# Best way to attach 14 gauge wire to a battery terminal?



## bristol299bob (Apr 13, 2011)

I'm installing a Balmar Smartgauge battery monitor. The monitor wires (14 gauge) need to be connected directly to the battery terminals. My battery cables are standard lugs that tighten around the post directly. There is no place to connect a ring terminal

Mainesail's excellent write up says this: 
_IMPORTANT: DO NOT wire the Smart Gauge to any place other than the actual physical battery terminals!_

I can certainly think of a few ways to make this connection, but (and maybe I'm missing something obvious) I'm not sure of _a good way _ to do it.


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## MarkSF (Feb 21, 2011)

I thought standard lugs usually had a nut and bolt through them. Place the ring terminal under one of those. 

BTW, I placed an inline fuse holder close to the battery.


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## btrayfors (Aug 25, 2006)

bristol299bob said:


> I'm installing a Balmar Smartgauge battery monitor. The monitor wires (14 gauge) need to be connected directly to the battery terminals. My battery cables are standard lugs that tighten around the post directly. There is no place to connect a ring terminal
> 
> Mainesail's excellent write up says this:
> _IMPORTANT: DO NOT wire the Smart Gauge to any place other than the actual physical battery terminals!_
> ...


Most battery lugs have a bolt and nut to tighten the connection around the battery post. You could put a ring terminal on the 14-guage wire and connect it under the nut.

Bill


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

There are battery cables with terminals that have wing nuts and studs available. Makes life a lot easier.

Battery Terminal w/Post Wing Nut - Everything Carts

There are also stud adapters that work quite well http://sepbatteries.com/odyssey-stud-battery-terminal?gclid=Cj0KEQiAlae1BRCU2qaz2__t9IIBEiQAKRGDVeB_2nMCBVvPYZH0PTt4p3quukpwfY6jRceSVvtG-0AaAn7h8P8HAQ

Good luck,

Gary


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## MarkSF (Feb 21, 2011)

Wing nuts are to be avoided as they loosen up easily. Either use two nuts, counter-rotated (strictly speaking, one should be shallower than the other), or a Nyloc or Aeroloc nut.

See here :

http://www.boltscience.com/pages/twonuts.htm


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

Mark, on my boat, I use lock washers with the wing nuts, and never had one come loose, ever.

Gary


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## JimsCAL (May 23, 2007)

Sounds like you have a non-marine battery with only the auto-type battery posts. Marine batteries will usually have both the auto-type posts as well as the marine threaded post with nut. Assuming the batteries are good and you are not replacing them, then you could use something like this.
Ancor Lead Battery Terminal Set


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## VallelyJ (Nov 21, 2008)

You could probably do OK if you cut the old cable terminals off, attached new ones with the 14 ga wire crimped in along with the cable.


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## overbored (Oct 8, 2010)

BTW the 14 gauge is a misprint. the terminal on the smart gauge is not big enough for the 14 gauge wire. I contacted Balmar and was told that 18 gauge is plenty big. they said it would work with a 28 gauge. look at 2.0 #3 it says to run an additional 18 gauge for the second battery. it was to read 18 gauge wire


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## Mycroft (Sep 27, 2013)

Thanks for that info overbored, very good to know!!!


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

overbored said:


> BTW the 14 gauge is a misprint. the terminal on the smart gauge is not big enough for the 14 gauge wire. I contacted Balmar and was told that 18 gauge is plenty big. they said it would work with a 28 gauge. look at 2.0 #3 it says to run an additional 18 gauge for the second battery. it was to read 18 gauge wire


Unless they recently changed the t-strip I have well over 35 of these I have personally installed, with many, many more I have sold to customers. I have confirmed the 14GA wire with the designer himself (Balmar did not invent nor design this product) and the 14GA is the preferred GA per the inventor/designer.. You also can not connect 18GA wire direct to a battery under ABYC standards. 16GA would be the bare minimum.


