Yep, Cletis got the idea! Slip one or two pieces of heat-shrink tubing over the fuse link, far enough away from the connection that the soldering operation won't shrink it prematurely, trim the insulator off the terminal lug with a sharp knife, crimp the connection, and heat it up with a pistol-grip type soldering gun, the higher the wattage the better. Pencil-type irons just don't have enough power to do a quick, clean job of soldering big wires. The connector should be heated enough to melt a small-diameter piece of rosin-core (not acid core!) solder by just touching the connector- - - -DON'T melt the solder with the gun and expect it to flow into the connection- - - -it'll just pile up on top like chicken poop! A good solder joint should be smooth and even, with the solder penetrating evenly all the way through the connection.
If you keep the heat on the joint too long, the fuse link will melt- - - -that's what it's supposed to do when the current gets too high. Once you've got a good solder joint, let things cool down, slip the shrink tube over the connection, and heat it with a butane cigarette lighter or a heat gun. It will shrink to half its original diameter and insulate the connection you just made.
Good luck!
Jerry
Last edited by Hotrod Lincoln; 07/02/2008 12:19 AM.
