My Build

[jenandjon]

We have used these quite a bit over the past few years on tractors and pickups. Have not had any come apart yet. I will keep an eye on them.

I am having trouble with the generator though. Got the exhaust all hooked up and let it run a while. The thing started running like crap. Kept getting worse. I took all the exhaust apart thinking too much restriction. I pulled the spark plugs and they were fouled out. I pulled the air cleaner and it was full of oil. I guess I am going to take it back to where I bought it.

[Jack Mayer]

9 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

FYI, solder can be problematic in high vibration environments (such as a vehicle).  Constant vibration will weeken the solder joint and make it prone to breaking/cracking.  Keep an eye on the connections to prevent any problems.

Let me add to what Chad said. You may get away with the solder-only. But for others, Never solder these joints. It is simply not an effective and long term way to go. Statistically, you WILL have issues with it in marine and RV environments. You need to crimp these joints properly, and properly seal with heat shrink with silicone embedded in it. 

[Lance A Lott]

When I did my solar on the horse trailer I went on eBay and bought a hammer crimper. I also bought the ends, inpregnated heat shrink and the welding cable. The crimper works wonderfully. In the past I have used a punch and the vice. Set the vice to make a bed for the cable end . Workers well but not as nice to look at.  My father always does both, I am too lazy. Fluid Film seams to work to keep out corrosion.

Its very possible that the ethanol in the gas used before you got it has damaged the rubber parts in the carburator . It also forms a white powder in the carb and that can come loose when you put in new gas and start it up. 

[jenandjon]

20 hours ago, Lance A Lott said:

 

Its very possible that the ethanol in the gas used before you got it has damaged the rubber parts in the carburator . It also forms a white powder in the carb and that can come loose when you put in new gas and start it up. 

I don't buy ethanol. I guess that don't mean the last guy didn't use it. The small engine shop I bought it from had gone through the carb. I don't know. It say for a long time so Id guess its something internal. Its going back today so we will see what happens. We do a lot of business with this guy so I believe what ever the problem He will stand behind it. Its just another set back. Trying to save money by buying used. Learning lots of lessons on this build. 

 

21 hours ago, Jack Mayer said:

Let me add to what Chad said. You may get away with the solder-only. But for others, Never solder these joints. It is simply not an effective and long term way to go. Statistically, you WILL have issues with it in marine and RV environments. You need to crimp these joints properly, and properly seal with heat shrink with silicone embedded in it. 

I will defiantly keep an eye on them If I see the start of any problems I will remedy it immediately.  In the mean time I will have to find the proper crimping tool. What ever they guy used at the welding store did not work at all. It just fell off in my hand when I was routing the cable.

[rickeieio]

I've been soldering on cable ends for years, and have yet to have a failure.  I'm not advocating soldering lighter wire, but on 1/0 and bigger, with the proper ends, solder works well.  All the factory ends on my John Deeres were soldered, and when one fails, it's from corrosion, not breakage.  Most have lasted 30-40 years before replacement.

[Lance A Lott]

I wish I could by none ethanol gas where I live. I have to travel 20 miles to a small station that carries it in super only. Almost all gas has it in it the % will be on the label on the pump. The oil on the air filter doesn't sound good. Hope the shop makes it good although some air filters do use oil as part of the filtration.

[Moresmoke]

2 hours ago, rickeieio said:

I've been soldering on cable ends for years, and have yet to have a failure.  I'm not advocating soldering lighter wire, but on 1/0 and bigger, with the proper ends, solder works well.  All the factory ends on my John Deeres were soldered, and when one fails, it's from corrosion, not breakage.  Most have lasted 30-40 years before replacement.

Same here.  Having spent many years working on trucks in one of the worst enviroments in North America, I have never had an issue with a soldered battery cable.  Have seen smaller diameter wires break from fatigue after soldering.  Good quality heatshrink largely solves that issue though.

