I'm gonna crimp the ends and solder but i'm not sure which type would be the best for this application.

rosin core electrical solder

Be sure and tin the wire first then let it cool down.
You want to get it hot enough quick, solder quick and not over heat enough to melt the outter insulation.

I really wanna get a good crimp before i solder then solder to keep oxidation out. I did purchase some red and black shrink tubing to get it all covered up again.

if you're talking about the large battery cables to the starter and engine ground, i just flux the inside of the terminal (with a side terminal battery and using the type rings on all ends that you would normally find on the large starter solonoid connection, i also have a remote solonoid for one more set of connections) and flux the cable strands good, heat the terminal till you can fill it with solder and push the cable into it, then cool it quickly, if you have the right sized ring terminals for the bat cable you're using its quick, ez, professional looking, and mostly: bulletproof... no crimps or shrink tubing needed. though if you cut the insulation wrong or get it a lil too hot, you can use shrink tube to make it look better. if you crimp it, then solder, you're assured of overheating the insulation waiting to heat a mass that size.
get an optima (or any other dry cell battery) to completly and absolutly eliminate the oxidation, corrosion and otherwise, foul, powdery, greenish and horrific acid type nastiness from yesterday.....good luck

I used battery solder slugs from here:

http://www.wiringproducts.com/

I did not crimp, solder only, so this may not be of any help. I used 1/0 welding ground cable to make battery cables. Since it only comes in black, I used color coded heat shrink tubing to easily distinguish + from -, and give it a cleaner look.

thanks for the link, thats a cool site, i already ordered a few items (ganged fuse blocks)...the first battery i trunk located i used welding cable but i've since read several places that its strongly discouraged (can't remember why exactly, maybe excessive loss because of the fine strands and the low 12 volt system) but i see they include in every description (since they use the same description for all welding cable): "often used as a battery cable alternative because of its flexibility" so, i guess they have no problem with it. or, they, like you (i see now) aren't talking about a trunk located application.

Probably won't last as long as automotive battery cables, just make sure it can withstand the heat, oil, and solvents.

Here's what i've got for the job, the cable is 1/0 with matching terminals. I'm missing the lug for the ground but i can get that locally. The red cable is 48 inches long and the black is 36 inches. I thought the 90 degree lug for the starter would make it nice.
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/8893/img06721ye8.jpg

heat the terminal till you can fill it with solder and push the cable into it, then cool it quickly

Heating the terminal and filling it with solder followed by pushing the cold cable into it will get you a classic cold solder joint. The cable needs to be heated along with the terminal for the solder to bond to both. Also solder should not be quick cooled, it can crystallize the solder.

Exactly what Elree said.

If you ever watch American Hot Rod and watched where they heated the terminal and filled it full of solder and then stuck the cold cable into the terminal then you know exactly how NOT to solder the terminal.

Put it together and heat it all until the solder flows and you'll get a good joint.

The flex cable with the many small strands is actually bigger than the equal wire gauge sized solid or low strand count cable. So, something like 1/0 flex is the same as any other 1/0. The good flex or high strand count cable is perfect for a car. It will have a very high temp insulation - solder it with a torch and if it survives without any noticeable damage then it's good stuff.

Peter

ive never seen them do it on any show but i've done it that way for years after making a few puddles of insulation and a couple "iffy" (at best) connections trying to do it by the book (depending on your book, i guess)
call me a fan of the "classic" method then and,... i always try to keep my joints as cold as possible while still getting the job done, but then when soldering small connections i rarely (as the book insists) get the object so hot i can melt the solder on it (sweating a copper joint for plumbing is another matter), its quicker, easier and cooler on surrounding componants to use molten solder to heat it enough to take, so i guess i'll withdraw my advice and bow to the experts, but know this: ive never had one fail and ive never in my life seen crystalization of any shape or form, even after cutting them open, have you?...or, is this more "book" info? in fact, after doing just that to check a couple awhile back, i'd be willing to bet good money if you do one in a manner far different from what i described (since you didn't offer a favorite method of your own here, i dont know what that might be) and i do one as i said and we cut them open you'd be hard pressed to find a single point where yours is superior and if we put an ohmmeter on them you'd have to go to a pretty sensitive scale (more than the average meter reads, i'm sure) to find a current flow deficiency in either one. but, as i said, i'll defer to the experts replying above.

