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eibbed

Battery cable end is bad. Repair or Replace?

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eibbed

Hi guys,

As you can see from the picture, the end of my battery cable on my Toro 522XI is bad.

Should I replace it with a new cable, or should I repair it?

Thanks,

Dave  

Battery Cable.JPG

Edited by eibbed
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ebinmaine

I would replace the end because I like to repair my own stuff but I'm also a little twisted.

 

 

It's easier to measure the length and Order up an appropriate new cable.

Local parts store might very well have one in stock.

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WHX??

If the rest of the cable is ok I would just cut it back till I get to some good meat and re-term. That's if you don't have to cut much back and make it too short. If the other end is even just a bit corroded just replace it.

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SPINJIM

That's probably a 15 minute repair, and my local Ace Hardware store or Tractor Supply carry all sizes of cable ends.  Also, I'm retired and have more time than money, so I take the cheap-skate way and have repaired a few cables.   Good luck.

   Jim

Edited by SPINJIM
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pfrederi

You may have to cut off more cable than you want as the corrosion can travel from the terminal up the cable....

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953 nut

If you have way more time than money and are as thrifty a some here just make your own repair end. I have taken a scrap piece of 3/16" ID copper tube, cleaned it well, squeezed one end in the vise, drilled a hole and then crimped and soldered it to the old # 6 AWG cable. Took less time than driving to town and back.

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ebinmaine
3 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

If you have way more time than money and are as thrifty a some here just make your own repair end. I have taken a scrap piece of 3/16" ID copper tube, cleaned it well, squeezed one end in the vise, drilled a hole and then crimped and soldered it to the old # 6 AWG cable. Took less time than driving to town and back.

That's pretty crafty. I'll have to remember that one.

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Tractorhead

A small Advice :

 

It doesn't matter what you choose, but if you crimping, use qualified pliers.

 

Use after fixing petroleum jelly to protect the new soldered or crimped end, it is the same as Battery Terminal Grease.

 

Applicate it with a small short brush, so it reduces the mess.

you can use it even to protect any other contacts from mess.

 

I use it at least at 25 years on all my Cable ends and contacts for all my Vehicles, once of my Motorbike and also for my Car

and even my Wheelhorse !

 

I prevents Water from the contacts and cable and the cable ends lasted much longer.

 

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cafoose
35 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

You may have to cut off more cable than you want as the corrosion can travel from the terminal up the cable....

My daughter in law had a Suburban that wouldn't start or take a jump and I found that the positive battery cable was corroded all the way through the wire from end to end so I just replaced the whole wire with both ends and it worked great after that! :greetings-clappingyellow:

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squonk

What Paul said. That cable has ended it's useful life and doesn't owe anybody anything. Replace that cable. The aggravation of a no start isn't worth the price of a cable.

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eibbed
1 hour ago, squonk said:

What Paul said. That cable has ended it's useful life and doesn't owe anybody anything. Replace that cable. The aggravation of a no start isn't worth the price of a cable.

 

Thanks everyone,

Although a new cable would be nice, I found it to be a tad expensive.

Instead, I am going to try to replace the end sometime later on this winter.

Dave

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squonk
5 minutes ago, eibbed said:

Thanks everyone,

Although a new cable would be nice, I found it to be a tad expensive.

Instead, I am going to try to replace the end sometime later on this winter.

Dave

Find a local shop that handles auto/tractor  electrical systems. That cable should be less than $10

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eibbed
10 minutes ago, squonk said:

Find a local shop that handles auto/tractor  electrical systems. That cable should be less than $10

Thanks Squonk,

I will be sure to do that.

Dave

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ebinmaine
17 minutes ago, eibbed said:

Thanks everyone,

Although a new cable would be nice, I found it to be a tad expensive.

Instead, I am going to try to replace the end sometime later on this winter.

Dave

Like @squonk said... Or parts tree shows them around 20.

 

No need for high dollar replacement.

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eibbed
13 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

Like @squonk said... Or parts tree shows them around 20.

 

No need for high dollar replacement.

Hi Eric,

Whenever I am at Ace, Lowes, or Home Depot etc. and they don't have what I want, they"ll usually say "Have you tried Don's Hardware."  It is located about seven miles from me and I get in that area often. 

