DIY battery terminal connectors

S

Stephen@NCAutoUSA

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15 November 2006
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Location
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I was trying to search for some DIY on how to replace my battery terminals since I had to replace my battery today "got a optima red" and my terminal connectors were in pretty bad condition.

Do I just strip the wire and put a new one on? Or do I solder and use rubber shrink wrap also?

Here's what I was thinking about, but I was also looking at some nicer ones other people here have on prime.

http://www.electerm.com/battery.html
 
DEpends, those posted are the most common, but some batty cables (ground) have the terminals permanently attached to the wires. it doesn't really matter though, cut, strip, and screw, that's it.
 
Just a cautionary, if you replace your terminals be sure to use some sort of cover over the hot (positive) terminal. Without a cover, if your battery slips and the positive terminal makes contact with something above it, the result can be a fire! This is not just a hypothetical problem, either. This has actually happened to an NSX before. Use of a positive terminal cover is more critical in an NSX because the battery is located underneath other components as opposed to up top in the engine compartment.

To emphasize, this is a critical issue. If you are not running a positive terminal cover, you are exposing yourself unnecessarily to a very real threat. A well-fitted plastic cover of some sort over the positive terminal is very cheap insurance.
 

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Jett said:
Just a cautionary, if you replace your terminals be sure to use some sort of cover over the hot (positive) terminal. Without a cover, if your battery slips and the positive terminal makes contact with something above it, the result can be a fire! This is not just a hypothetical problem, either. This has actually happened to an NSX before. Use of a positive terminal cover is more critical in an NSX because the battery is located underneath other components as opposed to up top in the engine compartment.

To emphasize, this is a critical issue. If you are not running a positive terminal cover, you are exposing yourself unnecessarily to a very real threat. A well-fitted plastic cover of some sort over the positive terminal is very cheap insurance.
Click to expand...

Where do you think I could buy a cover big enough to fit the stingers? Any suggestions?

I might just take a ride to pep boys.
 
Chris NSX said:
http://www.cardomain.com/item/STISBTCOV2
Click to expand...

These covers are specific to the different battery terminals and I don't believe this one will fit. I searched for it and found this which is out of stock: http://www.cardomain.com/item/STISXBTC

Some terminals will come with covers. Lightning Audio and Tsunami make some decent terminals as well. One thing to keep in mind about these terminals is that it can make it difficult to clamp a battery clamp onto. I ran into that issue last weekend when I had to do a smog test only and the guy had to clamp with a larger clamp, then the small one from the computer. He said he could not use the jump post in the engine bay. But these car audio terminals are superior in just about every single way.
 
Re: NSX Car Amp

Hi,

I have Bose Stereo

Somehow, I wanna to replace the Amplifier.
What Size should I buy that can fit in the passenger side. ?
& 4 channels or 2 Channels ?

Pls advise.

Thanks

Lake Kong
 
Re: NSX Car Amp

Lake said:
Hi,

I have Bose Stereo

Somehow, I wanna to replace the Amplifier.
What Size should I buy that can fit in the passenger side. ?
& 4 channels or 2 Channels ?

Pls advise.

Thanks

Lake Kong
Click to expand...


Lake

Not sure what you are asking but it sounds like you have the classic Bose Speaker amp failure problem. You can have yours repaired or replace the speakers and install a new after market amp which is a big project.
 
Malibu Rapper said:
These covers are specific to the different battery terminals and I don't believe this one will fit. I searched for it and found this which is out of stock: http://www.cardomain.com/item/STISXBTC

Some terminals will come with covers. Lightning Audio and Tsunami make some decent terminals as well. One thing to keep in mind about these terminals is that it can make it difficult to clamp a battery clamp onto. I ran into that issue last weekend when I had to do a smog test only and the guy had to clamp with a larger clamp, then the small one from the computer. He said he could not use the jump post in the engine bay. But these car audio terminals are superior in just about every single way.
Click to expand...


Alright, I'm an idiot. I only ordered 1. I thought they were sold by the pair. No wonder they were so cheap, haha.
 
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Malibu Rapper said:
You need that specific cover unfortunately. Try to get a hold of stinger or find a nearby dealer. http://stingerelectronics.com/contact.asp
Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies, I just filled out that sheet so hopefully they'll get back to me.

I have another question however, and I feel it fits this thread so that's why I'm asking in here

Everytime I drive my car, afterwards I disconnect the battery because I don't drive it for another week or so, it just sits at my parents house basically.

Well after driving today, a little spirit drive, I pulled in my normal spot in the garage and proceeded to undo the battery terminal connection. Whatever one it is, I undo the left side. That's the side with the stinger terminal on it, the other side is still on order and is the normal stock one that's all corroded and everything.

