I went out for a drive today, and when I was out I stopped off to get some petrol. When I tried to restart the car - nothing. It didn't sound
like the common x-flow inertia starter jam, so I had a good look at the battery connectors. After fiddling and waggling them for a while the car
started again, so I drove home and investigated. The battery terminals were clean and the clamps were on tight, but the 2 screws on each clamp were
slack - it took almost 1 turn on each to tighten them up again. I put a test meter on the battery and did the usual tests (on and off load, engine
off & on) and everything seemed fit for purpose, so the loose screws were almost certainly the cause of my problem. My guess is that a
combination of a coarse screw thread combined with vibration, hot-and-cold cycles and compression of the battery cable strands all contributed.
This is the type of clamp I have currently:
All the other connectors on my battery leads are either crimped or soldered - I don't like screw cable clamps!
So now I'm looking for recommendations for a better quality terminal clamp for round posts - I don't care whether it's bolted onto the
post or a quick-release type, although I probably prefer the semi-permanent type, as I don't remove the battery from the car very often.
[Edited on 16/8/17 by David Jenkins]
My only comment would be not to buy this type...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Car-Battery-Terminals-Clamps-Pair-Quick-Release-Lift-off-Positive-Negative/2037322763?iid=322454979736
Great idea, while look nice and work quite well, it blocks the ablity to just jump leads direct to the battery.
I always use the ones with studs built in - crimp a ring terminal/lug on the cable end (think my Defender uses M10 versions, but M8 should suffice for
smaller applications).
Half way down here (Polevolt)
quote:
Originally posted by AntonUK
My only comment would be not to buy this type...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Car-Battery-Terminals-Clamps-Pair-Quick-Release-Lift-off-Positive-Negative/2037322763?iid=322454979736
Great idea, while look nice and work quite well, it blocks the ablity to just jump leads direct to the battery.
quote:
Originally posted by Charlie_Zetec
I always use the ones with studs built in - crimp a ring terminal/lug on the cable end (think my Defender uses M10 versions, but M8 should suffice for smaller applications).
Half way down here (Polevolt)
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
quote:
Originally posted by AntonUK
My only comment would be not to buy this type...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Car-Battery-Terminals-Clamps-Pair-Quick-Release-Lift-off-Positive-Negative/2037322763?iid=322454979736
Great idea, while look nice and work quite well, it blocks the ablity to just jump leads direct to the battery.
The way my car's wired, I can put the +Ve lead onto the starter solenoid so that's not a problem. The big problem I encountered with those is with the Chinese rip-off versions that everyone sells these days - I used to have a really good pair of these* until I changed to a Ford-style battery with flat terminals, but when that battery died I struggled to replace it and had to go back to post connectors.
__________________________________________________
* Note to 907 - I don't expect you to give them back, Paul!
They're the best bit of the car 
Can you solder them, tin the wire, tighten the screws onto cable and then heat the whole clamp and solder.
In the end I've ordered a pair of these:
The video shows that you can jump-start with them, if you lift the cover halfway.
They are the originals - anything else sold on ebay is a rip-off, probably made of chinesium.