Battery Terminal Helmets

[Tinkerman]

I have a set of NOS battery terminal helmets. Would like to use them but have no clue as to how they are installed on the wire.
Any one know how it's done?

Thanks, Tinkerman

 

[TR4nut]

They get soldered on I think - Frank Angelini did this and from the pictures I saw they turned out great. Hopefully he'll chime in if he's around.

 

[Marvin Gruber]

Yep, soldered in is the correct way. If you have a small torch its not hard to. The terminal in a vise with the cable end up. Heat the terminal just enough to melt the solder and push the cable with cleaned end down into terminal leg.

 

[HarryL]

Before doing the above get some shrink wrap(proper size)
and put it one first. Then get the wife's hair dryer(good luck with that!)
and heat it up. Makes for a good finish.
Harry

 

[Guest]

Word of caution! When installing the helmet heads on the battery terminal,you will have to drill a hole into the battery post for the screw. These are made of lead and very soft. Use a dull drill bit as a sharp bit will catch very qiuckly,bind,and snap leaving the broken bit in the hole. Beware.

 

[TomMull]

Word of caution! When installing the helmet heads on the battery terminal,you will have to drill a hole into the battery post for the screw. These are made of lead and very soft. Use a dull drill bit as a sharp bit will catch very qiuckly,bind,and snap leaving the broken bit in the hole. Beware.

Ditto, done that (more than once!). You'd think one would learn. The drill breaks right below the surface of the lead (I even made a broken drill extractor).
Tom

 

[HerronScott]

Do they sell dull drill bits? Maybe I should look at some of the cheap tool sales that come around every so often to find cheap quality drill bits?

Scott

 

[TR3driver]

Just take a stone or abrasive, and dull the cutting edge a bit.

Actually, you don't really "dull" it, just remove the positive rake or take it a bit negative, so the bit won't dig into the soft metal:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Metal_Cut_diag.svg

 

[angelfj1]

Dick: I can send you more via email, but I did as Randy said, above. However, the original Lucas terminals were made of a lead alloy, mine were sourced from British Wire and are bronze castings. They are totally a faithful reproduction, except for the shiny bronze finish. If you have the bronze terminal, get them hot with a propane torch then brush on some good quality (non-acid) soldering flux. It will smoke, but OK. Now heat them up to solder melt temp and "tin" the entire terminal. As you do this, take an old clean rag and wipe off any extra solder. You only need a thin coating. Bob's your uncle!

 

[luke44]

Hi Frank - is that a shrink wrapped sleeve in the lower picture ? (it's cut off so I can't tell) If not, how do you protect the plastic wrap from melting when you solder the cable on?

 

[angelfj1]

Luke: Sorry for the delay in responding, but yes that is heat shrink sleeving(adhesive type) that was applied after the lead was soldered. The originals had a rubber boot, but they didn't last very long in that environment.

 

[Adrio]

I remember something called "liquid tin" from back in university during the time of dinosours. If that stuff is still around it might be simpler than tining with a torch.

 

[HarryL]

And if you want to add a little color to the game; shrink
wrap comes in defferent colors !

 

[luke44]

I remember something called "liquid tin" from back in university during the time of dinosours. If that stuff is still around it might be simpler than tining with a torch.

I tracked it down - looks like it's still made. I sent their tech support an email. i will post their reply. Thanks,