Well the stinger one was pretty hot when I un-did it. I could still hold it, but it shocked me because whenever I went to take off the stock one, it was never hot before. I'm talking abnormal hot also, like hotter than outside, but not hot enough to burn me.

Any Idea's? Someone suggested it might be a bad cable, but wouldn't that have showed up during the stock terminal, or would it be because I have a stock one on one side, and a stinger on the other. I also used one of the felt things along the battery connection so the terminal doesn't touch the battery top, but just the knob thing, and I used some kind of battery gel also.
 
The OEM battery clamp would not have held much heat so you may not have noticed it before. The left side should be the negative. Since your new terminal is a big block, it should retain the heat better than the old one did and so now you are probably feeling it.

You might want to have your battery checked out even though it is brand new. The Optimas are known to have a high failure rate. Take it into a parts store that offers free battery testing. The only real source of heat where the battery is is from the radiator which shouldn't really be all that much. So the likely source is from inside the battery and radiating to the posts which heats up your terminal. Heat is bad for batteries and it should not get hot like you mention.
 
Malibu Rapper said:
The OEM battery clamp would not have held much heat so you may not have noticed it before. The left side should be the negative. Since your new terminal is a big block, it should retain the heat better than the old one did and so now you are probably feeling it.

You might want to have your battery checked out even though it is brand new. The Optimas are known to have a high failure rate. Take it into a parts store that offers free battery testing. The only real source of heat where the battery is is from the radiator which shouldn't really be all that much. So the likely source is from inside the battery and radiating to the posts which heats up your terminal. Heat is bad for batteries and it should not get hot like you mention.
Click to expand...

Ok. So you're saying it's my battery probably? I guess I'll take it to autozone to have it tested when I get a chance. Could it be for some odd reason my cables and they would need replacing?

If the battery is heating up the terminal like that, what could be done about it? I mean if I tell autozone that it's not normal, they will probably just tell me they've seen it many times, and that nothing can be done.

Stephen
 
sduffass said:
Ok. So you're saying it's my battery probably? I guess I'll take it to autozone to have it tested when I get a chance. Could it be for some odd reason my cables and they would need replacing?

If the battery is heating up the terminal like that, what could be done about it? I mean if I tell autozone that it's not normal, they will probably just tell me they've seen it many times, and that nothing can be done.
Click to expand...

You removed your negative cable and it was warm. The only reason why that cable would get warm since it goes straight to chassis ground is if you were pulling too much current through it and that's a very unlikely scenario.

The battery testing can determine if you have a bad battery or not. If your battery is going bad, it can have a lot of internal resistance which keeps it from charging properly and causing it to build heat. This is a very bad situation to have. Tell them that the battery gets really hot. And if their testing determines that it is bad, then they will replace it for you if you bought it there or you can just get it warrantied through wherever you bought it.

A hot battery is bad news. Go have it checked out immediately.
 
Ok, thanks for the information. I'll let you know the results.

Malibu Rapper said:
You removed your negative cable and it was warm. The only reason why that cable would get warm since it goes straight to chassis ground is if you were pulling too much current through it and that's a very unlikely scenario.

The battery testing can determine if you have a bad battery or not. If your battery is going bad, it can have a lot of internal resistance which keeps it from charging properly and causing it to build heat. This is a very bad situation to have. Tell them that the battery gets really hot. And if their testing determines that it is bad, then they will replace it for you if you bought it there or you can just get it warrantied through wherever you bought it.

A hot battery is bad news. Go have it checked out immediately.
Click to expand...
 
Malibu Rapper said:
These covers are specific to the different battery terminals and I don't believe this one will fit. I searched for it and found this which is out of stock: http://www.cardomain.com/item/STISXBTC

Some terminals will come with covers. Lightning Audio and Tsunami make some decent terminals as well. One thing to keep in mind about these terminals is that it can make it difficult to clamp a battery clamp onto. I ran into that issue last weekend when I had to do a smog test only and the guy had to clamp with a larger clamp, then the small one from the computer. He said he could not use the jump post in the engine bay. But these car audio terminals are superior in just about every single way.
Click to expand...

Jez, I had to call to about 6 stores and only 1 said they could order them. Maybe they're lazy and didn't feel like looking them up, or maybe they're that hard to find. Either way, these covers cost me almost as much as the terminals themselves. The place charged me 42 for 2x covers, and I got them shipped to me so it came to like 53!

All well, at least I have nice covers now.

Stephen
 
Well. The store who I ordered from said they were discontinued... So I'm going to cancel my order with cardomain because my other stinger hasn't been shipped yet, and I'm going to just order one terminal that I can find the cover for since I really only need 1 terminal covered.

Stephen
 

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