Allegro Club International

[Richard Howe]

Tara's battery posts are suffering from where I unscrew & disconnect the battery terminals when she's parked up. I'd rather not convert her to the later style clamps, but I do wish to avoid having to change batteries just because the screws can't gain grip any more.

I'm thinking that perhaps a screw-disconnect terminal like I have in Gonzo, only drilling it to permit the battery cap screw to fit; would I be making a bigger problem for myself?

How do you avoid wear on your S1/S2 battery posts?
_________________
...that's why Allegro will look as good 5 years from now as it does today.

[Laurence]

Maybe fit larger diameter self-tappers to fix the loose connection/worn screw hole fault.

The battery earth cable can easily be undone @ the inner wing end (to diconnect) rather than the battery post end so you will reduce wear'n'tear there.

[giz]

you could try and hide a battery cut off switch or pull the fuses from the fusebox

[J Dawson]

This interests me because on mine the battery cables simply push on, but there is provision for screw holes. Am I missing something here? Don't really want to start screwing into the terminals themselves...
_________________
Austin - you can DEPEND on it!

1976 Allegro 1100 4-dr saloon

Squeak, rattle & roll

[Richard Howe]

That provision is how they're supposed to be mounted; without that you're risking the (slim) possibility of them disconnecting while driving. A small hole in the post & in goes the screw!

I can't really change the size of the screw as bigger ones won't fit through the hole, and I also can't adjust the size of the thread on my winged screws.

Would pulling all the fuses remove all possible load? I think the potential for damaging them & requiring lots of replacement fuses or even a fusebox outweighs my current problems - at least I can still run the car without the screws even if I feel a bit uncomfortable about it Hiding a cut-off would still require changing something from stock... Still, if I fit it within the earth link, it could be kept to a visible minimum I suppose?

This isn't an anti-theft maneuver, it's simply to prevent drain - there's a stereo & an OEM clock in the dash and if left for a couple of months they're more than happy to knacker the battery for me!

Wow, here's an option I've never seen in a car before! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAR-BATTERY-TERMINALS-25-A-WITH-SOLDER-CRIMP-SCREW-TERMINALS-1-PAIR-NEW-/190688871102
_________________
...that's why Allegro will look as good 5 years from now as it does today.

[Paul-V]

[Richard Howe]

I've received what, in hindsight, appears to be a smart suggestion about repairing the posts - after all, lead's known for it's malleability & low melting point, so it should be possible to just fill the holes & re-tap.
_________________
...that's why Allegro will look as good 5 years from now as it does today.

[Richard Howe]

All follow-ups to the "fill it" suggestion have greeted the idea with trepidation... I presume the bolt for the wing-end of the earth strap goes into a captive nut?
_________________
...that's why Allegro will look as good 5 years from now as it does today.

[Laurence]

Back in the day when a lot of car batteries had the same self-tapper connection, if the hole became a little worn, we used to use a small ball-pein hammer & kind of rivet the hole over. Tap the ball of the hammer all around the hole to crush the battery post into the hole.

Or you could use a slightly longer self-tapper as well as rivet the post, which should give a snug fit.

I lead-weld links to join the cells of traction batteries used in forklift trucks, if it's a new battery I use oxy-acetylene plus a lead filler-rod stick but if it's a used battery I use a carbon rod plus lead stick.

You could use either of these methods to repair your battery posts, but you would have to fabricate moulds to form the new posts unless you could borrow a mould.

If you haven't had training to use the two last methods above, you could end up exploding the battery

[giz]

whilst reading this topic i keep thinking about a local mini specialist, who had a battery explode in his face. he's blind in one eye now i think he was just removing or installing it at the time.

[Richard Howe]

Yeah, it's horror stories like that which filled the other thread I've asked this in; I believe the original suggestion refered only to using a soldering iron to melt some flux into the hole, and that's about all I'd feel qualified to try, but even that got one guy fearing the worst as he seems not to know about electric soldering irons...

Wish I could just set up a trickle charger! Finding a lockup with power seems to involve exponential rent increases though.
_________________
...that's why Allegro will look as good 5 years from now as it does today.

[Laurence]

The electric soldering iron idea sounds good to me & fairly safe.

What you would need to do is thoroughly clean out the hole in the battery post, probably by using a drill to make the inside of the hole shiny, then, with a clean tip of the soldering iron poke the inside of the hole until the lead of the post melts into the hole to fill it.

If everything is clean, you won't need flux for lead welding. The flux used for soldering cleans the components being soldered & helps transfer heat so the solder flows more easily.

Just concentrate the soldering iron tip around the centre of the post to 'puddle' the lead into the hole, If you put too much heat into the post, the whole post could collapse (not dangerous) & you'll be left with a large blob of lead. You can't really tell when lead gets hot, obviously it melts but it doen't glow or bubble or smoke etc., so once it does puddle & fill the hole, quickly withdraw the iron tip & let it cool/solidify.

[Paul-V]

[Richard Howe]

Part of a block, no roof access, nor even access to the opposite side of the air bricks...
_________________
...that's why Allegro will look as good 5 years from now as it does today.

[Laurence]

Maybe drill a series of holes in the door to form a matrix the size of the solar panel & affix the solar panel to the inside of the door, so the sunlight will pass through the holes.

Some of these solar panel battery chargers come with long leads.