[Jack Mayer]

On the soldering.....vibration environments are not ideal for soldered joints. It may work just fine, or it may fail over time. It somewhat depends on the quality of the job. If you are going to solder I recommend Fusion connectors, since you have a far better chance of getting it correct. But really, it is better to do a quality crimp with a hydraulic crimper. You can get a decent one at Harbor Freight for around $50 or less on sale.  Or, if used properly, the hammer crimper  works fine. Using adhesive heat shrink is CRITICAL. Don't do it any other way or you may regret it down the road....

[lockmup68]

hydraulic crimper is way to go: Here's an example:

https://www.rakuten.com/shop/yescomusa/product/25HWC003-T16D11-01_buy/?scid=pla_google_yescomusa&rmatt=tsid:1012713|cid:925429614|agid:44930605183|tid:pla-430897902136|crid:219968117959|nw:g|rnd:14345286871287577217|dvc:c|adp:1o5|mt:|loc:1026083&gclid=CjwKCAjwiPbWBRBtEiwAJakcpErOLk8USsFMWGmZ0GwnSxHaOlnhXnEoebx1sWVc3MyyzQOU8OnQgRoC0GIQAvD_BwE

[Chad Heiser]

1 hour ago, lockmup68 said:

hydraulic crimper is way to go: Here's an example:

https://www.rakuten.com/shop/yescomusa/product/25HWC003-T16D11-01_buy/?scid=pla_google_yescomusa&rmatt=tsid:1012713|cid:925429614|agid:44930605183|tid:pla-430897902136|crid:219968117959|nw:g|rnd:14345286871287577217|dvc:c|adp:1o5|mt:|loc:1026083&gclid=CjwKCAjwiPbWBRBtEiwAJakcpErOLk8USsFMWGmZ0GwnSxHaOlnhXnEoebx1sWVc3MyyzQOU8OnQgRoC0GIQAvD_BwE

 

2 hours ago, Jack Mayer said:

 Or, if used properly, the hammer crimper  works fine. Using adhesive heat shrink is CRITICAL. Don't do it any other way or you may regret it down the road....

I have both the hydraulic crimper lockmup68 linked to and the hammer crimper Jack linked to.  I have used both and they both work, but I prefer the hydraulic crimper.  It is bigger and bulkier, but works very well for a decent price.  I think I bought mine on Amazon (but I can't remember what I paid for it).

[rickeieio]

4 hours ago, Jack Mayer said:

If you are going to solder I recommend Fusion connectors,

Those are like the ones I stock.  I gave up on the stamped copper ends a long time ago.

The battery cables on the tractors get bad eventually.  I've cut many apart to find the wire has corroded beyond use.  New ends won't cure a bad cable.  

[Scrap]

Go big!  Jack needs one in the new shop!  Well actually two...one with the cutting die.

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Power-Tools/Electrical-Termination/Hydraulic-Crimpers-and-Cutters/2679-22

[jenandjon]

23 hours ago, Lance A Lott said:

I wish I could by none ethanol gas where I live. I have to travel 20 miles to a small station that carries it in super only. Almost all gas has it in it the % will be on the label on the pump. The oil on the air filter doesn't sound good. Hope the shop makes it good although some air filters do use oil as part of the filtration.

That's all we get on the farm. We have some older tractors and small engines that wont run on it.

[jenandjon]

Cant get it in until next week. But that's OK we had to push vacation back a couple weeks.

[Lance A Lott]

Yeah like I said only one place 20 miles away, chainsaw and other small engins are really touchy. I understand marinas are a good place to look fot the non ethinal gas.

[Hot Rod]

10 hours ago, Lance A Lott said:

Yeah like I said only one place 20 miles away, chainsaw and other small engins are really touchy. I understand marinas are a good place to look fot the non ethinal gas.

WWW.PUREGAS.ORG  nice map showing all known non-ethanol stations, marinas, etc.  The marina will be your most expensive choice.

[lappir]

If you are using the gas for small engines you can separate the alcohol from the gas by adding a bit of water. The water and alcohol won't mix with the gas and you can pour off the alcohol that mixed with the water. Link below describes. 

