Idiot question about connecting wires to their terminals

[cheeto 10+ year member]

Ok, so I have this 4 ga wiring kit from USamps, and I need to connect the ground wire terminal to the ground wire itself. I stripped the ground wire already, and put the terminal over it. I tried hammering it, squeezing it in a vice, etc, but I don't think thats how you're supposed to do it.

I searched everywhere and couldnt find the answer to this- How can I connect them permanently without a crimper?

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[amoffitt 10+ year member]

suater it if thats how its spelled

 

[lilmaniac2 5,000+ posts]

solder it

 

[cheeto 10+ year member]

**** ass ****. So I can't hammer the terminal down or crimp it like it looks in other pictures? Plus will solder really hole like that?

Because the terminal is like a tube where the wires go in, it seems kinda inefficient to just load it up with solder and hope it holds.

 

[jco1385 5,000+ posts]

umm, if it's just a crimp terminal, grap the pliers. i personally use channel-locks as they have more leverage. or a vice

 

[cheeto 10+ year member]

I tightened the vice down as hard as I could both with the cut in the terminal on the wall of the vice and facing away from it...

I think I'm just gonna take a hammer to it or something. Gosh ****, I wish there was a manual for this amp kit.

 

[iagrdshaka 5,000+ posts]

a vice has always worked for me, especially with 0 gauge

 

[cheeto 10+ year member]

a vice has always worked for me, especially with 0 gauge

I tried the vice again, I think these terminals are just super strength piss you off grade.. I'm kind of getting it but I've been having to use some self locking pliers and I've been setting them at different strengths or whatever. i don't think I can do it for the other 3 terminals haha.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

I use a center punch and a big hammer. The punch dimples the terminal and gets it to pinch down on the wire.

 

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

once you do get it pinched down make sure you tape it all up with electrical tape.

 

[roarzorz 10+ year member]

Here's a good How-To (with pics) on soldering ring terminals.

http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/index.php?showtopic=6399

 

[cheeto 10+ year member]

I think I'm gonna give up on car audio haha. Last night I mounted the amp on the back of my box (actually looks really clean, I'm proud of it :&gt and speaker wired it, then spent 4 hours trying to get a ground wire crimped. I ruined 1 crimp that came with the kit and 2 that didnt, because I kept getting it half way there then the crimp would slip off and I couldn't get it back on without pushing half the wires down. So here's my question - Even if it looks stupid, is it ok to have a ground wire connected to the amp by its bare wires? I got it screwed down pretty well right now and there are no visible other wires where it connects.

Oh and another thing - I unscrewed a seat bolt and sanded the washer and metal where it bolts onto, only to find out that it's too big to fit around the bolt. I was gonna drill it out, but my cordless drill ran out of power, then I couldnt find the charger, so I got the wall drill, and i couldnt find a gosh **** extension cable. Same thing with the dremel. So I'm goin to a friends house tomorrow. But the question here is - is it ok to drill out a terminal to make it a little wider? I don't see why it wouldnt be but just in case.

oh yeah and to the soldering thing - I don't have a torch :

 

[david in german 10+ year member]

This paid for itself the 1st instal I used it in..

Stock No. 462

This economically

priced tool is used

with a hammer

for a quick crimp

in maintenance

and repair

situations. It will

handle terminals

from 8 gauge

through 4/0.

http://www.waytekwire.com

Spend the cash on good tools people, you will not regret it!

 

[DaveT 10+ year member]

This paid for itself the 1st instal I used it in..http://order.waytekwire.com/CGI-BIN/LANSAWEB?WEBEVENT+L0E1C485E383088004DA4082+M37+ENG

Spend the cash on good tools people, you will not regret it!

Link no worky.

 

[david in german 10+ year member]

Link no worky.

Yeah link was jacked up so I fixed it to link to Waytek and posted the item number.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif