Welding Cable - Any Downsides when used for Starter Motor???

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Depends on the surface area and mechanics of the soldered joint.


Properly soldered lugs are extremely strong.

Not on the gauge wire bring discussed. Maybe on something like AWG16 not 02 and alike.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Relative to your drowning in diesel method of checking the covers of your wire, what you are doing does not replicate what would happen in the engine bay. There is no wire in it, no air to it, it is very clean, and it will not be subject to fairly rapid temperature changes. Therefore, I'm questioning myself as to whether it will tell you what you want to know.

Ann

You may well be correct Ann and I did wonder if having air (O2) present would make a difference. However it was a bridge too far for my DIY testing to include periodic dunking in and out of diesel. As was temperature cycling.

This is more of a 'I wonder what will happen' type of test rather than a definitive proof of purpose test.

What will be sure is if the submerged test covers disintegrate inside a few months, then some caution will be warrantied.

Meanwhile as of yesterday, the new +ve and -ve cables have been installed and ATM, they look good. As luck would have it, they are located on the port side of the engine while all the diesel stuff (and raw water) is on the starboard side. They exit the engine bay at right angles to the engine with less than 500mm (18") inside the engine area. They are well supported, dry and separated, the terminals are indent crimped complete with dual wall (adhesive lined) heat shrink so I am quietly confident they will outlast the owner of the boat (and me).