Gary Lewis Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 How important are hydraulic crimpers in this? Personally, I do not own a pair. I have a decent set of ratcheting crimpers. I'm also wondering how many people own hydraulic crimpers. Also, can you tell me about the solder you used? I've heard in the past that soldering stuff under the hood can lead to issues from the heat. I don't have any first hand experience to know if that is an issue but if there are certain solders or techniques to be aware of, I'd like to know. Jim is right, it isn't necessary to have a hydraulic crimper. But I have this one from TEMco and it works very well so I use it to make battery cables and connections of this kind. I will say that I don't recommend that you buy just any cheap hydraulic crimper as most of those have metric-sized die and don't give good results on SAE-sized terminals. But that one from TEMco has both metric and SAE die and does a good job. As for soldering, it isn't the solder itself but the tool that provides the heat that is usually the problem. I just use normal over-the-counter rosin-core solder, but I also use a soldering gun or pen, not a propane torch. A gun or pen puts the heat to the joint where a torch puts it everywhere and other things get torched. Also there's a debate about soldered joints being stiff and ultimately failing from vibration. The issue is that the solder wicks up the wire and where it stops is the point where the wire goes from flexible to stiff. And if that point is left to dangle in the air all by itself it may ultimately break. But I use a heavy shrink tubing with an adhesive lining on all my joints and that provides a lot of support. Plus I bundle the wires together and cover them with convolute and then secure the bundle in the vehicle so it doesn't move. I've been soldering connections like this for over 50 years and haven't had one fail. But I do understand that a properly-crimped connection doesn't have the same problem so may be better. However, you don't get a "properly-crimped connection" from cheap crimpers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 Jim is right, it isn't necessary to have a hydraulic crimper. But I have this one from TEMco and it works very well so I use it to make battery cables and connections of this kind. I will say that I don't recommend that you buy just any cheap hydraulic crimper as most of those have metric-sized die and don't give good results on SAE-sized terminals. But that one from TEMco has both metric and SAE die and does a good job. As for soldering, it isn't the solder itself but the tool that provides the heat that is usually the problem. I just use normal over-the-counter rosin-core solder, but I also use a soldering gun or pen, not a propane torch. A gun or pen puts the heat to the joint where a torch puts it everywhere and other things get torched. Also there's a debate about soldered joints being stiff and ultimately failing from vibration. The issue is that the solder wicks up the wire and where it stops is the point where the wire goes from flexible to stiff. And if that point is left to dangle in the air all by itself it may ultimately break. But I use a heavy shrink tubing with an adhesive lining on all my joints and that provides a lot of support. Plus I bundle the wires together and cover them with convolute and then secure the bundle in the vehicle so it doesn't move. I've been soldering connections like this for over 50 years and haven't had one fail. But I do understand that a properly-crimped connection doesn't have the same problem so may be better. However, you don't get a "properly-crimped connection" from cheap crimpers. My 3G cables from RJM came with solder 'nuggets' in the 2/0 lugs. You clamp the lug in a vise, hold the cable end on the solder and heat the lug with a torch. When you feel it bottom out remove the torch and hold the cable until the solder frosts over. It is a great solution for those of us who aren't willing to pay for a tool that we will only use once and don't have room for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 My 3G cables from RJM came with solder 'nuggets' in the 2/0 lugs. You clamp the lug in a vise, hold the cable end on the solder and heat the lug with a torch. When you feel it bottom out remove the torch and hold the cable until the solder frosts over. It is a great solution for those of us who aren't willing to pay for a tool that we will only use once and don't have room for. And your soldered battery cables haven't failed. Which proves the point that while there is a potential failure point, a soldered connection isn't the problem that some say it is. I bought my hydraulic crimper when making a whole slew of 2/0 battery cables for our boat, which had two batteries and a battery isolator so lots of cables. Then I made battery cables for Big Blue, which not only has two batteries and an isolator but also has an inverter - and lots of ground wires. Hopefully I'll be making cables for Dad's truck in the not too distant future, and have offered to either make cables or loan the crimper to local friends. So it has/will pay for itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted January 28 Share Posted January 28 And your soldered battery cables haven't