All, Im going to do a little mini series on wiring and repair just to help everyone out. First off, I will tell everyone that always try and solder every connection. Especially a splice. With that being said, get yourself a QUALITY soldering gun. Like this. http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brands/CF_Files/model_detail.cfm?upc=037103475428 Its important to know, that you should only use a soldering gun to do wiring. Do not attempt to repair electronics with a soldering gun. You need to use a soldering iron for those. Guns get too hot and will damage traces and components. Solder is important. 60/40 or 63/37 ROSIN core solder. Make sure that you get it with a Rosin flux core. DO NOT GET PLUMBERS SOLDER. It is Acid core and will destroy your wiring. Pick yourself up a heat gun for using heat shrink. Yes, you can use a lighter or torch to shrink heat shrink but you run the risk of burning it. You should always try and heat shrink connections instead of taping them. One like this will be fine. http://www.homedepot.com/buy/tools-...agner-heat-gun-mht1220-1200-watts-232401.html Speaking of electrical tape...as the saying goes, you get what you pay for is true with tape. If you buy the dollar store brand of electrical tape youll get dollar store results. Only use Scotch/3M Super 88 or Super 33. Yes its 3-4 dollars a role but Ive taped stuff with this tape and its lasted years and held up to the most extreme conditions. Back to heatshrink. There are two types of heatshrink. One that is water resistant and one that is waterproof. The water resistant is the cheap stuff. The water proof type has a type of hot glue material inside of it. So when you shrink it, it heats up and makes a seal. Much better for connections that are going to be exposed to the elements. Lastly, get yourself a good pair of terminal crimpers. I actually found that Harbor Freight carries a decent pair of ratcheting crimpers. These only work on insulated terminals. http://www.harborfreight.com/ratcheting-crimping-tool-97420.html For non-insulator terminals, you will need something like this. http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...langId=-1&keyword=klien crimper&storeId=10051 More to come.
Yup, good thread, I'v always done my own soldering. I have 2 soldering items, a gas powered one and an electric one, I use the electric one for rubbing it over and around the 'shrink cord' untill it's done.
A much needed thread, some stuff I've learned (the hard way) over the years- Electrical tape is for holding harnesses together - NOT for joining wires on cars! It's OK in houses where there's no heat, moisture, vibration etc, a car is is actually a very harsh environment for electrics. A cheapie gun will set you back $40, Weller etc is outta my league atm. OK for occasional use but you get what you pay for. This is what happens when you join heavy gauge wires with a 25w iron - not good Too much heat has gone into the wires and destroyed the insulation way back into the harness - only solution is to cut it out and replace the connector and wires. Note how the seals have burnt away and the connector is already rusting inside. Here I've made my hatch removable by adding in plugs and soldering/wrapping the joins, cut out old connectors from dead cars and re-use them is the "cheap & ezy & neat" way for me - looks oem too Connector blocks and spade terminals are OK for quick fixes but not a long term solution either, unless soldered the wires will corrode and cause weird faults. Try to get an adjustable heatgun if you can - they cost a bit more but you can adjust the temp and also use them for removing stickers, paint etc if needed. If you are going to run extra power from your battery, be sure to run it from a battery fuse and fuse the other end as well, even if it means installing your own fusebox for your alarm, amp, radio, navman etc. I know it's easier to add wires to + battery terminals but the chances of a fire are pretty good and these cars burn real fast. The clip type round radio fuses ae OK but I find installing a blade type fusebow and having everything together just looks neater and makes life a lot simpler in the long run
