Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 14:26:52 -0800
Reply-To: sg <sg@SUNSETWINONA.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: sg <sg@SUNSETWINONA.COM>
Subject: Re: splicing wires (was: van still dying)
if splicing wirings you be doing, i would recommend soldering. you will
have a much more stable and low resistance connection (if the soldering is
done well, that is). i would duplicate whatever wire gauge that the wires
you are connecting together are made of. if the wire is touching/near hot
parts, go with special casing, i guess, but if not, i would just wrap with
electrical tape.
as for how to do soldering, just practice on scrap wires until you find you
can consistently get a good solder joint.
maybe or maybe not helpful soldering suggestions:
-start by by completely coating both ends to be soldered together with
solder. make sure the solder seeps into the braided strands of wire.
-then get a sizeable ball of solder on your iron, and bring it together with
the two presoldered ends and melt it all together.
-make sure that the end result looks good, ie all the solder looks like it
has melted together and is forming one smooth amorphous mass. if the joint
looks ragged, or only is connected in a few small places, start over.
-steve and buster
----- Original Message -----
From: "Blake Thornton" <thornton@MATH.UTAH.EDU>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2001 8:55 AM
Subject: splicing wires (was: van still dying)
> OK, if you read my post yesterday, my van is dying and I can't find the
> culprit. I have decided that it could be some bad wires in my wiring
> harness (I'll explain why I think this below).
>
> So, I plan to cut open the suspect location and begin splicing new wires
> where I think there are now bad wires. So, I could really use some help
> knowing how to do this.
>
> - Do I need to use any special kind of wire? (what gauge, solid or
> strands, any special kind of casing on the wire needed, etc)?
>
> - Are wire nuts enough or do I need to solder it? If I need to solder it,
> can someone describe to me how to do this?
>
> - do I need to tape it back up with any special kind of tape (eg heat
> resistant?)
>
>
> Now for my reasoning:
>
> About a year and a half ago, I found my wiring harness slipped and touched
> my muffler (the engine shield wasn't attached properly). It seemed to
> burn the wire and my van died for a day. The next day the van started up
> and it has ran ever since.
>
> I forgot about this until yesterday when a couple people said my van dying
> really sounds like a bad ground. Well, I knew I cleaned all my grounds
> and then it occured to me that I had this wiring problem. I figure that
> perhaps the heat weakened the wires and now they are only marginal.
>
> So, I plan to cut open the harness and replace all the wires in the
> infected area.
>
> Thanks for any and all ideas,
> Blake
> 84 westy
> SLC UT
>
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