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Help! Uh..Oh...I broke it!!!! Easy fix?
#744593 09/11/03 04:28 AM
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vcontoursvt_dup1 Offline OP
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My battery install (see this thread) took a turn for the worst.

As others suggested, I tried to bend the metal plate to form a little better to my Optima battery. Well this is what happened:





As you can see, the screw hole piece has broken off from the metal plate (this is the metal plate which connects to the negative terminal of the battery).

I feel like an idiot...is this something easy to fix? Is there a replacement part? What can I do to fix this?


(Please tell me this is not an expensive mistake... )

1998 E0 Ford Contour SVT - DOB 8/19/97 - #3101/6535 Silver Frost/Midnight Blue Visit MY SVT website * K&N RU-3530 (howls like a MOFO ) and Homemade Heatshield *
Re: Help! Uh..Oh...I broke it!!!! Easy fix?
#744594 09/11/03 04:42 PM
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i baught a wide battery, it bairly fit. i had to take those three black ground wires and crimped them into an eyelet and bolted it onto the ground connector. i wish i had a pic, but seriously you dont need them to be seperated. and if you do....mine is working fine. id take my advise with a grain of salt, it may help but like i said it worked for me.

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Re: Help! Uh..Oh...I broke it!!!! Easy fix?
#744595 09/11/03 06:09 PM
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looks like you might need to invest in a nice soldering gun.....thats what i would do......

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Re: Help! Uh..Oh...I broke it!!!! Easy fix?
#744596 09/11/03 07:34 PM
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maybe drill a hole & bend a new tab on what's left?

Oh, and are you sure it's "kosher" to lie the battery down like that?? Every "maintenance free" battery I've ever had has 1) removable caps to replenish water (although it seems not many folks actually do that), and/or 2) a vent on the top/side to allow gas to escape. If it were me, I'd put it upright.

Brent

95 SE MTX (only 104K km!)
Re: Help! Uh..Oh...I broke it!!!! Easy fix?
#744597 09/11/03 09:51 PM
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Originally posted by Brent 95 SE:
maybe drill a hole & bend a new tab on what's left?

Oh, and are you sure it's "kosher" to lie the battery down like that?? Every "maintenance free" battery I've ever had has 1) removable caps to replenish water (although it seems not many folks actually do that), and/or 2) a vent on the top/side to allow gas to escape. If it were me, I'd put it upright.

Brent




From what I know, the Optima batteries are sealed lead acid batteries, which allow them to be mounted in any position. Many other people have mounted them sideways.

1998 E0 Ford Contour SVT - DOB 8/19/97 - #3101/6535 Silver Frost/Midnight Blue Visit MY SVT website * K&N RU-3530 (howls like a MOFO ) and Homemade Heatshield *
Re: Help! Uh..Oh...I broke it!!!! Easy fix?
#744598 09/11/03 10:02 PM
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That part is available only if you purchase a new set of ground cables for the battery Your best bet is to crimp and soldier(sp??) the wires together, and use a regular style battery clamp.

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Re: Help! Uh..Oh...I broke it!!!! Easy fix?
#744599 09/11/03 10:10 PM
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Originally posted by mycainsbroken:
i baught a wide battery, it bairly fit. i had to take those three black ground wires and crimped them into an eyelet and bolted it onto the ground connector. i wish i had a pic, but seriously you dont need them to be seperated. and if you do....mine is working fine. id take my advise with a grain of salt, it may help but like i said it worked for me.



I like this idea as it lets me get rid of the plate altogether (if anything it was akward and susceptible to corrosion). I'll see if my local audio shop can help me out with this on the way home.

I have a soldering iron, but its only a 35watt electronics one. Soldering that piece back on doesn't seem to be a good long term solution...plus, I'd like to get rid of that plate altogether.

What I need to find is a wire with a small eyelet on one end (to hook up to the terminal) and a receptacle on the other (to hook up the three ground wires)...I hope I find this tonight so I can finally start my car!!!

1998 E0 Ford Contour SVT - DOB 8/19/97 - #3101/6535 Silver Frost/Midnight Blue Visit MY SVT website * K&N RU-3530 (howls like a MOFO ) and Homemade Heatshield *
Re: Help! Uh..Oh...I broke it!!!! Easy fix?
#744600 09/11/03 10:49 PM
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optimas are sealed so that they can be mounted upright/sideways/anyway. they are pretty popular for offroaders b/c they wont spill in a rollover.

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Re: Help! Uh..Oh...I broke it!!!! Easy fix?
#744601 09/11/03 11:03 PM
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vcontoursvt_dup1 Offline OP
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In terms of soldering the wires:
Will my 35w Radio Shack soldering iron be able to solder the ground wires together? Should I use Electronics Rosin-Core Solder, or something else?

In terms of soldering the plate together (which I don't think I'll be doing...I rather get rid of the plate altogether):
I am almost positive that my small soldering iron won't be able to solder the broken off eyelet back onto the plate (nor do I think that this will last very long).

1998 E0 Ford Contour SVT - DOB 8/19/97 - #3101/6535 Silver Frost/Midnight Blue Visit MY SVT website * K&N RU-3530 (howls like a MOFO ) and Homemade Heatshield *
Re: Help! Uh..Oh...I broke it!!!! Easy fix?
#744602 09/12/03 01:50 AM
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rosin core is good, but there are usually a few different types of rosin core out there, get the one that has the highest percentage of metal in it....and i would think 35 watts would be fine, might be a little slow goin at first, but i would think it would still work.......

--Chris-- 1999 Silver Frost SVT #1671 of #2760
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