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Old 10-30-2012, 09:53 PM   #611
kpluiten
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 120273
Join Date: Jul 2006
Chapter/Region: SWIC
Location: AZ
Vehicle:
06 WRBWRXWGN
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I purchased a new Deka EXT20L light-weight battery after having bad experiences with two Odyssey PC680's. The Deka is about $74 compared to the Odyssey PC680 at $125. It is as small and about as light. Deka actually makes the Braille batteries which sell for $200+. The Braille batteries are literally Deka's with some fancy coverings and carbon fiber stickers. Oh, and Braille lies about the battery's output by claiming peak values for CCA's rather than sustained.

The Deka model I have is commonly rebranded as "Big Crank"...

Anyway, I decided to install it on it's side. Being an AGM (absorbed glass mat) battery, it will not leak in this orientation. I used a Kartboy Tie-down because it looked nice and I like Kartboy and lost my OEM part, but the stock tie-down should would fine. I used the brass battery lugs off the old Odyssey battery.



In this position, the ground cable to the engine works perfectly, but the 4-gauge wire to the starter is too short, as is the 8-gauge wire to the fuse box. Rather than messing with extending the factory stuff, I bought the supplies to make my own cables. Most of the parts came from McMaster Carr, an industrial supply house online.

This is the longest write-up you'll ever read on making a simple battery cable, but perhaps someone, somewhere will find it handy. Making a high-amperage cable is not the place to cut corners on your car. After seeing some of the stereo/electronics installs people do on their cars...

I bought 3 feet of 2-gauge battery cable. This stuff is heavy duty. Battery cable often has a much thicker insulation than cheap stereo stuff you buy at Wal-mart or the dollar store.


I bought some 2-gauge (#2 AWG or American Wire Gauge) loop terminals from Pico. These were the most robust ones I could find. They are coated to help with conduction and prevent corrosion.




Check out how much thicker this Pico unit is than a typical cheapie loop connector. Those thin ones do not hold up well to repeated use/vibration. This particular one came with a stereo install kit I got a Fry's Electronics a long time ago.


Wire stripped and shrink wrap installed:


Ready to crimp:
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