 

https://sciencing.com/remove-ethanol-gasoline-7830109.html

[rickeieio]

2 hours ago, lappir said:

If you are using the gas for small engines you can separate the alcohol from the gas by adding a bit of water. The water and alcohol won't mix with the gas and you can pour off the alcohol that mixed with the water. Link below describes. 

 

https://sciencing.com/remove-ethanol-gasoline-7830109.html

Just be aware that the ethanol is there for a reason.  It's what raises the octane of the fuel to the prescribed level.  Without it, your octane will be lower, perhaps by a lot.  Do you want to risk detonation in your motor?  I don't.

 

[Parrformance]

Ethanol was a Government mandate to try and reduce dependence on foreign oil, and reduce emissions.

IMHO, it is another ridiculous decision by the Feds that does nothing but make our economy less competitive to other countries.

Even NPR disagrees, that should tell you something.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/10/466010209/the-shocking-truth-about-americas-ethanol-law-it-doesnt-matter-for-now

[BlueLghtning]

On 4/23/2018 at 12:24 PM, lockmup68 said:

hydraulic crimper is way to go: Here's an example:

https://www.rakuten.com/shop/yescomusa/product/25HWC003-T16D11-01_buy/?scid=pla_google_yescomusa&rmatt=tsid:1012713|cid:925429614|agid:44930605183|tid:pla-430897902136|crid:219968117959|nw:g|rnd:14345286871287577217|dvc:c|adp:1o5|mt:|loc:1026083&gclid=CjwKCAjwiPbWBRBtEiwAJakcpErOLk8USsFMWGmZ0GwnSxHaOlnhXnEoebx1sWVc3MyyzQOU8OnQgRoC0GIQAvD_BwE

I just used one of these last week when I was updating all the wire on my 4 RV batteries to 2/0. This thing made easy work of the process and was the easiest part of working with such thick wire. I should have gotten welding cable to work with instead. 

[rickeieio]

1 hour ago, Parrformance said:

Ethanol was a Government mandate to try and reduce dependence on foreign oil, and reduce emissions.

To take it a step further, when the feds banned lead as an octane enhancer, other compounds were tried (methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE)).  It was found that they were cancer causing , and getting into the groundwater in areas where usage was high (California).  Ethanol became the additive of choice.  Yes, it has some undesirable qualities, but so does detonation and dirty exhaust.

It does little to reduce our dependence on foreign oil .

[jenandjon]

I just buy what ever is cheaper at the gas station. Most of our vehicles are diesel anyway. We don't use soy diesel on the farm either. It jells up faster in the winter. I only get it when we are on the road down south. Makes the duramax smell like french fries.

Anyway speaking of soy. Mother nature is not letting us in the field yet so I took care of a couple cosmetic details yesterday. Put some side rails on the bed. They shouldn't be in the way of my turning but we will see when I hook it up. Put a center divider in so my coolers should set there nicely.  I have to put a fender on the passenger side behind the front wheel. I have it and its painted but the inner fender piece is busted beyond repair. The junk yard is looking for one.

 

[ALLOY]

Couple of issues I've seen with solder.

The acid/flux travels 2"-3" up inside the wire which over time corrodes the wire.

If there is ever an issue with the terminal especially at fuse connections (these work by generating heat) the solder melts.

 

 

 

[GlennWest]

On 4/22/2018 at 6:16 AM, jenandjon said:

We have used these quite a bit over the past few years on tractors and pickups. Have not had any come apart yet. I will keep an eye on them.

I am having trouble with the generator though. Got the exhaust all hooked up and let it run a while. The thing started running like crap. Kept getting worse. I took all the exhaust apart thinking too much restriction. I pulled the spark plugs and they were fouled out. I pulled the air cleaner and it was full of oil. I guess I am going to take it back to where I bought it.

Concerning the generator, did it get tipped over or on it's side. That will allow oil into filter which will restrict air and make it run poorly

[jenandjon]

19 hours ago, GlennWest said:

Concerning the generator, did it get tipped over or on it's side. That will allow oil into filter which will restrict air and make it run poorly

It never got tipped over since I have had it. I called the place I got it from. He said they went through it a year or so ago and it was fine. I'm thinking a stuck valve or something.