Crimping is Power (Or at the very least, profitable)

Crimping. Seems like such an easy thing to do. Take a piece of battery cable, a connector and crimping tool, apply pressure and voilà! A perfectly-crimped battery cable. Well, not so fast. I'm not here to say it's rocket science but there are some things you should know that will help you get the best crimp every time.  Having a little background knowledge on the best ways to crimp not only will ensure a proper crimp but could give you the upper hand in custom cable assemblies in your market. Remember this: every battery you will ever sell is attached to at least two cables. How many of those cables could be assembled by you and your shop team?

Quick Cable knows that the foundation of a quality cable assembly is using quality parts. But those parts are only as good as the crimping technician. A poor crimp can lead to electrical failure, corrosion and even reduce the life of the battery. A proper crimp is as important to us as the quality of our products. That's why we continue to provide the battery industry with resources to properly train your personnel on the proper way to cut, strip, crimp and apply heat shrink. We've even made a How-to-Crimp poster for your shop.

How-to-Crimp Poster (24" x 36") is available to Quick Cable Distributors and Dealers free of charge. Contact sales@quickcable.com to become an Authorized Quick Cable Distributor/Dealer

QUICKHOWTO

QuickHowTo began in 2008 to give the battery industry a place to learn the industry's best practices and become more knowledgeable about Quick Cable products.  Quick Cable continues to produce video including one recently that goes into more depth on the "science" of crimping. Watch the video and let us know what you think. Maybe you'll learn something that you didn't know before or maybe you'll find it as a valuable teaching tool for your cable assembly team. 



The bottom line is making the best quality cables is going to be good for your business. It may seem old fashioned but at the end of the day, your customers will always choose quality over inferior performance.

Richard 
Video Producer/Blog Contributor
Quick Cable 

How Are You Using Your Jump Pack?

Rescue Portable Power Packs' primary purpose is to jump start vehicles with a dead battery.  Generally, the typical Rescue® scenario is a vehicle's lights were left on or the battery is just run down due to the extreme cold temperature.  Either you have a jump pack in your trunk or you call a friend or roadside assistance professional to jump start your vehicle. Maybe you ARE the roadside assistance guy.  But over the years, people have gotten creative. 

Not Just to Get Back on the Road

A recent Tools in Action article mentioned that a Marina is the perfect place to put a jump pack to good use.  Because of the wet conditions and frequent use, lesser jump packs don't last through a season but Rescue 1800 has proven it can handle the extreme conditions day in and day out. 


One of our facebook followers sent us a note describing his latest venture with his Rescue pack. According to "Doug" he was at the "garbage dump to give a double axle dump trailer a little more power to the battery pack that controls the hydraulic pump assembly. The trailer battery wasn't very happy with the -20° weather and it needed a little bit of love...".

Margaritaville

So what do IT gurus do after they're done with a hard week of programming servers and keeping the viruses off your PC? Well if you're my next door neighbor Mike, you take your Rescue 1060 (with inverter) and power up the blender at a Jimmy Buffet concert, which goes to show you, Rescue Portable Power Packs can save the day, even if your just thirsty for an adult beverage!





Power out in a storm...uh oh!

A couple of years back, I remember my brother's power went out during a pretty bad thunderstorm. He hadn't yet installed his permanent NG generator that he has now but he did have a Rescue Jump Pack. he probably had only used it once or twice in all the time he owned and hadn't charged it in a while. The jump pack saved him and his family a lot of headaches and substantial property damage by keeping the sump pump running until the power went back on. 

Let us know how you're using your jump pack. Send us a photo and a short description of your jump pack and interesting ways how it came to the "Rescue" and we'll post it on facebook or our next blog!

Until next time, stay safe!

Rich
Quick Cable Video Producer/Blog Writer

Designing an Acid Containment System in 4 Easy Steps

Battery acid containment systems used in conjunction with battery backup systems for Uninterruptible Power Supply, switchgear, telecommunications, and utility battery applications are modular in design and therefore require careful planning when ordering components for a particular system.  Not being gifted mathematically gives me a greater appreciation of Quick Cable's Battery Acid Containment System Configurator.

