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Side terminal battery and accessories ?

2K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  75gmck25 
#1 ·
Hooked up an electric fan to my '76 Caddy. Its going to be a pusher. Did it for my other Cad but thats a top post battery. Connecting the 2 positive wires underneath the side post terminal is not that easy. And I don't really want to modify the terminals if I do not have to. So can I attach those two wires onto the back of the alternator ? If not, what do you suggest ?
 
#5 ·
there are special side terminal battery bolts and stands that allow additional ring terminals to be installed..

https://www.amazon.com/WirthCo-30400-Battery-Doctor-Terminal/dp/B000CQFWRS

these are actually available at many parts stores..

you might want to think about running a cable to a mega fuse block like this.. LITTELFUSE MEGA(R) HIGH-CURRENT FUSE HOLDER | All Electronics Corp. also available in many cars..

if you visit junk yards that have early 80s thru early 90s cadillacs.. if the copper has not been stripped yet. . you will find a neat feature.. other gm brands have them also.. but caddys are great... you can get red or black covered 10MM stud power distribution studs... if you look closely.. you will have one 8 gauge or 10 gauge wire to the battery... and sometimes almost a dozen fusible links about 8 inches long then yards of high quality wire in the harness just waiting for you to carefully remove.. these are sometimes up on top of the fender wells.. other times they are down in the radiator core support area.. not always easily seen.. the nut size on the stud is 15mm..

if you are installing electric fans... please perform voltage drop tests with the fans on HIGH speed before you have finished the wiring install and wrapping.. to verify the wiring is sized properly.. this is CRAZY easy to do..

battery charger hooked to the battery so its up over 14.1 volts while testing (substitutes for the alternator putting out current. if you want to make it closer.. hook the negative charger cable to the alternator housing and the positive to the alternator output stud.. you may want to make a ring terminal a short length of 10 gauge and another ring terminal with a short bolt and nut so you can clamp the charger cable on the nut and bolt tightly in the jaws..)

volt meter set to 20 volts DC..

probe the positive wire into the fan as close as you can. touch the other test lead to the positive battery post.. how many volts do you get.. less than 0.2 would be acceptable. 0.2 is 2/10ths of a volt.. less is better.. you are measuring water flow thru your garden hose.. if there is a kink you will get bigger difference when measured..

probe the negative wire into the fan as close as you can.. touch the other test lead to the negative battery post.

these are both done in seconds with the fan at high speed.. if you have multiple wires.. you need to test the individual circuits this way.

it took me longer to type this than it will be for you to perform the voltage drop test..

i have found so many radiator fans with issues. frayed wiring.. undersized wiring.. more voltage drop means the fans don't turn at max speed.. they run at reduced speed and build more heat..
 
#8 ·
My 1998 Chevrolet conversion van used to have numerous starting issues when my father owned it. I think he put about 10 batteries on this thing. Kept taking them back to Wal-Mart and they kept replacing them.

To make a long story short, the cable that went to the starter motor had corroded. GM had overlapped two cables together.





The lead spacer was also corroded. I bead blasted it and cleaned the connector with a wire brush and coated them with dielectric grease.



One thing that aggravated the problem was the company that converted the van added some accessory wires and connected them between the battery cable posts. If having side posts was bad enough.

My solution was to buy a dual post battery and some adapters. Now the original cables goto the side posts and the accessories connect to the top posts. I still have no idea what accessories these wires power!

 
#11 ·
Ok. Audio terminals like you have listed are not Great to be nice. Great for inside the car not for under the hood.


All you need is a cable off the battery to a bolt that is isolated using a piece of rubber.
Seriously take a bolt and a washer. Weld the bolt to the washer. Drill 2 holes into the washer. Or more for multiple terminals. Pass bolts through the holes, Then tack Them in place. Use grade 8 bolts.
Then take a piece of 1/8 thick rubber that covers the washer plus 3/4" and cut a hole for the bolt and smaller bolts to pass through.
Now take another 1/8 piece of rubber that is the same diameter as the piece with all the holes on it and drill 4 holes through the 2 pieces of rubber making sure to stay away from the hot terminals. These 4 holes are what you use to hold it in place against your firewall.

Cost is under $10 and the thing will outlast your car with no plastic parts.

You run your main hot wire to the big bolt and attach any small acessories like fans to the smaller bolts.
 
#12 ·
As someone already mentioned, the older GM trucks in the junkyard are a great source for various junction blocks.

The 73-87 trucks all had a junction block on the firewall near the brake booster, and it served as a connecting point for all the primary power feeds. It looks similar to this one JEGS Performance Products 10521: Terminal Block (1) 1/4" terminal stud | JEGS
This one is would also work Catalog

The 88 and on GM trucks had a much larger junction block on the passenger side of the firewall and it had a row of about six terminals.

Bruce
 
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