failed. Which proves the point that while there is a potential failure point, a soldered connection isn't the problem that some say it is. I bought my hydraulic crimper when making a whole slew of 2/0 battery cables for our boat, which had two batteries and a battery isolator so lots of cables. Then I made battery cables for Big Blue, which not only has two batteries and an isolator but also has an inverter - and lots of ground wires. Hopefully I'll be making cables for Dad's truck in the not too distant future, and have offered to either make cables or loan the crimper to local friends. So it has/will pay for itself. I remember. (and you have a LOT of cables on Big Blue) Just putting it out there. You can get lugs with solder pellets built in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted January 28 Author Share Posted January 28 I remember. (and you have a LOT of cables on Big Blue) Just putting it out there. You can get lugs with solder pellets built in. Here's what I think is a final schematic for what I've wired up. Changes include: Megafuse holder was moved so that the large Yellow wire, Ckt #37, goes directly to the starter relay A short link was added from the fuse holder to the starter relay. (This shows as Bk/O, but is actually red in the one I made since that's what I had available.) The alternator's output wire now has an orange tracer in it. The Y/W sense wire has been terminated on the fuse stud instead of on the alternator itself. That's the way Ford did it and it is the way I built the harness so now the schematic agrees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtymac Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 I ran by the closest junk yard today and didn't have any luck finding a 3G harness. I was able to find a few 2G harnesses and one of those wasn't completely shredded or melted. As best I can tell from images, the pigtail portion (Y/W, LG/R, and W/B) of the 2G harness is the same as the 3G. Can anyone confirm or disagree with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 I ran by the closest junk yard today and didn't have any luck finding a 3G harness. I was able to find a few 2G harnesses and one of those wasn't completely shredded or melted. As best I can tell from images, the pigtail portion (Y/W, LG/R, and W/B) of the 2G harness is the same as the 3G. Can anyone confirm or disagree with that? You're talking about the regulator plug. You'd still need the odd little grey stator plug. You can buy the pair of these pigtails from eBay or Amazon for about (corrected) $12 delivered to your door (new!) https://www.ebay.com/itm/384382776664?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=z4bth1kvrpo&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=V52-0s-ZTpm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=EMAIL IMHO it's not worthwhile scavenging 35 year old electrical junk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtymac Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 You're talking about the regulator plug. You'd still need the odd little grey stator plug. You can buy the pair of these pigtails from eBay or Amazon for about (corrected) $12 delivered to your door (new!) https://www.ebay.com/itm/384382776664?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=z4bth1kvrpo&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=V52-0s-ZTpm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=EMAIL IMHO it's not worthwhile scavenging 35 year old electrical junk. Yes, the only thing this harness was missing was the stator plug -- someone had ripped it off. I have the wire though from the regulator plug so a replacement pigtail would work. I've seen those. I was worried about the age, but the cables were all still in their original sleeves/tape. For $3 I thought it would at least be a good test harness to play with. I spent some time removing all of the tape and sleeves. No corrosion, no cuts. Everything looks to be in good shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Yes, the only thing this harness was missing was the stator plug -- someone had ripped it off. I have the wire though from the regulator plug so a replacement pigtail would work. I've seen those. I was worried about the age, but the cables were all still in their original sleeves/tape. For $3 I thought it would at least be a good test harness to play with. I spent some time removing all of the tape and sleeves. No corrosion, no cuts. Everything looks to be in good shape. Edit: a 2G doesn't have the independent stator plug that the 3G has... That place mgworld(?) I linked above has the stator pigtail for $6.... Edit: also note that Gary has amended the EVTM to correct the wire placement in the 2G regulator plug. IIRC they are not the same as a 3G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtymac Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Edit: a 2G doesn't have the independent stator plug that the 3G has... That place mgworld(?) I linked above has the stator pigtail for $6.... Edit: also note that Gary has amended the EVTM to correct the wire placement in the 2G regulator plug. IIRC they are not the same as a 3G. I'll have a look there. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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