Could I ask for battery quick-disconnect terminal advice?

[robroy]

Good afternoon!

I'm sorry about the lousy photos; I've temporarily resorted to using Kasie's iPhone!

Here's one of my current terminals. The positive and negative wires that power my MSD 6AL are fastened directly to the battery bolts, although they could probably be moved elsewhere.



I picked out a NAPA 785122. It's made in Sweden and was $31.32 with tax. Y'all can click on either of these images if you'd like to read the fine print.



Once I opened the package and looked at these closely, I was impressed by their quality.



These use a fancy lever design to clamp down on the battery posts. Pulling up on the plastic top un-clamps them and they lift right off!



Here's one going on the negative post. Once it's pressed down, it really locks itself in place--it won't budge! And the clamping/un-clamping action feels surprisingly precise and heavy-duty.



Today's Questions:

1. Would y'all hesitate to use this product for any reason? Or does it look OK?
2. In order to install these, I'll need to behead my current terminals. And I'm using 1 GA battery wires! I have some nice dikes that I could chew them off with, but that might be difficult (I haven't tried yet). Would y'all recommend any other tool to make this job easier?
3. If I'm going to maintain the MSD's power connection at the battery terminals (as before), would it be fine to simply include them in the clamps (along with the actual battery cables)? Or is there a much neater approach?
4. Would soldering these on (after clamping down on the wires) be worth the trouble?

Thanks very much for the fantastic guidance!
Robroy

[BobbyFord]

Robroy,
I used these terminals http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TAY-21412/?rtype=10 on my 1 gauge cables. I felt they made a better connection that the clamp type terminals. I also used some large shrink tube after the terminals were fastened to the cables. As far as the MSD wires, I found that the positive MSD wire looked clean mounted to the hot side of the solenoid (besides my battery is not in the engine compartment).
My MSD ground is connected to my engine-to-frame ground cable on the frame side of the cable seen in this picture:

[robroy]

Hey Bobby, thanks for replying!

I used these terminals http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TAY-21412/?rtype=10 on my 1 gauge cables.

Those look fantastic! Do they have a quick-disconnect mechanism? I'm not sure how the screw-in piece functions.

I felt they made a better connection that the clamp type terminals.

I can see what you mean. Do you think it's nuts for me to try to solder the wire(s) to the clamp on these clamp-on style terminals?

I also used some large shrink tube after the terminals were fastened to the cables.

OK!

As far as the MSD wires, I found that the positive MSD wire looked clean mounted to the hot side of the solenoid (besides my battery is not in the engine compartment).

Oh yeah (your battery relocation)! That's probably a good place to put it. I suppose the warnings in the MSD book insisting that the MSD be hooked right up to the battery could be overly cautious (to protect them from dealing with complaints should a customer hit electrical problems after attaching it elsewhere).

My MSD ground is connected to my engine-to-frame ground cable on the frame side of the cable seen in this picture

Thanks for the super helpful photo! I guess here also, the MSD instructions may have gone overboard to insist on a direct battery connection for the ground cable. Perhaps I could find a more nearby ground, since my MSD's mounted on the driver's side inner fender.

Bobby, thanks for your outstanding reply!!!
Robroy

[sargentrs]

I like those NAPA clamps! Let me know how they work out.

[BobbyFord]

Robroy,
No quick disconnect on these. At one point I was going to incorporate an NHRA approved shut-off, inline on my power cable between the batt. and the solenoid. I didn't, but still can and would use it as a theft deterrant.
As far as I'm concerned, ground is ground no matter where the location. My ground from my battery goes directly to the frame, 4" from the battery under the bed and then you can see where my engine-to-frame ground is.
I chose those terminals because they are copper.

[fordman]

well my opinion on those napa clamps that they could tend to get dirty. like all terminal ends do. and cleaning them would be harder i think since they are partially hidden inside of the plastic caps. i do like the idea of them as a quick disconnect. but why would a person need a quick disconnect? the battery protectant spray. the orange stuff works good for keeping terminal ends clean though. i think it kind of seals the connection between the Post and the terminal end. so that it cant produce corrosion. i am not sure the best route to take. although i did put a marine brass terminal end on my wifes car. because i hate those lead replacement end. they get loose around the wire so easily. end if you put them together with the plate flipped over so it wedges the wire into the terminal end. with the brass marine end i put a large eyelet connector on the battery cable and used the wing nut to tighten the cable eyelet end to the brass marine terminal. it still get corrsion. but i have never has any problem with the cable coming loose from the terminal end.

[Thunderfoot]

Robroy, could you give more info on why/what you are doing with this setup? Do you just want to disconnect the battery when not using the truck or do you want to constantly remove the battery from the truck?

The thing about what you have is that when the battery sits, without anything on the terminals, the terminals will oxidize over a little which makes for a bad connection. The constant cleaning of the terminals will wear them down in size and then the clamps will not hold well, of course this is all dependent on how often it is done..

If just wanting to disconnect the battery for safety and to keep from drainage I would use a battery disconnect as Bobby talked about. There are a couple of types;

One like this that Bobby talked about you can find multiple manufactures and are carried by most Speed Equipment stores.


Ones like these are used by most RV and Boating types, (have also seen them on peoples cars to disconnect while in storage). What's nice here is that you still use the stock battery terminal, you just use this on the Negative terminal...



For the MSD power, I too just hook it to the Battery side of the starter solenoid.

[Oxblood]

If you're looking for a quick and easy way to connect and disconnect the battery we used Anderson connects on our race cars at redbull. I've had one on my truck since I bought it with no corrosion problems. I think you can get the from boating stores. They look like this but the one I run on my battery is large gauge:

[70_F100]

Robroy, the Caterpillar switch that James is talking about has a key that is used to turn the switch to the "on" position, and the switch mechanism holds the key firmly.

The key can only be inserted or removed with the switch in the "off" position.

It's very similar to the Moroso switch in appearance, and I can testify to its ruggedness. In over 20 years of working on trucks and heavy equipment, I never had to replace one of those switches, and they take a real beating.

[390bump]

Robroy,

A handy tool to have is a battery cable cutter. I have one and it works great. Small, the size of a pair of pliers, but slices through copper wire like butter!