Battery Cable

I’m thinking about redoing the positive and negative leads from my 555e machine and wanted to get opinions on cable sizing. I’m not an electrical guru, but they look to be 2/0.

The battery that’s in the machine is a 4D. Cranking amps is 1290 and CCA is 1050.

It also has a negative cut-out that I will keep and I will also replace the braided wiring that is probably original. That is, unless someone thinks these can be reused with a good ole scrubbing. This isn’t my picture as I borrowed it from another thread, but will give an idea of what I’m talking about.




Any thoughts?

I recently replaced mine. I bought 2/0 cable from a welding supplier because he had a good price on it but he didn't have the ends I needed. I put a new Interstate battery in and they had some 2/0 ends with 5/16" eyes and some 2/0 ends with 3/8" eyes. I paid them for the ends and they crimped them on my cable at NC. The battery had 3/8" studs and the starter had 5/16" so each cable got one of each size. I reused the protective sheath on the positive cable. I eliminated the ground disconnect. I wasn't ever going to use it and I figured it was one more place for a fault. I ran both new cables direct to the starter from the battery and reused the ground to chassis cables. Mine has one to the side frame to the ground lug on the starter and one to the firewall of the cab from one of the starter mount bolts.

If your battery has a vent tube connection like the one in my picture put a piece of tygon tube on it and run it under the tractor. That'll keep the battery from venting acid into the oil cooler and radiator.

2/0 is suitable. Just like NH57SE did. Your braided ground straps are probably fine, if not corroded. Clean the ends, the hardware and grease with dielectric.

2/0 is plenty heavy enough. I'm surprised it has a 4D battery, that's a pile of lead with a lot of reserve capacity.

Yeah, I’m surprised there was room to fit a 4D.

As I recall the old Deere 510 had a 4D in her, and it was never enough until we changed up to a gear reduction starter. Delco starter and Roosamaster fuel system, what was Deere thinking? LOL

cosmaar1,
Here is a good thread to read:
https://www.heavyequipmentforums.co...s-best-crimped-soldered-compressed-etc.86563/

willie59 said:

2/0 is plenty heavy enough. I'm surprised it has a 4D battery, that's a pile of lead with a lot of reserve capacity.

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yes it came with the machine when I bought it. I just figured it was typical for the machine.

Coaldust said:

Yeah, I’m surprised there was room to fit a 4D.

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actually it fits perfectly almost like it was made for it. It takes a minute to get lined up for it to fall in, but it doesn’t slide around, and is fairly easy to get in and out.

2/0 will handle two 8D-s and a 50MT. I doubt your hoe's cables are 2/0. More likely 1/0. The higher the strand count, the better you will like them.

Diesel motors use a mountain of power while cranking.
A 12 volt system loses voltage EVERYWHERE & doesn't have much to begin with. ALL terminations, not just where the bolt passes through, but also where the terminal is crimped on will oxidize. Those many strands in your cable all have a poor conductor coating of oxide on them. A voltmeter from cable to terminal while cranking the starter will prove my point.
The colder your climate, the more important this is. At zero degrees F your battery supplied 40% as much power as it does at 70 degrees. You can't afford to waste energy heating up connections.

You make a good point. Corrosion is the number one enemy of battery cables. Many times it's the only enemy. In a perfect world, battery cables would be made of solid wire, as DC electrons flow through the body of the conductor, but then cables would look more like plumbing than wiring. I don't like battery cables with a low strand count. They're not as flexible which translates to an installation that's not visually or mechanically appealing to me. Now back to corrosion. Cables I made in the early 90-s are still giving me the same service they did when I made them. This is because I started using a no-ox compound during manufacture. I take time to work the no-ox into the strands (I'm trying for full penetration of the cable) after I strip back the insulation and I fill the terminal half full before crimping. Filling the terminal isn't the key to success, working the no-ox into the strands is. The excess in the terminal just helps to fill the gap between the cable and terminal. I clean off the excess no-ox post crimp so the heat shrink will seal, and use a heavy heat shrink with a sealant core. The cable end and battery post gets cleaned and covered with the same no-ox. Do this and your cables won't leave you hanging and you'll eliminate oxidation growing behind the terminal or on the battery post.

Willie B said:

Diesel motors use a mountain of power while cranking.
A 12 volt system loses voltage EVERYWHERE & doesn't have much to begin with. ALL terminations, not just where the bolt passes through, but also where the terminal is crimped on will oxidize. Those many strands in your cable all have a poor conductor coating of oxide on them. A voltmeter from cable to terminal while cranking the starter will prove my point.
The colder your climate, the more important this is. At zero degrees F your battery supplied 40% as much power as it does at 70 degrees. You can't afford to waste energy heating up connections.

Click to expand...

And that has been my problem. Under 40 degrees, the machine can’t start without my small battery pack. Over 40 and it starts completely fine.

this has what led me down the road that the connections are terrible. I know the cables are bad also because I can see corrosion and nicks all in the cables.