Topic: 12V question.

[Kindguy]

I'm real new to building anything like this so bare with me.

I have a 12 V wired with two 4 pin XLR's.

What I want to do is remove the cables & build two more using the existing cabling & 4 pins.

My question is why did the person who made this battery solder 4 wires on the + side. & only used 2 of them. Are the other 2 some type of ground?  Or did he solder 4 & realize he only needed 2?

[leegeddy]

cringe!!!! that battery setup is asking for trouble of major shorting and fire.

i wouldn't use that at all and start over.

(user beware),

marc

[bhtoque]

yeah, start from scratch.

I'd also not solder right to the battery, but use spade connectors and cable stays to keep stuff in place.

JAson

[Daryan]

Even using spades, isn't it best to drop some solder on the wire?  I usually apply a small amount to the wire to make sure they don't fray, and then solder the spades directly to the terminal or just the bare wire.  Not that i am any good at it, but it has generally (with the exception of my apogee issues), worked fine.  That said, I would desolder that wire, clip off a piece of each end, and re do it with some shring wrap and electric tape this time. 

Daryan

[aberg]

I've soldered directly to SLAs before... as long as you keep the terminals separate and are careful it's easy and works fine... just seal it all up nice so you don't get shorts and all that. The one pictured there looks like a damn mess.

[bhtoque]

I like to use spades for two reasons.

1. Easy to re-wire later

2. Keeps the battery terminals well protected so nothing makes contact and sparks.

JAson

[aberg]

Where do you get these spades?

[BobW]

Ratshack has spade connectors, as does many eletronic supply houses.

Don't use solid wire to power in the field, it will flex and break causing headaches.
Use stranded wire of adequate gauge for your current needs(number of amps or milliamps.)