I am pretty sure Don's will be able to make up and sell me a new cable at an affordable price.  At least I hope so.  Bu the way, what gauge do I want?

I'll let you guys know if I have any luck..

Thanks again,

Dave 

Edited by eibbed
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Tractorhead

IF you replaced the cable, Take care to the Battery Terminals also.

 

Because of the condition of the End, i think the Batteryterminals would be looking also that bad. 

Verify, that it will be in good condition, clean it with Steelbrush, before you mount the new end.

 

 

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rjg854

 I  tend to try to repair things before I buy new, if at all possible.  Most times the new stuff is garbage. Cheaply made products from China. 

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eibbed
24 minutes ago, Tractorhead said:

IF you replaced the cable, Take care to the Battery Terminals also.

 

Because of the condition of the End, i think the Batteryterminals would be looking also that bad. 

Verify, that it will be in good condition, clean it with Steelbrush, before you mount the new end.

 

 

Hi Tractorhead,

Actually the battery terminal appears to be in good condition. I will however give it a good cleaning with a steel brush before I mount the new cable end.

Thanks,

Dave

Edited by eibbed

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Tractorhead
9 minutes ago, eibbed said:

Hi Tractorhead,

Actually the battery terminal appears to be in good condition. I will however give it a good cleaning with a steel brush before I mount the new cable end.

Thanks,

Dave

And don't forget to add some petroleum jelly on the Terminals, to protect them.

 

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eibbed
14 hours ago, Tractorhead said:

And don't forget to add some petroleum jelly on the Terminals, to protect them.

 

Thanks for the reminder.  I will be sure to do that.

Have a great day!

Dave

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Tractorhead
21 hours ago, eibbed said:

Bu the way, what gauge do I want?

 

 

Hi dave, it depends on the Current consumption.

 

I would suggest something between 7 and 5.

As i changed my burned Tractor's Battery Cables, they was AWG 9.

To find my Dimension, i use Truck Startercables and do a quick measurement of my Starter while fireing up without sparkplug.

It drops less than 30A. Maybe in Winter double, so i decided AWG 7, shall be fine.

 

AWG 7 can handle up to about 50 Amps continousely and 80Amps in Short Term at a length of 1,5 m.

Because the Starter is Short Term use, it is proper enough.

I decided to protect the Main Wire for Starter with an 80 Amps Fuse directly on the Battery, just to be safe.

 

in Case your Ground wire is thinner, please also improve it.

 

Edited by Tractorhead
Wrong insert

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ebinmaine
22 hours ago, eibbed said:

what gauge do I want

tractor head is giving you gauges in European numbers which would translate to the American gauge of usually, six.

 

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Tractorhead

Yes, they was translated from european to us awg, as far as my translator tells me.

here in Europe, i am dealin with sqaremm (sqm)

original it was a 6 sqm in, i found it bit weak.

i changed it to 10 sqm, because have more spare to start in Winter

16 Sqm can also beeing used, but it was to oversized.

 

In my translator for cable wire,

was   6 sqm = AWG 9

was 10 sqm = AWG 7

was.16 sqm = AWG 5.

Edited by Tractorhead

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ebinmaine
20 minutes ago, Tractorhead said:

translator for cable wire,

was   6 sqm = AWG ...9

was 10 sqm = AWG ...7

was.16 sqm = AWG ...5.

:handgestures-thumbupright:

That's how I knew it was translated or converted...

Here we use Even numbers to designate the size of the cable.

Most of the tractor cables are built as 6 gauge, with some of the older ones being 8.

So when we replace them we go one size up for the same reasons you do.

 

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eibbed

 

On 10/10/2018 at 7:59 PM, rjg854 said:

 I  tend to try to repair things before I buy new, if at all possible.  Most times the new stuff is garbage. Cheaply made products from China. 

I also try to repair things myself and I probably would have already repaired the end of the cable but I thought it might require a special tool to crimp it.

I had Don's Hardware put on a new end today for about $1.50.  Then I put the cable back on being sure to apply petroleum jelly to the end.

Thanks to all of you guys for all of your help! 

Dave 

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