Battery cable ends

[Locknut63]

I have a 2011 LS R3039 tractor. I purchased used and it appears to have steal cable ends and they are always getting rusty. I would like to replace with new ends, any recommendations? Have seen copper, lead-antimony alloy and others? Thanks!!

 

[mad_planter]

there's anti-corrosion coatings and grease that should keep the rust at bay.

 

[flyerdan]

I like the terminal ends that you solder on, they tend to stand up more like a factory cable than most of the bolt ons.
It seems that most of the newer stuff comes with the small steel band terminals. My cousin had a corrosion problem on her Honda Fit; when I cleaned the posts and terminal ends the positive wouldn't tighten down, I had to file some of the inside of the clamp to get it to snug up good enough.

 

[grsthegreat]

i use steel terminal ends on the generators i service. if you use the felt pads and NOCO NCP2 paste or spray on the terminal, you will not see any rust or corrosion. i replace batteries on standby generators after 5 years using this method, terminals look new.

 

[5030]

I believe he's referring to 'steel' stranded actuator cables, not electrical and those all have swaged on ends. I'm just about to extend my ground clamp cable on my TIG welder to match the 25 foot hoses that my CK Worldwide water cooled torch has and I will be buying the appropriate sized solid copper, jacketed cable at my Air Gas supply store and I'll tin the ends and then apply them to my ground clamp and DINSE connector at the welder.

 

[CliffordK]

An AGM battery will have far less corrosion than a typical car battery.

Are these standard post type battery terminals? I'd probably just use whatever heavy duty lead clamp on connector I can find.

 

[etpm]

I have a 2011 LS R3039 tractor. I purchased used and it appears to have steal cable ends and they are always getting rusty. I would like to replace with new ends, any recommendations? Have seen copper, lead-antimony alloy and others? Thanks!!

You can buy copper or brass battery cable ends at most any decent hardware store. Do you know how to solder the new ends on? I'm assuming you don't have a crimper. You can make your own ends from 1/2" copper pipe. I did just this a few months ago because the original cable ends were not crimped properly and had become loose. If you do decide to solder on new cable ends then you must make sure there is no corrosion present on the cable. A good way to do this is to splay the cable end so that all the strands are separate. Then wash well with a baking soda and distilled water solution. After washing rinse well with distilled water. After washing and rinsing if the cable is brown with oxidation use some activated resin ELECTRONIC flux to clean the cable. When soldering apply heat to the new cable end only. Do not heat the cable itself. Use solder made for ELECTRONIC purposes only. Do not use flux made for plumbing. Though it will work quite well it will also wick up into the cable and will eventually corrode the cable to the point that it breaks. If it was my tractor and the cable ends were crimped tight I would wire brush off the rust and then give them the baking soda treatment and then paint the cable ends. Of course I would mask off the part of the cable end where it makes contact with the battery. I would also use those anti corrosion felt washers made for this situation as well as the anti corrosion paste.
Eric

 

[WranglerX]

I believe he's referring to 'steel' stranded actuator cables, not electrical and those all have swaged on ends. I'm just about to extend my ground clamp cable on my TIG welder to match the 25 foot hoses that my CK Worldwide water cooled torch has and I will be buying the appropriate sized solid copper, jacketed cable at my Air Gas supply store and I'll tin the ends and then apply them to my ground clamp and DINSE connector at the welder.

Did you miss the word "battery" in thread title...

 

[5030]

Did you miss the word "battery" in thread title...

I did, thank you. Instead of proprietary battery post compound, I use Fluid Film on the battery posts after cleaning them. Harbor Freight sells a dandy post cleaner for 5 bucks, every day I might add.

The Fluid Film is much less expensive and keeps corrosion from degrading battery performance from high resistance oxidation. Gotta clean them first and that includes the connections to the starter and chassis too.

 

[chim]

I use an anti-oxidant paste (Penetrox, No-Alox, etc) on battery connections and it works fine.

 

[5030]

Fluid Film is much less costly and good for aluminum as well as copper conductors. Been using that for years no with zero corrosion issues.

 

[MadJack]

I have an electrical engineer friend who rebuilds starter and alternators. He has a 5 gallon bucket of steel cable ends! Replaces them all with solid copper lugs, because the steel rusts INSIDE where you can't see it. Original ends are always dry (no grease) when assembled/crimped.
Replace the ends with copper and be done with it!

 

[dlctcg]

I am a Fluid Film believer like @5030 but make sure you clean all your connecting points first, then make the connections, then use Fluid Film to protect them... Per Fluid Film:

FLUID FILM is non-conductive, so clean around the battery terminals, make your connections, and then spray with FLUID FILM. The non-drying characteristics of FLUID FILM provide long term protection in this application. FLUID FILM also keeps battery hold downs from corroding.

 

[5030]

I love that stuff and now you can get it in black as well. I 'undercoat' my vehicles with it every 2 years. It's messy but good.

Nice thing about Fluid Film on electrical connections is, it never gets hard or flakes off.

 

[WranglerX]

I clean and buff all my battery and cable terminals and wiring installations to a clean shiny state and coat with "NO-OX-ID A" and I don't have any oxidations problems, a good cleaning and application out lasts most of my batteries (the record one being 8 years).... Learned about this product as it was a requirement to use on DC power system in telecommunications...

NO-OX-ID Electrical Contact Grease- Conductive Lubricant | Sanchem, Inc.

NO-OX-ID electrical contact grease prevents the formation of corrosion deposits & keeps metals free from rust & corrosion. Buy electrical conductive lubricant now!

www.sanchem.com

Only negative is its like any grease it will hold dust and dirt....

 

[scootr]

A frugal friend has a Golf cart dealership. They do lots of service including battery maintenance and replacement. He uses plain old spray paint on the cable connections. He explained that the paint keep air from contacting the connection preventing corrosion. This may not be as good as a fancy corrosion inhibitor but I see it works.

 

[Mike1955]

A frugal friend has a Golf cart dealership. They do lots of service including battery maintenance and replacement. He uses plain old spray paint on the cable connections. He explained that the paint keep air from contacting the connection preventing corrosion. This may not be as good as a fancy corrosion inhibitor but I see it works.

I was taught to use vasoline. I don’t think it’s as messy as grease

 

[scootr]

I was taught to use vasoline. I don’t think it’s as messy as grease

The result being that no air reached the connection. We found lead acid batteries outgassed corrosive vapors which caused the corrosion. When sealed lithium batteries were used in the same application no corrosion resulted.

 

[Mike1955]

The result being that no air reached the connection. We found lead acid batteries outgassed corrosive vapors which caused the corrosion. When sealed lithium batteries were used in the same application no corrosion resulted.

I like Lithium the best. I have two on my trilling motor. But I feel like I can’t afford them for cars tractors etc

 

[BravoXray]

I usually use a spritz of CorrosionX on battery terminals, seems to work really well.