Post your Wiring tricks

[Muddy Oval]

Originally Posted by 6869704x4

I think I know the answer but I'll ask anyway. Can you change the plate without unplugging or dewiring it from the back?

If you add a plug to them. The wires are tiny, but you can use JST plugs or MicroDeans plugs from your local hobby shop. Hobby shops are alsoa good source for higher current connectors like Anderson PowerPoles etc.

[daddytall]

Might be ghetto but I have used teh hot glue gun to waterproof my connections. Cut a short piece of shrink tube as normal, shoot the hot glue in and wala, tube shrinks because of the hot glue sealing the connection.

[mustange70]

Few things i do for the little wiring i run, i do not use relays for the reason they do not like mud or water (water proof or not i've never had good luck with them), all my toggles are rated for the highest possible curent the swtch will see, and for fuses, i use circuit breakers, as again the spade terminal fuses do not like water or mud and corrode easily. For my high current stuff i run big starter style solenoids rated for 100% duty cycle (at like 14volts, and 85~100amps), couldn't tell you a part number, but the ones i use are out of our big 4wd tractors on the farm, they handle the dirt/dust and vibration very well, but water/moisture is still an issue, soo i jsut keep them in a sealed container as best as i can, i also keep the solenoid as close as possible to whatever its operating to minize having heavy wire running all over the place. Once everything is in place i usually coat any connections or splices with silcone to water proof it in addition to any heat shrink and such, on live connections that are bare it helps to prevent a dead short). I also always run a ground from the battery directly to the motor, then one from either the motor or the battery (pending location) to the body of the vehicle as well.

Get good with a voltmeter, and know what the essentials in your rig need in order to run properly, for me its the fuel pump and msd, the first thing i check if the powerplant isn't running properly and the vitals check out ok, is i make sure the msd and fuel pump are recieving/sending the proper power numbers, this will quickly tell you what is at fault, and if you know the wiring in your rig it helps in tracing the problem back to the source.

[Myanarchy]

Originally Posted by JetFxr

and a trick I use is to burn the end after I cut it, melts the cut end and insures it can not slip loose over time and cycles of heating and cooling, also smoothes the ends so they will not cut skin as you rub against them. :

This

[edglock21]

Excellent thread - thanks for the recommendations and pics

[6869704x4]

Pic of string and zips.

[welndmn]

LABELED, Carling switch covers!
I love mine!

http://www.otrattw.com

[665.0coupe]

When I was building engines we got all of our wiring supplies from IS Motorsports.

http://www.ismotorsport.com/home.html

I'm not sure if you need to have an account to order from them or not. I do know that they supply wiring components to a lot of teams and companies is top racing organizations like Grand Am, American LeMans, IRL, CART(or what used to be CART), NASCAR, and NHRA.

Luke

[Starboard M]

Originally Posted by camo

I like and use the carlings as well.

here is the switch you have pictured.
http://rocker-switches.carlingtech.c...switch__26.asp

How much were those each? The ones Welndmn posted are $12 each


Looking at this pdf, there are a ton of options for the switches
http://www.carlingtech.com/pdf/vl_serswitlegends.pdf


But what the heck do all the legend codes mean?

[jolane]

We used to call the waxed string "lacing cord". It's braided flat cord with a wax coating. The know was described in another post (I can't describe it, but I know how to do it). Any time I can lace the wires, I try to do that. It takes time, but with the correct knot, it can go fast and be super strong!

As for crimping, I think the non-insulated lugs are better. I usually crimp them with the lug on the non-split side. This helps keep the connector round.

If I'm doing under the hood wiring, or something exposed to weather, I use regular heat shrink (quality stuff though), and after soldering the connector/wires, I put liquid electrical tape on the joint before sliding theheat shrink over, then shrink it with a heat gun. This seals up the heatshrink and connection.

If you HAVE to use the wrong color wire, especially for ground, slide some black heatshirnk over the wire to turn it black. It's better than nothing. I also try to keep colored heatshrink around just in case I want to mark a wire to keep from getting it confused from another wire (say two blacks, add a green band on each end).

That braided cover is great, until you want to add a wire or service an existing/damaged wire (rare event). It definitely cleans things up though. I've started using the split corrogated loom stuff, but taping it shut every 6-8 inches to help seal it up. Seems to work okay, but I don't see mud that much.

The ratcheting crimpers work very well. As already mentioned, use quality strippers. A quality soldering iron is also nice (I use a Pace solder station for general wiring).

Those Carling Tech switches are great! Thanks!

[Urban Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Starboard M

How much were those each? The ones Welndmn posted are $12 each


Looking at this pdf, there are a ton of options for the switches
http://www.carlingtech.com/pdf/vl_serswitlegends.pdf


But what the heck do all the legend codes mean?

This is what I was looking for...

Those are symbols you can have put on your switch actuators. (the rocker part of the switch)

[92 Green YJ]

ok. So this was posted a few pages back. But is Cat5 cable really heavy enough to handle relay activation duty? I know that relays draw very little as far as activation goes, but the wires inside a cat5 cable seem awfully small to me. Will they really handle this? It would be great if it will as it will really simplify wiring my new switch panel and cut down on some of my rats nest.

[bigun]

Originally Posted by 92 Green YJ

ok. So this was posted a few pages back. But is Cat5 cable really heavy enough to handle relay activation duty? I know that relays draw very little as far as activation goes, but the wires inside a cat5 cable seem awfully small to me. Will they really handle this? It would be great if it will as it will really simplify wiring my new switch panel and cut down on some of my rats nest.

