Poor quality crimping ?

[ianto999]

Not having much luck atm.
Asked a mobile ‘specialist’ (lots of +ve reviews on FB, which are real) to do some additions to electrics.
Had a look properly today and saw this..
I’ve only dabbled with crimping before but this looks poor to me.
I’m learning to always check carefully what people have done before they leave…
View attachment 954006

 

[ianto999]

 

[Manic]

He obviously forgot his crimping tool and just used his pliers

 

[Two on Tour]

View attachment 954018

Was the guy that did that wearing a six gun and a Stetson ?

............. and that's why I do those jobs myself.

 

[St3v3]

Pull on the wires and see what happens...

You probably should get him back.

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[Vaman]

Blue red yellow, ratchet crimping tools are very reasonable on ebay. Re do the whole lot, as they are they will current limit & oxidise and give you grief in all sorts of weird ways.

 

[Lenny HB]

Also the crimps look like cheap & nasty ones, I'd want them replaced.
All of them just on the battery terminal is a bodge and very close to the metal seat frame.

 

[ivorantony]

Buy a hydraulic crimping tool with properly sized terminals for your wire size with again sized heat shrink and do the job yourself, it would still work out cheaper then getting someone in,

 

[bigtwin]

That looks to be a really shoddy job. It may be the angle that the photo has been taken from but that seriously looks as though it needs a protective insulating boot over the battery post. However, with all those crimp connections on there that could be a challenge.

I would not be happy with that job.

Ian

 

[gus-lopez]

That's frightening that close to the seat Base.

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[eurajohn]

That's frightening that close to the seat Base.

Ducato has a thick plastic sheet between the seat base and the mounting,

 

[Lenny HB]

Ducato has a thick plastic sheet between the seat base and the mounting,

Must depend on the seats and the converter, I've be er seen one.

 

[ChrisL]

That is really amateur job, I wouldn't call him back, i'd send him that photo and ask for your money back. I don't know where you are but if you can get to them i'd ask Offgrid Power Solutions to do the job properly for you and if there's space fit a positive bus bar. They are very helpful and it shouldn't be much work perhaps pm RogerIvy and ask.

 

[Ditcha]

View attachment 954018

That looks like one of my jobs

 

[PlacidoD]

"That looks like one of my jobs "

The battery seems appropriately named!!

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[BouncyBoatFolk]

This is the best picture I have on file,it shows the plastic cover removed and put to one side in the passengers foot space.The plate sits immediately above the battery,thus insulating the seat base. This plate in no way excuses the shoddy cable work shown in the O.P.s original photo.
Obviously, the O.P. would need to remove the seat again to achieve a more reliable and professional finished job.
Mike.

 

[Guigsy]

Even my DIY electrics are better than that. I bet they wouldn't survive a yank test. And I agree with others, I'd be very itchy about that positive terminal being that close to metalwork. Go over a big bump, arrive at the destination and wonder why your electrics don't work.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Was the guy that did that wearing a six gun and a Stetson ?

............. and that's why I do those jobs myself.

Me too

 

[gus-lopez]

Go over a big bump, arrive at the destination and wonder why your electrics don't work.

That's if it doesn't arc,short out ,set fire to the seat you're sitting on........

 

[Richard n Ann]

Looks like the job I would have done when I was 13 with no money and using my dad's old pliers. Just needs some tape round it now

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[berni109]

ianto999 i would concur with most of what's written above. It certainly does not look like a very professional job.
I would give each wire the 'yank' test to see if you can pull them out just to make sure they are secure. If ok then find something non - conductive/flammable to make a cover to fix over the top.
At least that should keep it safe until you can get it redone.
Check the other ends of those wires as well because I doubt they are any better.

 

[Just smiffy]

I bet he has “professional “ in his advertising….

 

[Gizmouk]

As others have (rightly) said - those have been "crimped" with a pair of pliers.
Additionally, the terminal isn't tight - towards the stack of crimps.

What are those cables feeding ? If he doesn't know how to crimp, there's a good chance he doesn't know how to calculate cable sizes.

 

[WESTY66]

That looks like one of my jobs
View attachment 954075

I’d like to think you are joking, but I’m not so sure

 

[Guigsy]

Rather than have a mess of wires coming off the positive terminal, a neater solution is one of these. One main fuse, then sub-fuses for hab load (only thing connected when I took the photo), solar, mains charger and B2B.

And yes, the wiring in my German van has a black wire for positive (negative is brown). And I've confused things by using red and black.

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[ianto999]

Thanks for sharing my pain. Makes me feel better to know I’m right to be disappointed.

He also wired some MC4 connectors the wrong way..I’ve redone those myself and changed them to Anderson. Taught myself crimping for those, and will do the same for these.

I honestly don’t think I could bear to have him back.

The cables aren’t being used for loads atm, and won’t be until sorted/removed. Current cable into a cigarette lighter end. This was meant to be an interim measure until proper bus bar fitted, for starlink power supply etc. Had planned to do this with eventual change to lithium.
I was trying to avoid tapping into the van EBL so as not to risk warranty rejection if it failed, but will also give that more consideration.
I think an EBL 227 needs a different type of connector (and presumably another crimper to add to my collection…)
If anyone pondering a mobile tech in Scotland, message me and I will let you know who he is.

 

[dunnah01]

View attachment 954119Rather than have a mess of wires coming off the positive terminal, a neater solution is one of these. One main fuse, then sub-fuses for hab load (only thing connected when I took the photo), solar, mains charger and B2B.

And yes, the wiring in my German van has a black wire for positive (negative is brown). And I've confused things by using red and black.

Those terminals look very close to the negative floorpan

 

[St3v3]

That looks like one of my jobs
View attachment 954075

That's really bad!

The cable tie needs to be a bit further down the handles so it's pulling at a right angle.... It could slip forward where it is

 

[dunnah01]

That's really bad!

The cable tie needs to be a bit further down the handles so it's pulling at a right angle.... It could slip forward where it is

Nah high grip insulated handles - deffo a pro job

 

[Gromett]

Buy a hydraulic crimping tool with properly sized terminals for your wire size with again sized heat shrink and do the job yourself, it would still work out cheaper then getting someone in,

I would avoid hydraulic ones they are hit and miss unless you buy an expensive branded one.

For those yellow crimps a proper ratcheting one off ebay/amazon will do a much better job. (6mm²)

For bigger (10mm²) then a long arm manual one that can handle up to 50mm² is good. Apparently can even handle 70mm2 as I have found you always end up using the next size down to get a great crimp.

Those links are for very similar ones to the ones I have and I am extremely happy with them. I tried the links to the ones I had ordered but the seller is no longer active on Amazon, these look the same though.

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