17/03/2025
I have a couple of tips if you are replacing your battery cables with heavy duty multi strand cable such as size “O”. It has very little voltage drop but fitting the terminal lugs can be a challenge. What I do is make 2 cuts in the cable insulation, 1 about 3 mm down from the end and the other the exact length of your terminal. I then remove the small end plastic and this leaves the bare copper pretty much compressed and the right sized lug will slip on quite easily. In this case the lug is 50 X 8 mm hole. Hold a bit of pressure on the lug while splitting the plastic down to your second cut with a Stanley knife, remove the plastic and slide the lug all the way down and ready for crimping. I use an hydraulic crimper from eBay which cost about $40. You might pinch a couple of strands but just cut them off with some sharp side cutters. Don’t forget to line up your lug the way it is going to be installed and don’t forget the shrink wrap. Works perfectly. Cutting the cable with parrot beak cutters nice and square also helps.
