A tale of battery cables
Do you know what was specifically wrong with the old ones, or just "general" corrosion?
I REALLY don't care for "the looks" of the new "tinny" battery clamps. Interesting that they seem to work better
I found that the lug terminal was a solder melt, not a crimp. The battery terminal ends seem to have released or corroded some in the lead. The most significant problem was broken strands at each end, enough that the cable capacity was diminished.
I thought that the tinny clamps look cheap, but they are well plated and springy, as if they are a copper beryllium alloy. I have an 11 year old daily driver, the stamped terminals still look like new.
Lead has 12.6 times the resistance of copper, so they have to be much thicker to conduct as well. The problem with lead is, it is hard for it to mate well with battery terminal, after reuse and cleaning. I have tried to find tapered terminal reamers, but all I find are battery brushes. Even careful use of a straight edge of a pocket knife, results in high and low spots, so the mating surface becomes a smaller percentage. The terminals were clean, and measured drop was near zero measured between post and lead, so I am thinking more to do with loss of strands and the soldered lug. The new terminals can be mounted low on the battery posts for less resistance, I removed the felt washers to get to the very bottom. The improvement in cranking was exceptional, even without the starter lug being replaced. I measured the before cranking speed of only 138 RPM. When I re-install the COP ignition I will re-measure. Listening seems like much higher.
When it gets very humid here, I have trouble with my Massey Ferguson tractor terminals. The mice build nests, and pee on them in the winter, the summer humidity corrodes lead like crazy, with pockets of black crud inside. My solution this year will be to replace the ends. I bought brass ends, but they have a strap with two bolts, not sure if I will use those, but keep them in the tool box to perhaps save the day.
