A tip on making your wiring prettier

"aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe" (emaxxbl) 04/01/2018 at 18:52 • Filed to: None

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If you find yourself using any type of crimp on connector i.e: spade, eyelet, bullet connectors, instead of using the bulky insulated connectors opt for the non-insulated ones and use shrink tube to cover the exposed crimp. This will not only look better but also hide the crimp and still offer the same amount of protection as the insulated ones (assuming that it’s not an area with high heat or vibrations).

Another added bonus is that you can use the shrink tube to signify if the wire is a hot or ground since some manufacturers don’t follow the honor code of red = hot black = ground.

Echo51 > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe 04/01/2018 at 19:07

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And you can even shrink over the connector part so it’s like the more insulated ones, minus the stiff shitty plastic covering!
So tomorrow comes the post on using Wire mesh/snakeskin? ;)

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe 04/01/2018 at 19:11

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Also, you want the insulation half way between the first crimp section and the entry bellmouth, the conductor should exit the exit bellmouth but not protrude into the connector mating area:

...I could teach a whole class on this, but then I’d have to charge. Literally.

kanadanmajava1 > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe 04/01/2018 at 19:13

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I try to avoid the insulated crimp connectors. If I didn’t have any choice I have sometimes even removed the plastic part and replaced it with shrink tube.

In many Opels ground = brown and black = permanent positive.

sn4cktimes > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe 04/01/2018 at 19:23

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That does look better than the plastic covered crimps. And potential colour coding options could be a considerable bonus depending on the usage i.e. using a different colour shrink tube vs buying an odd colour wire. I’m going to end up running a few new wires in my AMC and there’s no way I’m buying a spool of “purple with yellow stripes” just for a single wire. I’ve used crimp on letter/number tags for stuff at work before, but at some point they become illegible or get knocked off/broken.

My bird IS the word > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe 04/01/2018 at 19:57

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I found a cool paint on wire insulation. I haven’t tried it yet though.

DipodomysDeserti > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe 04/01/2018 at 19:59

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I went a bit overboard when I put together the capacitor for my bike.

aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe > DipodomysDeserti 04/01/2018 at 21:04

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no such thing as overboard

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe 04/01/2018 at 21:58

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It actually offers more protection than the plastic ones because the heat shrink helps the wire to resist bending and the resulting stress fractures that often occur right at the connector.

Much like some power cords or headphone jacks you might find around your home that have the fluted/stepped section right at the plug.

aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 04/01/2018 at 22:00

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Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe 04/01/2018 at 22:24

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My E34 has a red cable attached to the battery for ground. I don’t know if it’s someone’s idea of a joke, but I don’t know how many times I’ve almost connected jumper cables backwards.

I like the heat shrink idea since you can get the stuff in a number of colors. I don’t fully trust crimp connectors, so if I have the time and space I’ll solder them as well, and this is something you can’t do if you’ve used the insulated connectors.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. 04/02/2018 at 09:49

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I’d be amped. Would your information be current?

450X_FTW > aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe 04/02/2018 at 12:05

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Well this is the best life hack I’ve seen in a while.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/02/2018 at 12:13

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There is some latency, but I do conduct training for my employer...

http://www.ipc.org/ContentPage.aspx?pageid=IPC-WHMA-A-620

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. 04/02/2018 at 14:00

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I was trolling with puns there...

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/02/2018 at 14:20

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I caught it, just failed to deliver on the followup.