Bit of a battery problem!

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 02 Sep 2007, 18:09

Oh no -

Find a short lenght of flat steel bar, bend it around the battery post to make an Omega shaped clamp, which will not close fully on the legs when clamped around the battery post.

Make one of the legs long enough to fold it back and make a flat clamp for the cable(s).

Drill a hole through both legs (and cable clamp folded back) and use a 6mm bolt & nut to clamp it on the battery post, making sure the cables are well and truly seated inside the clamp legs.
Its not really needed to torque it, just tighten it to make good physical contact.

Now you can get through the next week while you find any standard poleclamp kit at your nearest car equipment dealer. These are universal and have a separate clamp to securely bolt down the cables. No need for huge size fancy crimping tool etc.
Such a clamp kit should not cost you more than a 5'er.
Funny thing is it will last much better than the original part - at a fraction of the cost

Post by **philhoward** » 02 Sep 2007, 18:10

There are plenty of generic battery clamps available; some good, some bad. The most common are a brass clamp which use two screws to bite into the bared end of the cable, and chew the cable as you tighten them, causing a lower capacity connection. Some people have used a piece of thin wall copper pipe to make a ferrule onto the battery main cable first, and then clamped this instead of the bare wire ends. Available in most motor shops in the little blister packs on the racks, so might get you out of trouble in the short term.

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 02 Sep 2007, 18:21

You'll need one of these:

(I realise it's a -ve one but the +ve is the same only slightly bigger)
purchased from Halfords and the like. That is, if you have alternative
means of getting there!! It's better material and innexpensive at about 3-4quid.

I'd try and break the old terminal remains off the main feed cabling and
you'll fit a new connection more easily. The original is lead so will be very
short and malleable which is why it broke in the first place...

It's a very thick series of cabling which will be potentially difficult to
combine into an after market connector so you may need to at least
remove one wire and fit it on via a crimped ring connector instead.

Andrew

Stempy · Post by **Stempy** » 02 Sep 2007, 18:32

When my negative terminal went I used one of those after market jobbies in the picture but I managed to solder it on, a bit tricky mind, but probably better than relying on the screws.

Post by **philhoward** » 02 Sep 2007, 20:42

The one in that pic appears to be passivate plated steel - i'd prefer a brass one if there was a choice, but one of those is better than a broken one! The screw method isn't ideal as it tends to make a mess of a bared cable - hence the copper pipe suggestion above (forgot to mention - polish the pipe with wire wool to remove any laquer first...).

I'd go for a ring terminal version only if I had access to a hydraulic crimper - from memory, those "generic" ones are also available with ring terminal fittings (wing nut?). Could the remains of the old connector be drilled to fit on one of those?

andmcit · Post by **andmcit** » 02 Sep 2007, 20:54

What Cit model is the damaged terminal post on - as unfortunately,
on a Xantia and Xm they're well knitted into their surroundings!!

It would be nice to fit a like for like replacement on from a scrap yard
donor, though that would be a faily convoluted/messy task.

It wouldn't be a risk to change for another SH one though as you can
plainly see what you're getting!!

Andrew

Post by **philhoward** » 02 Sep 2007, 21:00

What about this?

Have a scroll around the rest of the page for the possibilities...and the rest of the site - handy bookmark.

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » 02 Sep 2007, 22:42

Many accessory shops stock battery leads already made up and ready for fitting - just choose one of the right dimensions.

The replacement terminal with the 2 screw fitting looks a bit crude but from my experience seems to do its job very well form many years judging by some of those I've seen. If you're into large in car audio you can even get gold plated ones. Soldering is the nice way to fit them but using the screws seems perfectly satisfactory if not very elegant. If there is room bending the bare wire back on itself when fitting it will give a better connection.