TreadingLight
"Overlanding is Sh*t"
Howdy ya'll,
Thanks for having me out for tech day. Good food, conversation, and fun with wiring. I figured I'd put my notes down here with some links. I'll give amazon links where possible for ease-of-ordering. If you don't want to contribute to the downfall of society all of this stuff can be found from other vendors. There are some things that are better bought from a legit supplier just for quality reasons.
Remember everything we used was sized for a 20 amp load. If you are wiring up some low draw LEDs you could go with lighter gauge wire and smaller fuses.
Wire:
Wire Terminals:
Heat Shrink, Tape, and Loom:
Tools:
Since I know you guys are mostly on BookFace, maybe someone (@hairy_apple ?) wants to link this there.
Thanks for having me out for tech day. Good food, conversation, and fun with wiring. I figured I'd put my notes down here with some links. I'll give amazon links where possible for ease-of-ordering. If you don't want to contribute to the downfall of society all of this stuff can be found from other vendors. There are some things that are better bought from a legit supplier just for quality reasons.
Remember everything we used was sized for a 20 amp load. If you are wiring up some low draw LEDs you could go with lighter gauge wire and smaller fuses.
Wire:
- One of many calculators for converting watts to amps. amps =watts/volts
- This is the blue sea chart for wire size. We can generally use the top row. This is very conservative (aka over-built).
- I always use TXL wire and DelCity has the best prices for a spool. I have yet to find a good source for bulk Yazaki brand wire like Toyota used in the 40/60/70 series. All the wire on amazon sucks.
Wire Terminals:
- Uninsulated Closed Barrel Butt Splices - Airic is a good brand
- Open-Barrel Ring Terminals - I haven't found a good brand on Amazon. These are ok but kind of thin so I don't use them on battery terminals where they would be subject to bending. These are OEM quality ones but you have to order from Japan.
- Metripack 280 - When it comes to connecting devices like lights, a good connector is more reliable and easier to work with than quick disconnect spade connectors. Metripack 280 is a good choice for up to 25amps. I linked a 2-way connector (1 positive and 1 negative) kit (has all the pieces to make one pair) but you can get them in a lot of different configurations. Del City is also a good vendor for these and cheaper than amazon if you are making more than just a couple.
- If you're dealing with smaller loads, the Metripack GT150 is good for up to 15 amps and are a bit smaller.
- If you want to nerd out on connectors, consider Deutsch style connectors. They are a even less bulky.
Heat Shrink, Tape, and Loom:
- TaeYoung OEM harness wrapping tape - this is mildly adhesive but leaves no residue. Protects wiring from engine compartment gunk.
- Braided expandable wire loom - good for things like headlight / fog light harnesses that don't have a lot of branching connections. I use 1/4" and 3/8" the most. There's nothing wrong with using good ol' split loom if you prefer. This protects your wiring from abrasion.
- Type 33 electrical tape - there are a million different kinds of electrical tape. type 33 from 3m or scotch is a good all around tape and much better to work with than the generics. I mostly use this to temporarily organize wires while I am building the harness. Also good for finishing off split loom.
- Wirefy heatshrink tubing - Look for Heatshrink that is "marine grade" - adhesive lined and dual-wall. Wirefy is a good brand. I use 1/4, 5/16 and 3/8 most for small projects. 3:1 or 4:1.
Tools:
- iCrimp IWS-16 non-insulated terminal crimper
- Del-City open-barrel crimp tool. This is a steal at $13 and does both the conductor and insulation in one step. The iCrimp IWS-1424a on Amazon also works but costs more and takes two steps.
- iCrimp IWS-1424b crimper for Metripack 280 (also does 150 and Weatherpack)
- Sea Sense rope cutting gun - neatly cuts braided loom but if you're careful you can do this with scissors and a bic lighter.
- Heat Gun - lots of inexpensive options. I've used this one quite a bit. You can use a lighter but a heat gun makes life so much easier so I strongly recommend it.
- Waterproof Relay (nilight). Comes in a 5 pack. Share with friends.
- Inline fuse holders.
- If you want to add a bunch of stuff, you can get a 6-circuit prewired relay/fuse box in place of the single relay/fuse holder above.
- Simple toggle switches
- H4 headlight extension (we used this to tie into the vehicles headlight circuit without modifying any stock wiring).
Since I know you guys are mostly on BookFace, maybe someone (@hairy_apple ?) wants to link this there.
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