Battery and Motor cable has Arrived

The decision of which cable to get, and purchasing of battery "traction" cable has been a lot easier than I had thought. Assuming about 100 Amps maximum for battery current (I might peak 115 later with the upgraded controller), I have decided on 10mm2 cable. This cable is rated at about 1.9milliOhm per meter (at 20 degrees C) so for the 10 meter run to and from the boot should result in only a 2 Volts drop at 100 Amps. With a 600 Volts system, that's not much.

I have purchased a double insulated very flexible 10mm2 welding cable from Arrid. Tycab ZDU132202. This was just under AU$2 per meter with $17 shipping. (It's a good range going up to 120mm2). I estimated I'd need 30 meters (using Sketchup) but since it was fairly inexpensive I bought 45 meters in case I decided to do a double run to the boot (trunk) packs.

I had already got cable lugs from the ToolBoxShop in the UK and a Crimping tool from eBay - hex crimp, double action with switchable dies. (The tea towel is so I don't scratch the glass-top table I use for taking photos.)

 
Amongst others, the crimper has a 10mm2 setting and a 16mm2 setting. First I tried the 10mm2 setting - too tight! The metal has to go somewhere - it went up!
I also tried the 16mm2 setting - too loose. (The crimp closer to the wire is the 16mm2.)

 
Well Goldilocks - what to do now. I set one side to 16mm2 and the other side to 10mm2. The result was a good crimp.

I couldn't help it - I had to heat shrink it! The total diameter of the cable is 9.3mm and the copper core is only 4.5mm so it looks like they are over-crimped but I'm pretty sure they are OK.

These are the three motor cables ready to connect to the motor terminal box this weekend and get the motor back into the car. Most likely I won't be able to get at the connections once the motor is back in position.