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## weinie (Jun 21, 2008)

Maine Sail said:


> Unless they recently changed the t-strip I have well over 35 of these I have personally installed, with many, many more I have sold to customers. I have confirmed the 14GA wire with the designer himself (Balmar did not invent nor design this product) and the 14GA is the preferred GA per the inventor/designer.. You also can not connect 18GA wire direct to a battery under ABYC standards. 16GA would be the bare minimum.


What MS said. I installed mine last year as per the instructions without a problem using the specified wire.

Smart move OP! You will love having it! It's like a fuel gauge for your battery (but more accurate!).


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## overbored (Oct 8, 2010)

Maine Sail said:


> Unless they recently changed the t-strip I have well over 35 of these I have personally installed, with many, many more I have sold to customers. I have confirmed the 14GA wire with the designer himself (Balmar did not invent nor design this product) and the 14GA is the preferred GA per the inventor/designer.. You also can not connect 18GA wire direct to a battery under ABYC standards. 16GA would be the bare minimum.


if they are saying to use 14 ga wire on the main battery then why does the instruction say to use 18 Ga on the second battery? 
the 18Ga wire is not connected direct to the battery. As per ABYC you need a fuse connected direct to the battery within 7" with 16 ga or bigger wire. after the fuse sized for the smallest wire size used in the circuit you can connect the smaller ga wire.


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## mitiempo (Sep 19, 2008)

overbored said:


> if they are saying to use 14 ga wire on the main battery then why does the instruction say to use 18 Ga on the second battery?
> the 18Ga wire is not connected direct to the battery. As per ABYC you need a fuse connected direct to the battery within 7" with 16 ga or bigger wire. after the fuse sized for the smallest wire size used in the circuit you can connect the smaller ga wire.


The connection to the second battery is only for a voltage measurement. The connection to the main (house) bank measures a lot more than voltage.


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

OK, I'll throw in a vote for heresy. If there's no convenient way to put that wire on a ring terminal and add it into the existing battery clamps? Clean off the top of the battery post, take a thin piece of copper flashing, make it into an "L" with a hole drilled in the top, and solder the flashing onto the top of the battery post, using a paste solder that requires very little heat. (Wouldn't want to heat the post up enough to damage the battery internally.)

But there really ought to be a way to use the ring terminal. Or try file down a little spot on the side of the battery terminal, so the existing clamp could also hold a similar little copper strip clamped tightly, without disturbing the rest of the good connection.


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## Maine Sail (Jan 6, 2003)

overbored said:


> if they are saying to use 14 ga wire on the main battery then why does the instruction say to use 18 Ga on the second battery?
> the 18Ga wire is not connected direct to the battery. As per ABYC you need a fuse connected direct to the battery within 7" with 16 ga or bigger wire. after the fuse sized for the smallest wire size used in the circuit you can connect the smaller ga wire.


I am looking into this today. When writing that article and doing the research the manual said 14GA. I just opened a Smart Gauge I have in inventory, that was received in last Thursday direct from CDI/Balmar, and the manual says 14GA and 14GA.

*This is straight out of the manual from the most recent shipment from CDI/Balmar and has had only a few days in my inventory.*









In speaking with Balmar today they apparently have a few manuals with different text/specs in them. Balmar has been shipping manuals that say 14GA and 14GA. Another manual says 14GA and 18GA and yet another says 18GA and 18GA.

This is why I initially reached out to the designer/manufacturer on this question.

As for ABYC 18GA is the minimum sized wire allowed under ABYC E-11 standards and while one of the "exceptions" to this rule _might_ (debatable) cover the Smart Gauge connecting 18GA to a battery (and there is ALWAYS a fuse) is pretty poor practice.


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## mitiempo (Sep 19, 2008)

Balmar's online manual states 14ga and 18ga.


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## Mycroft (Sep 27, 2013)

Unlike the Fireboy solenoid controller, I found it easy to connect 14ga to the Smartgauge.


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