Battery terminals

[Alan Callison]

OK Guys,this may seem like a dumb question but here goes. Ya know those tiny battery terminal posts on the battery? Well does anyone know of some mod or a part I can buy or scrounge or make that makes it easier to get a set of jumper cables on the terminal itself without having to take the battery out?

[Frank Angerano]

Try this. You have to buy both items separately but it works great.   Been there trying to get the clips on the battery.   I just plug the alligator clip in and to any jumper cables or battery.  

The best part about this is the plug side that gets bolted on to the battery is the same clip that can accept a trickle charger or any accessories that you may want to plug into and is protected by an inline fuse. 

  Battery Charging Cable Ring Terminal Wiring Harness 2-Pin Quick Disconnect Plug SAE battery Extension Cable 12V- 24V With10A Fused 2 Feet 16AWG Gauge Copper Wire for Motorcycle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BKZ89TS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Ma2QCbFZE9RDM

 

KUNCAN 1.5FT 12v battery Alligator Crocodile Clip to Sae Connector Extension Cable, 16 Gauge Sae 2 Pin Quick Disconnect to Alligator Clamps Connectors Cord, Fuse 7.5A https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7CDVNZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Qd2QCb775JRYF

[mikeexplorer]

What your showing would be fine if you want to connect a maintainer or if you want to use an accessory. However the gauge of the wires is too small to use it for jumping a dead battery. A starter would consume far more then 10 amps to crank (the inline fuse would instantly pop)

ATV jumper cables are usually a minimum of 10 gauge wires.

Mike

 

[Frank Angerano]

You would think so, I was surprised also but between the 10 amp fuse and the resistance from the distance of wire mine holds up just fine.  

[Alan Callison]

Id considered just wiring up a couple of small cable clips like that using some 10 gauge wire and a ring terminal to each battery terminal and just let them hang out in the battery compartment. Just clamp each clip to each jumper cable.Being careful they have no way to contact each other of course.I wasn't sure if a 10 g wire would be big enough tho.

[Frank Angerano]

Yep that would work just don’t let that positive cable touch anything. I’m sure you can buy a plug that you can wire in also so it can be unplugged.  

[davefrombc]

If  the plan  is to  jump start another  ATV because of a dead battery,  you could   make up  a set of cables to  plug into   an accessory socket.  A few  minutes admiring the scenery  while you rig  runs above idle  to  put some charge  into the dead  battery is usually enough for  the  dead battery  ATV to be started.  You  could  wire  in a 10 gauge polarized  wire connector  and then  use  the other end of the polarized pair  to  build your own jumper cables.  10  gauge wire should be heavy  enough  to  start most ATVs  if they don't have the starter turning over  so  long as to  overheat the wires.  I wouldn't wire anything in that would have an exposed positive connector.
battery side of the polarized connector  is the one with the rubberized  positive terminal .  Jumper cable side uses the  bare positive.

[mikeexplorer]

23 hours ago, Frank Angerano said:

You would think so, I was surprised also but between the 10 amp fuse and the resistance from the distance of wire mine holds up just fine.  

If your battery is weak, but not dead then it could work as most of the heavy draw would come from the weak battery (because it has the heavier gauge wire) If the battery is mostly depleted, the heavy draw would go through the wires and pop the fuse. A starter motor draw far more then 10 amps.

 

[mikeexplorer]

18 hours ago, davefrombc said:

If  the plan  is to  jump start another  ATV because of a dead battery,  you could   make up  a set of cables to  plug into   an accessory socket.  A few  minutes admiring the scenery  while you rig  runs above idle  to  put some charge  into the dead  battery is usually enough for  the  dead battery  ATV to be started.  You  could  wire  in a 10 gauge polarized  wire connector  and then  use  the other end of the polarized pair  to  build your own jumper cables.  10  gauge wire should be heavy  enough  to  start most ATVs  if they don't have the starter turning over  so  long as to  overheat the wires.  I wouldn't wire anything in that would have an exposed positive connector.
Battery side of the polarized connector  is the one with the rubberized  positive terminal .  Jumper cable side uses the  bare positive.

You are correct that with this setup, to let the donor machine charge the battery enough to let it start on its own. These connectors cannot withstand the heavy current draw of a starter motor directly. It normally would only take a few minutes to put enough charge on to start the machine.

These are good connectors to use for accessories. Arctic Cat machines have two of these, one in the front which is powered only with ignition and used for accessories such as hand warmers and winch. This way you do not have to splice into the wiring harness at all.

There is one in the rear which is powered all the time and is a perfect place to attach a battery tender. This connector is used for attaching rear powered accessories such as pull behind mowers and other grading equipment. I use the rear connector for battery tenders.

Most battery tenders come with this connector so it makes it simple to connect it up. Looking at your picture, the left lower plug would be connected to the ATV side (positive wire covered) Some battery tender setups will include this connector wired to 2 rings to connect directly to the battery so you have a quick easy place to plug it in.

These are commonly referred to as "2 wire trailer connectors" and can be found in most auto part stores.

Edited April 10, 2019 by mikeexplorer

[davefrombc]

Those connectors come in  a couple of different gauges. The picture I  used to show the connector is a light gauge one that would not pass sufficient  power to run an ATV starter but a  10 gauge or larger one would . A ten gauge connector would directly  run  most  ATV starters for brief  starting attempts but definitely would overheat   for  longer draws.  It is  best to charge the  dead battery  for a few minutes with any  jumper  before trying to  start the  machine .  Most newer  ATVs  have accessory sockets  that take  normal  accessory  plugs. Most older ones don't. I wired in   a socket on  both the front and back of my  machine. Battery  tenders  can  be  plugged into the accessory socket  if it   is powered when the  key is off .  Some machine's accessory  sockets are  also  off with the key.  They  cannot be  used to  jump start  an ATV,  but they  can  be  used  to charge  the  battery.