TOTM January 2011: Electrical Wiring

[GrimmJeeper]

Thanks for the tips, especially about ring terminals

I can attest to the dust factor on unsealed switches, I had my bumper lights switch fail and took it apart just to look, the entire inside was packed solid with dust. I cleaned it out and packed it with dielectric grease and its working again on my daily driver. I even had the boots that are supposed to keep dust from getting into the toggle side, this all came in through the back of the switch.

 

[kastein]

I will second the no solder comment. Also, get adhesive lined shrink tube if you can find it, the stuff is magical. Where a normal shrink tube will fill with dirt and water or slide down the wire, adhesive lined stays sealed and exactly where you put it.

They make pre-wrapped heatshrink crimp terminals, too. Buy em in bulk.

A good crimper is a great thing, autozone carries a good lever crimper that will do a ggreat job on yellow, red, and blue terminals. Its only fault is that the plastic grips like to slide off the handles. Larger wire will require a pro grade tool, which comes with a pro grade price :scared: though harbor freight's hydro crimper is decent-ish.

 

[simsfamxj]

Relays - good. I don't know a single Trophy Truck or unlimited buggy that isn't using relays.

Circuit Breakers - Manual resetting type. Nothing is more annoying during a race than something that keeps cycling on and off. Well, there are some things more annoying but this is pretty annoying. If you have a breaker trip, it means you have a problem - whether or not you stop and diag depends on the circuit and where you are at the time.

i see your point . never thought of the on and off cycle would cause loss of concentration in a race. i just figured that if they are being used if the over the road and in off road 10 wheeler that they may work in the application as well. but that is why people like myself are called newbies:anon:

 

[High2by]

I never solder my connections but I do use a good crimper and heat shrink. I have a couple relays that I need to swap out for the bolt on terminals instead of the spade ones. I've had wires come "unplugged" from the relays before.

Good idea on the adhesive lined heat shrink. I've never really thought about that.

 

[DieselSJ]

Beg to disagree:

Yes, use ring terminals. Preferably, use aircraft grade terminals with brazed barrels. Also use an aircraft-style stripping tool, which will not kink, nick, or scrape the wire. Crimp with a quality crimping tool. This is actually important. Poor crimping can cause a hard-to-trace intermittent problem. Do not solder joint. Shrink-tube to insulate and remove stress from wire between insulation and terminals.

In aircraft electrical, they never solder floating connections. In a high-vibration environment, the wire will work harden, crack, and break right where the solder stopped penetrating down the wire. For a connection that just has to be soldered, get a ring terminal with a long shank between the barrel and ring, solder the end of the wire to the shank in front of the crimp. The crimp area itself stays un-soldered.

I've always soldered. This isn't aircraft - this is off-road. This is high-vibration and high-impact. Everything is tied so that nothing is "floating". Been wiring off-road, IMSA, vintage Formula stuff, and just about everything else for 25 years...I've never had a soldered connection fail. I've had my wiring win races, class championships, overall series championships, and even best of show. Solder improves the electrical connection. And like you said yourself, the shrink tube removes the stress - works for soldered and non-soldered.

 

[Larrythedog]

I've always soldered. This isn't aircraft - this is off-road. This is high-vibration and high-impact. Everything is tied so that nothing is "floating". Been wiring off-road, IMSA, vintage Formula stuff, and just about everything else for 25 years...I've never had a soldered connection fail. I've had my wiring win races, class championships, overall series championships, and even best of show. Solder improves the electrical connection. And like you said yourself, the shrink tube removes the stress - works for soldered and non-soldered.

X2 on the solder. Every connection on my Jeep is soldered.

 

[chasdb]

Alot of people don't understand what goes into determing the corect wire gauge for a circuit. You need to know the amp draw of the circuit and length of run from battery to switch to load and back to ground/battery. You need to select a wire gauge that has the amp capacity but need to check length of run for voltage drop. Select a fuse or circuit breaker that will trip before wiring will melt, the closer to battery the better. Avoid scotchlock wire tap conectors, they always seem to cause intermittent faults over time. http://advancedenergyonline.com/Resources/voltage_drop_chart.htm

 

[61scout80]

Beg to disagree:

Yes, use ring terminals. Preferably, use aircraft grade terminals with brazed barrels. Also use an aircraft-style stripping tool, which will not kink, nick, or scrape the wire. Crimp with a quality crimping tool. This is actually important. Poor crimping can cause a hard-to-trace intermittent problem. Do not solder joint. Shrink-tube to insulate and remove stress from wire between insulation and terminals.

In aircraft electrical, they never solder floating connections. In a high-vibration environment, the wire will work harden, crack, and break right where the solder stopped penetrating down the wire. For a connection that just has to be soldered, get a ring terminal with a long shank between the barrel and ring, solder the end of the wire to the shank in front of the crimp. The crimp area itself stays un-soldered.

Do you have a source for said terminals?

 

[Loose_Nuts_Enterprises]

This very same topic is being discussed on Pirate right now.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=945859&page=2

 

[Starboard M]

I have a couple links that I found pretty informative. Not desert racing, but still should somewhat apply.

Solder vs crimping
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=823310

Wiring Tricks
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=858441

Battery Cables
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=924968

Battery Cut Offs
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=499064
http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=187721



Im curious to see some pictures of how people are wiring accessories off of the battery, switch panels, how people are making the wiring look better and more organized, and who knows what else.