Length and Width

The online application is available to all Quick Cable registered users and simplifies the process of specifying and quoting acid containment systems. Basically, all you need to know is the length and width of the rack system involved and the Configurator will figure out the rest, meaning number of components and an overall price for the system you need.  Not only will you receive a price for the system but also a detailed bill of materials that will list the number of pieces for each component.

The video below shows exactly how the Acid Containment System Configurator works. We feel pretty confident that this convenient online tool will help make ordering RESCUE® Containment Systems even easier.



More about RESCUE® Containment Systems

Learn more about RESCUE® Containment Systems by visiting www.quickcable.com. Rescue Containment Systems are available in PVC and Stainless steel and come with rails, premade corners, liner and clips, adhesive, silicone caulk and fasteners.

Standard Issue Police Equipment: Rescue Jump Pack

When you think of standard issue police equipment, you start with the uniform, badge, sidearm, handcuffs, flashlight, pepper spray and baton. A portable jump pack isn't the first thing that comes to mind when you think of serious police work but industry trends show this is becoming one of the standard issues for patrol cars.

Do Law Enforcement Officers Jump Start Vehicles?

It used to be that if your vehicle was stranded and needed a jump start, if a police officer was available, he or she would give you a jump start with some booster cables stashed away in their patrol car. Now, with the advent of computers and other hi-tech gadgets inside most police vehicles, its not practical for police departments to use their vehicles to assist in jump starting a dead vehicle.

Police departments across the country are finding it practical and more convenient to carry a jump pack in the back of each squad car in lieu of booster cables. Using the jump pack in place of the patrol car's battery keeps the vehicle and its sensitive equipment free from possible harm.

Not Just For Law Enforcement

Law enforcement agencies aren't the only ones getting into the jump starting "business". Having these portable jump packs readily available is something that many universities are now doing as standard practice. According to an article in the Grand Valley Lanthorn, the Department of Public Safety at Grand Valley State University now offers "free jump-start services" to students whose vehicles get stranded on campus. Portable jump packs are especially convenient when trying to jump start a vehicle surrounded by other vehicles.

Jump Starting Vehicles Safely?

It's important for anyone jump starting vehicles to refer to the owners manual of the vehicle and the owners manual of the particular jump pack in use. Quick Cable has 14 different portable power packs in their Rescue line. From the convenient iStart® to the extreme-duty Rescue® 6000 for commercial and heavy-duty use. Rescue Portable Power Packs are available with a safety features like smart polarity and smart voltage to make jump starting safe and easy. To learn how you can equip your police department with Rescue Portable Power Packs, visit www.quickcable.com today.




(Articles provided by  Douglas County Sentinel and the Grand Valley Lanthorn)

Video As A Learning Tool, Even in the Battery World

Video of "How to Open Can Without Can Opener"

Type in "how to" on Youtube and you'll find videos that will show you "how to trick people into thinking you're good looking", "how to make a fire using only an orange", "how to open a can without a can opener" (This one I have to see!), even "how to dance "Gangnam Style"".  Anything and everything you could ever want to learn (and even things you DON'T) is on Youtube in short 2-5 minute video segments, including battery maintenance videos, thanks, in part to Quick Cable.

Five years ago when Quick Cable began the QuickHowTo video initiative, the landscape was pretty barren when it came to videos that served the battery industry. Now five years later, we can proudly say that we are the established leader in our industry for education of battery related products and procedures. Today we are seeing video, not as a trend but as a business necessity. Lots of companies now use video instruction. Many use it to create profits for themselves. We use it to create knowledge and provide the industry with valuable teaching tools, not only on Quick Cable products but on an array of industry best practices. And the battery industry seems to be watching.

Average viewership of our videos on Youtube is close to 5,000 views per month in over 100 different countries, not bad for a niche market. Its even higher on Quick Cable's own QuickHowto video site. From battery cable to crimping to cleaning up an acid spill to learning how to properly operate a Rescue Portable Power Pack, Quick Cable is seeing a positive response from the battery industry.  And as the technologies change, you can be sure Quick Cable will keep the foot on the gas and grow with the times to continue to provide informative, useful videos that also happen to be FREE. 

Richard Sosa

Video Producer

Quick Cable Corporation