________________ 1986 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia "Von Westy"
Honda K24A converversion-Road Testing Phase
3-Speed Automatic
Von Westy YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbhyZYxJEQrUuLnMbLleeIA |
|
Back to top |
|
|
wbailey2112 Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2015 Posts: 483 Location: Grove City, OH
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
djkeev Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007 Posts: 32632 Location: Reading Pennsylvania
|
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2022 6:11 am Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
Sadly, with our clearance problems and extra wires, there are few solutions available to us.
This quoted post below is one of the nicest solutions I've seen .......
puchfinnland wrote: |
I did the electrical math on the cable sizing, honestly the 2 AWG was sized correctly, it can handle 200 Amps at 10 ft, the vanagon cable is around 9 ft,
In my opinion 2/0 is way overkill, I chose a 1/0AWG and it really is a noticeable difference,
for a few extra bucks I chose Anchor Marine tinned multistrand from west marine. it can be purchased by the foot, and if you go in the store, you can even swage on the ends for free.
my terminals I purchased from Delcity
|
_________________ Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos
Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473
Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537
Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert |
|
Back to top |
|
|
DanHoug Samba Member
Joined: December 05, 2016 Posts: 4800 Location: Bemidji, MN
|
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2022 6:50 am Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
you grounding thru the carpet there, Sonny?? _________________ -dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.
'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd
Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com |
|
Back to top |
|
|
DuncanS Samba Member
Joined: October 17, 2013 Posts: 4583 Location: New Hampshire
|
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2022 6:52 am Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
That's a really nice setup, Dave. A fuse for the positive and many take offs for the aux leads. I see by the color that's your old car. What do you have in the new one?
Duncan |
|
Back to top |
|
|
jimf909 Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2014 Posts: 7477 Location: WA/ID
|
Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2022 7:27 am Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
Rusted64 wrote: |
Hi, The positive side battery terminal on my vanagon broke and all the local parts store had in stock were horrible.
. |
Are you saying that the positive cable terminal broke and you need to replace it? I like puchfinnland's approach to create a separate buss/fusebox to accommodate connections away from the battery.
For an immediate correction, here's an approach:
Ring terminal:
https://www.amazon.com/SELTERM-Gauge-Copper-Weldin...amp;sr=8-4
Crimper (or Sodo's hammer and combination wrench crimper - I can't find a picture of that solution now):
https://www.amazon.com/Hydraulic-Crimper-Battery-T...s9dHJ1ZQ==
Ring terminal added:
Battery post clamp:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LLWKXV6/ref=ewc_pr_img_5?smid=A2GNZBM8JSG24J&psc=1
My guess is you found something like this at the FLAPS which is serviceable:
_________________ - Jim
Abscate wrote: |
Do not get killed, do not kill others.
|
Current: 1990 Westy Camper - Bostig RG4, 2wd, manual trans w/Peloquin, NAHT high-top, 280 ah LFP battery, 160 watts solar, Flash Silver, seam rust, bondo, etc., etc.
Past: 1985 Westy Camper - 1.9 wbx, 2wd, manual trans, Merian Brown, (sold after 17 years to Northwesty who converted it to a Syncro). |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Steve M. Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2013 Posts: 6833 Location: Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
|
Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 5:03 am Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
I want to see more pics of what looks like a hinged lid under the seat!
(Here they are:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9426081&highlight=#9426081 )
I do have a question on how easy is it to get the cables out of the way when removing the battery being that the cables with the terminals swaged on do not look like they will fit through the feed-through holes? Or am I not seeing it from this angle? _________________ This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.
There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
djkeev Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007 Posts: 32632 Location: Reading Pennsylvania
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
Steve M. Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2013 Posts: 6833 Location: Fort Lauderdale, Fl.
|
Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 6:38 am Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
djkeev wrote: |
And, what it the red bar on the right where the + feeds into the block?
Why not just connect the + wire to the block directly?
Dave |
It's great inspiration and thinking outside the box.
That is just a copper "BUS" bar covered with shrink wrap as protective cover. That short of a distance might have been useless to crimp terminals on a cable as the distance between the terminals would be too short to give the cable any flexibility. It would work, but it would be a waste of 2 terminals imo. This works just as well. _________________ This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.
There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Wildthings Samba Member
Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 50352
|
Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 9:22 am Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
On my daughter's Jeep Cherokee both battery cable ends were bad, so I bought a jumper for a 24v battery setup, cut it in two, and then used splitbolt connectors to attach the new cables to the old, applied some dielectric grease on the connections and a layer of self adhesive silicone tape, and some heat shrink and all looks good many years down the road. Not a lot of room to make a similar repair in the VW battery box, but you could buy a premade cable and make the connection under the vehicle.
