When I first received my two kCaps, my results were very poor. Around 3.1mOhms at calibration with original cable dimensions (1M) and very low amperage when welding. Even with the setup below, the results were bad and inconsistent.
With good advice from Frank, I quickly soldered the copper tips to the holder to assist the poor crimp and imediately dropped to 2.76mOhms.
I thought that was good until I got my new crimper.
My old Anderson crimper works great on normal amperage but for over 1,000 Amps, it simply did not do the job. That is using the smallest die available (6mm2).
The new hydraulic crimper was a fraction of the price. It is not of great quality and may not survive hundreds of crimps but while it lasts, it certainly provides the required crimping power.
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Knowing what I know now, I should have ordered the cables assembled.
Ultimately, the majority of my issues were crimp related.
Here are the results after a couple of weeks of fiddling around:
One kCap 1.1M cabling and Anderson connectors:
At calibration almost 1,300A at 2.51mOhms
Simulated weld into chunk of copper 1,200+A at 0.48mOhms
Actual weld .1 nickel plated steel +-1,050A at 1.54mOhms
Two kCap 1.3M cabling and Anderson connectors:
Different layout to shorten cables.
At calibration 1,572A at 2.48mOhms
Simulated weld into chunk of copper 1,416A at 0.58mOhms
Actual weld .1 nickel plated steel +-1,200A at 1.78mOhms
Actual weld .1 pure nickel 1,280A
Please note that as advised, the output of the first kCap is connected to the output (not input) of the second kCap.
Frank - "... as long as you route the wires between the two caps to their output posts. Don’t use the input terminals on any of them for this connection, they have less copper to carry the current."
Two kCap (+-1.2M adjusted) cabling (2 X 225mm cables to simulate +-6AWG):
At calibration 1,694A at 2.48mOhms
Simulated weld into chunk of copper 1,510A at 0.58mOhms
Actual weld .1 nickel plated steel over 1,300A at 1.50mOhms
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I'm very happy with the results but I'm not quite done yet.
Once I receive my 6AWG cable, larger lugs and Anderson terminals, I'll shorten the cables to replace the 4 between the kCaps and kWeld.
By then hopefully everything will fit properly into the enclosures. My goal is not to exceed 1,800A at calibration but get as close as possible.
If anyone has any interest in those results, let me know and I'll post that.
In the meantime, this is my current setup:
18650 battery and 20A DC to DC converter all connected with Anderson connectors for quick setup and dismantling.
PS - It also works very well with a lithium power tool battery.