...oh wait, if you follow that link to the solder "slugs" that were mentioned above you'll find this nugget of useless info:

How to use:
* Strip cable so that the exposed copper reaches the battery terminal bottom
* Apply several drops of flux to the exposed copper of the cable
* Place the proper slug size into the battery terminal, and secure the battery terminal in a vice
* Heat the base of the battery terminal with the slug inside using a propane torch or similar heat tool. As the battery terminal is heated, apply gentle downward pressure on the cable until the cable is inside the terminal. Remove heat source. Allow time for the connection to cool before handling
* Always wear protective eyewear and clothing.


i'm sorry...did i forget to mention the protective clothing? or, maybe the color in the slugs or the fact they are shaped into or even called "slugs" (snail or projectile?...i'm not sure) is the difference that makes that method acceptable, even recommended, and, from what i can see, the only method deemed worth noting.
but they're probably just a bunch of geeky, pencil necked office types in ill fitting "off the rack" business suites, what do they know? they only have their livelyhoods, homes, childrens futures and maybe some disposable income on the line. :)

and, heres a blurb from:

http://www.custombatterycables.com/wire_types.htm

Welding cable:
Welding cable is built to be flexible so the welder does not have to work hard to drag the wires around. It usually has a high temp rating and a soft flexible insulation. I'm not sure about the abrasion resistance or other attributes of the cable. I have seen it swell up when exposed to oil... so do NOT use it in an application where it may get oily. Some guys claim that because it has many fine strands it carries more current due to "skin" effect. Those guys have forgotten that "skin effect" is a high frequency phenomenon (think microwave communications) and does not exist at DC.
I have some battery cables on my cars that I built with welding cable. It works fine but it is more expensive. (I used it because I had some left over pieces).
Pro's: High temp, Very flexible.
Con's: Expensive. Soft insulation. Not oil resistant.

Thanks for posting the how to Jayt, but man take it easy.

How to use:
* Strip cable so that the exposed copper reaches the battery terminal bottom
* Apply several drops of flux to the exposed copper of the cable
* Place the proper slug size into the battery terminal, and secure the battery terminal in a vice
* Heat the base of the battery terminal with the slug inside using a propane torch or similar heat tool. As the battery terminal is heated, apply gentle downward pressure on the cable until the cable is inside the terminal. Remove heat source. Allow time for the connection to cool before handling
* Always wear protective eyewear and clothing.

I'm gonna use this method and see how it goes, i think the key here is that your still heating both the wire and the terminal. I do have the slugs and bought some solder. I'm wondering if i should tin the lead on the cable as was suggested.

By the way this guy http://www.custombatterycables.com/wire_types.htm doesn't answer his emails. Maybe he's out hunting, fishing, golfing or on spring break, who knows.

"since you didn't offer a favorite method of your own here, i don’t know what that might be"

My preferred method is a crimp connection. I didn't recommend it because the tools required to make correct crimp connections are expensive. I don't own a crimp tool for wire larger than 6 ga, but I do have access to them.
The cables on my ElCamino (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/data/500/medium/P5080002.JPG) have crimped connections.

You posted a link to custom battery cables, he uses crimp connections.

The soldering method described will work fine for a while. However subject to thermo cycling, the connection will eventually fail. The connection at the starter solenoid, because of the extreme thermo cycling, will be the first to fail.

Well,

Your first description says to heat the terminal till you can fill it full of molten solder and then you stick the cold cable into it.

The description you posted says to put a chunk of cold solder into the terminal and then heat both the wire and terminal together until the solder flows and the cable can be pushed into the terminal.

It takes a lot of heat to get the larger gauge wire hot enough that solder will properly bond with it.

A crimp is the best way but it does take an expensive crimper to do it right.

