Changing the clamps on a car battery charger

[@MikeUSA67]

I think,about 38 years ago I bought the exact same one, just in orange 🙂It served me well for 27 years, and during that time I had to change the clamps only once.

[@SteamGeezerUK]

This has been a good little charger, only let down by the Mickey Mouse clamps. Hopefully it will last me a good few years yet 🙂

[@markfergerson2145]

Upvoted BUT… Using the cable tie as a strain relief is good practice. Glad you got rid of the ragged edges on the hole, many people forget that and end up inadvertently cutting the cable tie off on those sharp edges. The terminals are indeed way too large. The way you crimped them on does not maximize contact between the wire and the terminal. You should take that apart and use the proper size terminals and crimp them on to the wire such that both “wings” curl down and bite into the wire, pressing it into the body of the terminal. Yes, that method still needs strain relief. You can buy kits with several sizes of terminals and a crimping tool that will seat them correctly. The way you did it will result in limiting the current the charger can deliver while heating the terminals unnecessarily. If you’re using it for a relatively low current application like very small scale plating the way you did it is just fine, same for trickle charging a car battery. However full charging current will not be available and as I said they will get hot. Ask me how I know all of this.

[@SteamGeezerUK]

I get what you're saying, and if I were using it every day I'd have taken a lot more time and effort over it, but for the amount this gets used, I think it'll be fine. It's worth taking note of what you said for anyone else watching though, thanks 🙂

[@ianthomson9363]

That was as good as anything on the Repair Shop.

[@SteamGeezerUK]

I'm glad you enjoyed it, my friend 🙂