NATO plug to Anderson Plug

[LeeroyJ]

I bought the NATO plug from Agile Offroad and plan to wire it to an Anderson plug to charge my trailer batteries when on long trips or when off grid and no sun for the Solar. I’m unclear on how to connect the wire to the terminals inside the plug and hoping that someone here might know (Agile hasn’t responded to my emails).

I’m afraid if I crimp these to the 2 gage wires, that the terminals will no longer fit in their holes. Any ideas? Thanks in advance

 

[TheDocAUS]

Some ideas are discussed in this thread. For example @bakepl suggestion here, but the thread shows other approaches as well.

 

[LeeroyJ]

Thanks @TheDocAUS - I had read that thread a few weeks ago before I ordered the plug from Agile. I first tried to order the adapter from CTALS but they sadly told me that for liability reasons they don’t ship to the USA.

Re-reading that 14 page thread again, it seems like one guy crimped these fittings to the end to the 2 gauge wire and another filled the inside of those terminals with some solder and then stuck the cables in. I may try that second approach because I’m worried those terminals will no longer fit in their holes if I crimp them.

Also, my use case is NATO to the 120 amp Andersons, not the 50amp like much of that thread is talking about. This is what I currently have on my trailer:

 

[Jackattack13]

You can buy a crimp tool on Amazon that will crimp it in a Hex shape and it will still fit. Or, you can just use Solder / Flux. Warning, a lot of typical hobbyist bench solder irons wont be able to heat that gauge of wire and pin hot enough to flow properly.

 

[LeeroyJ]

You can buy a crimp tool on Amazon that will crimp it in a Hex shape and it will still fit. Or, you can just use Solder / Flux. Warning, a lot of typical hobbyist bench solder irons wont be able to heat that gauge of wire and pin hot enough to flow properly.

Thanks I’ll have a look for the crimper. I’ll update this thread with my results for the benefit of future generations

 

[anand]

Also, remember that the NATO plug turns off at 50mph...

 

[LeeroyJ]

Also, remember that the NATO plug turns off at 50mph...

Yeah that’s sad -

 

[Tom D]

I soldered mine in. Used plumbers solder as it needed quite a lot.

 

[anand]

Yeah that’s sad -

Easy enough to modify by just altering the trigger for the relay

 

[Mudnut]

Just to throw a separate question to this thread. Does the NATO plug continue to be live when the vehicle is over 80kph? Is there a simple solution to keeping it live?
Cheers

 

[Clark Kent]

Thanks @TheDocAUS - I had read that thread a few weeks ago before I ordered the plug from Agile. I first tried to order the adapter from CTALS but they sadly told me that for liability reasons they don’t ship to the USA.

Re-reading that 14 page thread again, it seems like one guy crimped these fittings to the end to the 2 gauge wire and another filled the inside of those terminals with some solder and then stuck the cables in. I may try that second approach because I’m worried those terminals will no longer fit in their holes if I crimp them.

Also, my use case is NATO to the 120 amp Andersons, not the 50amp like much of that thread is talking about. This is what I currently have on my trailer:

View attachment 7856440

I'm possibly 'that solder guy' but other have done similar.
You need to fill up the gap between the wire and the contact pocket. I made some copper sleeves then dip-soldered it all together. Use a small butane torch and some flux core solder. Heat the outside of the contact pocket and feed the solder in until you have a molten pool. Preheat the exposed copper, just a bit or you'll burn the insulation, then dip the wire into the contact pocket and hold it until it cools.
Someone else used a buttsplice as a spacer. That's a great solution.

Edit: The spacer was needed for 6AWG/50A. With 2AWG/120A you may not have a gap to fill.

You will also need to weather seal the cable entry into the rubber gland on the back of the NATO plug.

As mentioned above you need to keep the relay (an Albright solenoid) active while towing. The common approach has been to bypass the green trigger wire with an ignition-switched feed so the relay is hot whenever the ignition is on. That's what @anand is referring to.

Last consideration: Given your intended use you should replace the 350A littelfuse with something rated closer to your power requirements so you don't have the full 350A potential if you get a short circuit in your trailer wiring. There is a spare 60A fuse available (assuming MY24 is the same as MY23, ROW). @DCPU highlighted it in one of the several threads on this topic.

Reach out if you need more info.

 

[TheDocAUS]

Thanks I’ll have a look for the crimper. I’ll update this thread with my results for the benefit of future generations

The heavy style crimpers have rotating dyes of various sizes, you need to choose a size compatible with the lugs. They should fit even after being crimped - the dye ensures this. I have this crimper for heavy wires, not much help for you in the US. Every time I take the lug and match it to the smallest dye that will fit the lug - that way the crimped lug should always fit. Not too small and not too big.

I have seen cases where the stated size and the dye do not match - so I physically insert the lug into the dyes to make sure I am using the correct dye (I do the same with smaller crimp terminals as well).

Make sure the crimper has the dye size you need before buying it.

View: https://youtu.be/84fdfvUUL9A?t=150

 

[Psignore00]

I had the positive side crimp correctly, but the negative side wouldn’t, so they soldered it.