Peter

"Thanks for posting the how to Jayt, but man take it easy."....hah, that wasn't bad, you should see when i think i might be wrong. ...this is fun! :disco:

no one asked about using an expensive crimping tool that allows you to forgo any soldering, i too would prefer that method and i even attempted to make large scale two piece spark plug type crimper and it worked ok but it was a pita compared to the other way, mostly just because it took too much time and i didnt see any tangible benefits.

"The soldering method described will work fine for a while. However subject to thermo cycling, the connection will eventually fail. The connection at the starter solenoid, because of the extreme thermo cycling, will be the first to fail."

so will having reher-morrison racing engines build your motor, it will work fine for awhile, but, due to extreme heat cycling and metal parts working against each other seperated by an oil film only mils thick, eventually its going to fail. how is it you foresee it failing?....the cable is just going to seperate from the lug? i think i'm pretty safe in saying that i'll be long gone before that ever happens, but, if it does, i'll be sure and relate the whole hellish "starting non-event" here in this forum and eat every crow you can toss my way. btw, i have a remote solonoid so my cable is only charged and hot during cranking, but even the ones i did almost twenty years ago are still going strong as far as i know, since my g/f's car (my former daily driver) started this morning, or at least, i'll ask her if it did when she arrives home from work.

lol, well!,
c'mon pete, that method is almost verbatim, word for word, (try tilting your head and maybe squinting a lil' bit) what i described, i wasn't exactly saying to pull the cable out of a pack of dry ice, ffs, ...should i have added that its probably a good idea to at least get the cable up to room temp? i can't imagine (as apparently you can) holding a torch in one hand a cable in the other, hovered over lug being heated, heating the lug and solder and not somehow getting the cable hot enough to create a blister if not scar tissue. speaking of which..."It takes a lot of heat to get the larger gauge wire hot enough that solder will properly bond with it."

do this pete: go get a lug, put it in a vise and heat it up till you can fill it with molten solder....then, stick your pinkie finger in it up to the first knuckle....report back with your findings and any conclusions you might have drawn on whether or not you managed to create "a lot of heat".

actually that was my thinking from the beginning, every strand is going to be completly and thouroughly saturated by solder more than hot enough to do the job. but, it does to be well fluxed (which i stated) and as clean as possible.

Would you fly in a 747 that has all it's terminals soldered using your method?

Well i got em together today and i gotta say i really like the solder method. The little solder slugs come with flux in the middle and when you heat it up it flows out, very cool. Seems the guy who owned the car before me made up his mind that fuselink wasn't where its at so i soldered in a red #10 lead with the 1/0 cable and added some 14 guage fuselink to the junction block.
Seems strange to me that when the car isn't running all power to anything comes through that 14 guage wire. If the lights are left on i wonder if the fuselink will blow?
Sure was nice to be working on the old gal again, its been a while.

i wouldn't fly on a 747 if it was filled with certified aircraft electricians, i've seen their handiwork up close and just recently i was doing cuervo shots with a couple pilots and after the co-pilot passed out face down in a bowl of peanut shells with his tie around his head "ninja" style and his pants around his ankles "rape victim" style..."cap'n bob" or "boob" (as we ended up christening him) took me aside and in a suspiciously conspirative tone, intimated to me how he hadn't let on to his second but, he was extremely leery about their hop that evening since he himself had personally witnessed the electricians shop steward giving an inspector a fat envelope that very day. put it this way, the only way i would board one is, if i did do all the soldering.

btw...if you bought a 747 brand new and flew it long enough, eventually it would fail. and, comparing a car to a commercial airliner is like......well, like comparing a pro built motor to a soldered connection.
this aint www.boeing.com

oops, almost forgot to congradulate gspan on his finished connection, nice work, ...any sign of crystals? does it show any signs of disintegration? seperation? segregation? delamination?

:clonk:

gspan1830 Sorry for hijacking your post.

"If the lights are left on i wonder if the fuselink will blow?"

No the headlights will not blow a 14 ga fusible link. You can run all the factory loads without damaging the f-link.

btw...i just read where almost none of a 747's terminals are soldered....virtually all are crimped and solderless. :)