Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it.

Horace Mann

About three or four years ago maybe ten, I bought my SLA batteries. Looking at the price of battery cables, I thought I would try to make my own.

After a little research, I went out in the world, and searched for the items I needed.

First a few feet of 2 gauge cable in red and Black. Then the lug ends. I needed some way to crimp those. A little later, I found the one I needed. I convinced my local parts’ dealer to order me a hammer crimper. It was a bargain at twice the price. I am not kidding, I paid twice what it was worth online. Today that is three times the price.

I started to make the cables I needed in the exact length they needed to be. Those cables are still in service today in my 12v battery bank.

Today was a new day, I had forgotten that I made those cables back then. I had a lucid moment and remembered I had a crimper and some lug ends. Then it got better, I remembered I had a few cable scraps left over from three years ago. I found two pieces of the right length, one in red, and one in black. The lug ends were wrong. Then I remembered I had a box full of solid copper ends. I found those.

Now I just needed a razor knife, I laughed about that. I probably own a half dozen of those, and they are all in a safe place. Safe from me. Just then, I looked at my table saw extension table, made from my kitchen table. There it was a razer knife, even better a serrated bladed knife, great for stripping battery cables.

I was in business, cables, one red one black, check. Copper lug ends, check. Hammer crimper, check. 18v heat gun for heat shrink, check check check. That was in my woodwork shop by accident. It wasn’t supposed to be there.

Feeling a little blessed at my good fortune, I started to strip wires. I found the right lug ends, slipped on the heat shrink and started to hammer the ends. After using my heat gun, the ends almost looked professionally done.

By then my back had given out, and I had to sit for a few minutes. I was still in awe and thankful that everything came together. My cables were done.

I had spent the previous evening on Amazon looking for the right cables, but I couldn’t find them. The ones that came close were stupidly expensive.

My cables were done and maybe tomorrow I would be able to get my Battery monitor up and soon after my A B Off switch to make charging my Bluetti easier.

As much as I am disappointed with my Bluetti, I am thankful I bought it. I had to come up with ways to overcome its shortcomings. I solved the overheating problem with extra fans, I solved the way too-small battery inside by buying a big 25.6v LiFeP04 battery to extend its run time.

Of course, that needed a voltage monitor.  Which is what I will wire up tomorrow. The AB  switch comes next, which allows me to shut off the battery input charging. My Starlink reboots at 100 percent charge every time. The AB switch will also allow me to charge from my 12-volt battery bank, which I can do overnight.

The Bluetti also drained my battery to zero, too many times to count. I learned that through a fault of the Bluetti I could jumpstart my BMS through the DC input jack. I discovered, as I mentioned here before, it back-feeds power.

Since then, I bought a charger that does the same function. That caused me to do research about the battery charger and learned everyone is selling it and I also learned I could have bought the exact same one for a fraction of the cost on Alibaba, AliExpress or Made in China.com.

I learned all about MPPT controllers and discovered Victron is just another Chinese manufactured Brand and I could buy the same items for a fraction of the cost of what Victron is charging, only with a different name on them. Do I care if my controller says Fangpusan on them, nope.

This blog all started because of all the things I learned as a direct result of buying the Bluetti. If it wasn’t for the problems I had to overcome, I would have not learned anything. Ya, I know, I just could have bought a bigger Bluetti for the money I spent. I am glad I didn’t. Thanks, Bluetti

Update: Aug 23
As you can see, I started on wiring today. BTW, the wiring is straight, but the camera was not. One of the cables I made yesterday had a wrong end on it and had to be redone. No problem, it has been years since I made cables.

I have my battery monitoring meter hooked up. I was disappointed to find out that it didn’t stay on. I am sure that is to save power. It turns on during charge or discharge.

Those with attention to detail will notice the red wire on the Bluetti DC input is connected to neg and black to pos. I used the mc4 cables that came with the Bluetti. That caused a reversal when I hooked up the mc4 ends I had in stock.

Like I said the wiring is straight, camera is not. This is not my best wiring job. Eventually, all this will be moved to the new house. Less cramped in there.