IIRC phone lines carry 50 volts

[Starboard M]

Originally Posted by Urban Wheeler

Those are symbols you can have put on your switch actuators. (the rocker part of the switch)

I understand that, but take a look at the first switch, running lights

Body is AA, Negative is NA and Positive is MA

Left of that is Anchor light
Body is 37, with only Positive as 38.


Are those part numbers? As in if I want Running lights with the light to go on with the switch activated (negative) I use part number AA-NA?

[jolane]

Originally Posted by 92 Green YJ

ok. So this was posted a few pages back. But is Cat5 cable really heavy enough to handle relay activation duty? I know that relays draw very little as far as activation goes, but the wires inside a cat5 cable seem awfully small to me. Will they really handle this? It would be great if it will as it will really simplify wiring my new switch panel and cut down on some of my rats nest.

Isn't CAT5 solid core wire? Not sure that's the best thing to be using in a high vibration environment. There are plenty of other multi-conductor wires out there better suited to the job, IMO. A good place to find it might be a surplus store. Where I am I can buy expensive teflon insulated multi-conductor from the local surplus store for pennies on the dollar. It's harder to work with (stripping for instance), but that's because it's very tough.

[Muddy Oval]

Cat5 can carry enough volts, but it's high current that melts stuff. 24AWG solid cable is easy to break- in a comm setup, if properly installed, there is no vibration or movement allowed to minimize the risk of wire breakage. Half an amp is about all that's intended for. I wouldn't use it. You can get mutistrand larger gauge cable easily. I made several harnesses out of trailer wiring, with 4 wires molded together. If there's a lot of wiring involved, I'd use multiple runs of the 4-wire stuff and it's wide and flat for easy mounting, plus you can write on it to label it the entire run. That way at any point along the cable runs, you can identify which one it is and know exactly what's on it and where it goes.

[cjsicko]

Originally Posted by abrogate

Sceep!!! Thanks for posting this. I have been looking for this exact type of buss bar for months. I called Waytek and also talked to a local electrical supplier and BOTH places told me nothing exists. I searched endlessly with no results. Thanks!

Where do you buy them? That's way better than the bus bars I usually use.

[rajincajingt]

Originally Posted by cjsicko

Where do you buy them? That's way better than the bus bars I usually use.

i got mine at west marine.

its all boat stores down here, but they have great water resistant wiring stuff.

[sceep]

Originally Posted by cjsicko

Where do you buy them? That's way better than the bus bars I usually use.

i got mine from mcmaster.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/116/740/=5opcrr

[jhama78]

Definitely a good thread, subscribing for sure.

Ive always gotten all of my electrical supplies from www.delcity.net and never been disappointed.

[bbaxter51]

Originally Posted by 6869704x4

Pic of string and zips.

You an avionics guy?

Here's a tip for making a bundle of wires look perfect. Tie a zip tie around the bundle of wires, keeping it just loose enough to slide. As you slide the zip tie down the bundle, it straightens them all to look perfect. Then you follow behind with additional zip ties, or for us aviation guys; wax string.

[92 Green YJ]

For those wondering. I actually had a spare 10 foot Cat6 cable laying around so for the heck of it I cut the end off and split down some of the outer sheath. Seperated out the 8 wires inside and removed some of the plastic seperator piece from the area I removed the outer sheathing from. Then I stripped the end off one of the wires. It is NOT solid wire. It is actually stranded. small stranded wire to be sure but stranded none the less.

I wasn't looking to use it to carry power from my relays to my accessories, but to activate my relays from my switches. As I understand it, Relays draw very little power on the activation terminal. Most of the juice goes from the battery input to the relay out the accessory terminal. So wouldn't this Cat6 cable handle that very small amount of juice to just activate the relay via the switch?

[Travis Waldher]

Originally Posted by 92 Green YJ

For those wondering. I actually had a spare 10 foot Cat6 cable laying around so for the heck of it I cut the end off and split down some of the outer sheath. Seperated out the 8 wires inside and removed some of the plastic seperator piece from the area I removed the outer sheathing from. Then I stripped the end off one of the wires. It is NOT solid wire. It is actually stranded. small stranded wire to be sure but stranded none the less.

I wasn't looking to use it to carry power from my relays to my accessories, but to activate my relays from my switches. As I understand it, Relays draw very little power on the activation terminal. Most of the juice goes from the battery input to the relay out the accessory terminal. So wouldn't this Cat6 cable handle that very small amount of juice to just activate the relay via the switch?

CAT5 & 6 comes in two types - stranded or solid.

A 20-40A relay pulls about 300ma IIRC. Definately do the math on voltage drop trying to send that over 24ga wire. I was doing the same looking to use a 9 or 25 pair cable to run a control panel in the jeep and found I would need to double up pairs or run two sets of relays to step up the current capacity to trigger them.

[6869704x4]

Originally Posted by bbaxter51

You an avionics guy?

Nope, FE on Herks.

[redheep]

Originally Posted by camo

I also like to crimp the larger lugs.

most welding supply stores carry an inexpensive hammer crimper. about $25

We have one of these at work:



http://www.dmctools.com/store/catalo...KEYWORD%3Dhd51

It's seen a few battery and winch cables for crimping large connectors. A little pricey for the DIYer.