Posted by Steve O'Dea on Wed, Jun 09, 2010 @ 10:53 AM
In W.P. Kinsella's book "Field of Dreams" which was later made a movie starring Kevin Costner, one of the famous lines was, "If you build it, they will come." This saying was the driving force for the protagonist, Roy, to build his baseball park in the middle of an Iowa cornfield. It was a pretty good movie and a better book. Isn't that usually the case? Well, here at Pacer, we have been slowly building our website and our product offering in hopes that people will visit in droves. We have a long way to go but we are making progress. Our newest section contains pre-made battery cable assemblies.
As soon as we turned the "Open" sign on in this battery cable store we began to get more calls and orders for folks needing to upgrade or update their cables on their boats, cars, trucks and forklifts. As one of our newer customers commented to me, "this is exactly what I was looking for. No more excess pieces, no more failed crimps." That pretty much sums it up.
One of our new customers had us make a battery cable for his 1949 Ford Woody. He was so excited about getting exactly what he was looking for without making a compromise. He also told me that he was going to the "World of Woody Rally" in which he could not wait to tell all of his fellow "Woody" enthusiasts about where he purchased his battery cables.
On a typical day, our battery cable department makes anywhere from 400-800 battery cable assemblies. Often times they are fulfilling orders for any of our OEM customers for their custom assemblies. They are also ensuring that we have adequate stock of the battery cables listed on the site. One of the advantages our cables have is superior flexibility. We use very fine stranded copper conductors in our cable, and that flexibility helps when installing in a variety of spaces.
When we get an opportunity to make a custom assembly for a special antique vehicle or for a race car, the guys get excited. Perhaps it is the typical monotony of doing the same thing over again and when they get to do something different and know about where it will go, they enjoy the possibilities. I guess we all do in a way. When much of your market is recreation or industrial applications, the little kid inside still wants to build in the sandbox, but with full sized earth movers. Or with antique cars, race cars, all terrain vehicles or, well you get the idea. Remember we don't get to ride too many snowmobiles here in Florida. We can however make the battery cables for them so that they perform at their best up north.
Posted by Steve O'Dea on Fri, May 14, 2010 @ 11:32 AM
I moved to Florida in 1996, and I love the weather here (most of the time). When people ask me what I miss about the weather back in my home commonwealth of Kentucky my answer involves two season turns: the beginning of Fall and Springtime. In Florida we do not get the temperature drop in the autumn months like we did back home. In fact, the fall can have some of the hottest and most humid weather around here. I miss that first morning where the temperature cools and one can go from wearing t-shirt and shorts to sweatshirt and jeans. It reminds me of football when the air is crisp and it gets dark early. In Florida it just stays hot and then cools to pretty warm. The Springtime is magical as well as all of the brown grass starts to turn a nice lush green, the dogwoods bloom and the weather begins to warm up. You can see and feel a collective sigh of relief as people shake off the winter cabin blues and come outside.
Well winter is definitely over and depending on the part of the country you are living in, Summer might just be here. That means it is time to get the boat back on the water, get the family and the coolers and start enjoying our natural surroundings. Hopefully you listened to my advice from previous and got your toys (boats, cars, ATVs, and Personal Water Crafts) all ready for the season and you are enjoying yourself now. Or, at least, looking ahead to the weekend and plan your outdoor activities. The weekend warrior in all of us is calling out to entertain ourselves. I don't mean doing housework either! Sure the plant beds need some TLC, but so too does the cooler and the boat. The sunscreen is not going to use itself!
If you did procrastinate, do not fear as you are in good company. We can help with your repairs as we carry all of the wire, electrical parts, cable management tools and more to help fix your toy and get you out there with the rest of the weekend warriors. In no time at all, you will be sunburned and worn out from a great day out on the water or on the trail. The honey-do list can wait but your toy cannot any longer. So get to it, and if we can help then give us a call. Don't forget your bug repellent either because the mosquitoes can eat you alive.
Posted by Sheila Knott on Mon, Jan 25, 2010 @ 12:43 PM
By Steve O'Dea - Pacer Solutions Expert
Would you trust sitting on a chair with only 2 legs? We can all agree that is a stupid question. Save for some episode of "America's Funniest Home Video's" or a YouTube sensation, no one would sit on a chair with just 2 legs. Now chairs with 3 legs properly spaced are a safer bet to rest your rump on, and 4 legs is an optimal choice. What does this purely hypothetical and frankly silly scenario have to do with our business? Well, it will all make sense just follow me.
When crimping battery lugs a four point crimp is much better than a two point crimp. What I mean by that is the more points you can crimp the better, especially when relying heavily on the mechanical crimp. Because we make superior wire and cable that has very fine stranding we do not recommend solder. Many proponents of solder say that it gives another level of protection to a mechanical crimp. The advantages to using a highly flexible, fine stranded copper wire and cable such as resistance to heavy vibration is diminished when soldered. Soldering turns all those little flexible strands into one solid piece and as such creates a brittle point. Resistance to heavy vibration is a major selling point in performance wire and cable and their applications.
Pacer recommends a nice heavy crimp and adhesive lined heat shrink to finish the assemblies. We sell 2 types of battery lug crimpers: First is the AMP Rota-Crimp (VT600850) which can crimp lugs from 8 AWG to 4/0 AWG. We have used one in our battery department that must be 20 years old and it still works great. This tool is heavy duty and features unique spring loaded rotating crimp dies to allow the user to crimp a full range of cables without switching out loose die pieces. This crimper offers a four point crimp on the lug too. I would not recommend this for a hobbyist but for a serious professional (who doesn't mind investing in better tools) it is perfect. We also sell a version of the AMP Rota-Crimp (VT601075) that will crimp lugs up to 1/0 AWG. The second is the Crimp Master Crimp tool. For larger gauge lugs from 6 AWG to 4/0 AWG (VT0280) the Crimp Master is a less expensive alternative. This tool features a dial to adjust for the correct crimp gauge and a three point crimp. The version of the Crimp Master that crimps gauges 6 AWG to 1/0 AWG is the (VT0280C).
We understand that dropping that kind of dough on a tool is not in everyone's budget, especially when you don't need this feature that often. The important lesson to take from this post is that putting the lug in a crimping jig and hitting it with a hammer is not the recommended method for high performance crimps. A two point crimp is not sufficient.
Pacer engineers battery cables for many of the marine manufacturers here in the US. We utilize a pneumatic crimper that creates a repeatable, consistent mechanical crimp that tests way beyond industry standard. We can make these for you too. Because we have our own wire and cable manufacturing plant, we have an advantage on the materials. Even with our labor factored in, many companies utilize our service because we can build these cables custom for less than investing in all the tools and materials. Let us invest in the inventory and processes to supply you with a top notch cable assembly. You will know that the assembly has been tested.
So as you can see the crimping battery lugs does not take a rocket scientist (but if you are one and you are looking for an assembly - call us). It does, however take an understanding of the many numbers that you need to consider before you take on the job.