If your van has seen a lot of road salts, then replacing the entire cable might be the way to go. |
|
Back to top |
|
|
Red Ryder Samba Member
Joined: June 26, 2021 Posts: 952 Location: Northern California
|
Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2022 1:10 pm Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
As most have surmised here, you are referring to repair of the “battery cable end” not the battery terminal itself. Carry on… _________________ “Most everyone’s mad here. You may have noticed I am not quite all there myself.” — Cheshire Cat, Adventures of Alice in Wonderland
“Scarlett” — 1990 Vanagon Carat Wolfsburg Edition
Tornado Red |
|
Back to top |
|
|
jlrftype7 Samba Member
Joined: July 24, 2018 Posts: 3582 Location: Chicago
|
Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 12:28 pm Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
Amazon Mil-Spec kit- battery terminals, eyelets and heat shrink all in the kit
Plus boots…
Fastronix Military Spec Battery Terminal kit
That battery cable is new in the picture, several gauge sizes larger than the old stock VW cable I removed. Outer diameter of the cable just fit inside the plastic cable routing clips from VW that I was able to reuse. Cable is Metric, not sure of the gauge size, but fit the eyelets from Fastronix in their kit nicely. _________________ '68 Westy- my first VW and vehicle/Bus- long gone.- sold it to a traveling Swiss couple....
'67 Type 3 Fastback, my 2nd car- gone
'69 Semi-Auto Stick Shift Beetle-gone
2017 MINI Coopers, our current DDs
‘84 Tin Top - Hilga....Auto
Last edited by jlrftype7 on Wed Dec 14, 2022 6:36 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
Back to top |
|
|
DuncanS Samba Member
Joined: October 17, 2013 Posts: 4583 Location: New Hampshire
|
Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 5:16 pm Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
According to their site, none of the terminals can handle wire the size needed to go to the starter.
Duncan |
|
Back to top |
|
|
jimf909 Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2014 Posts: 7477 Location: WA/ID
|
Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2022 9:32 pm Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
jimf909 wrote: |
djkeev wrote: |
Why not just connect the + wire to the block directly?
Dave |
My guess is the pos cable goes to a kill switch mounted in the seat base and the kill switch connects to the block via the copper bar covered in heat shrink. Then the current runs through the fuse before the cable heads back to the starter. Or something like that... |
_________________ - Jim
Abscate wrote: |
Do not get killed, do not kill others.
|
Current: 1990 Westy Camper - Bostig RG4, 2wd, manual trans w/Peloquin, NAHT high-top, 280 ah LFP battery, 160 watts solar, Flash Silver, seam rust, bondo, etc., etc.
Past: 1985 Westy Camper - 1.9 wbx, 2wd, manual trans, Merian Brown, (sold after 17 years to Northwesty who converted it to a Syncro). |
|
Back to top |
|
|
djkeev Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007 Posts: 32632 Location: Reading Pennsylvania
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
djkeev Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007 Posts: 32632 Location: Reading Pennsylvania
|
|
Back to top |
|
|
DuncanS Samba Member
Joined: October 17, 2013 Posts: 4583 Location: New Hampshire
|
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 7:55 am Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
From Dave's link https://www.quickcable.com/product/3720p/ A solder or crimp connection for 2/0. So far this looks like the only one that has surfaced. Tried to get a price, but they didn't like my lack of a web site for a company. Maybe some of you will have better luck.
Duncan |
|
Back to top |
|
|
jimf909 Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2014 Posts: 7477 Location: WA/ID
|
Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2022 9:01 am Post subject: Re: Replacement Battery Terminal - which type? |
|
|
DuncanS wrote: |
From Dave's link https://www.quickcable.com/product/3720p/ A solder or crimp connection for 2/0. So far this looks like the only one that has surfaced. Tried to get a price, but they didn't like my lack of a web site for a company. Maybe some of you will have better luck.
Duncan |
There's no shortage of crimp, solder or compression battery post cable terminals in 4/0, 2/0, etc. available on the web.
Grainger is always a good bet and seems to offer a few dozen variants. McMaster-Carr is probably a good source too:
https://www.google.com/search?q=2%2F0+battery+post...YesH0_u-aM
4/0...
https://www.google.com/search?q=4%2F0+battery+post...p;ie=UTF-8
2/0...
https://www.google.com/search?q=2%2F0+battery+post...s-wiz-serp
That said, ignoring VW's choice, what's the cable size needed to provide the ampacity needed for the duty cycle of a starter motor 10' from the battery at a given temperature rating? As puchfinnland points out, 2/0 is more than enough and 2 will probably suffice.
https://www.anixter.com/en_us/resources/literature/wire-wisdom/wire-and-cable-ampacity-ratings.html _________________ - Jim
Abscate wrote: |
Do not get killed, do not kill others.
|
Current: 1990 Westy Camper - Bostig RG4, 2wd, manual trans w/Peloquin, NAHT high-top, 280 ah LFP battery, 160 watts solar, Flash Silver, seam rust, bondo, etc., etc.
Past: 1985 Westy Camper - 1.9 wbx, 2wd, manual trans, Merian Brown, (sold after 17 years to Northwesty who converted it to a Syncro). |
|
Back to top |
|
|
|