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Post by ShakerNorm on Jul 30, 2010 7:49:53 GMT -5
I just had the guts (or was it stupidity?) to unwrap the electrical tape covering a few of the wires on my alternator wiring......
You guessed it - no insulation left at all underneath on 2 of the 3 white wires, so a PO had wrapped it all up with tape to prevent shorts.
Does anyone know where I can find a decent wiring harness to either replace or repair this properly? Having bare wires coming straight out of my alternator is NOT a good situation......
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Post by dogbunny on Jul 30, 2010 9:13:09 GMT -5
Go to an air conditioning or major appliance repair supply house, and get glass-covered (fiberglass) wire in an appropriate size and color. After you have made your wires, fish them into appropriately sized heat shrink tubing, and apply heat. The result will be just like stock.
Don't know about Canada, but here, Johnstone Supply has the wire, and Altex Electronics has heat shrink from 1/16" diameter up to 3". These are easily found items.
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Post by ShakerNorm on Jul 30, 2010 20:09:57 GMT -5
Well - I "liberated" some wire from work - even going through the Aircraft standard practices book to make sure I've got wire of sufficient gauge to not melt on me. I'm going to use 16 gauge for all the wires except the 4 that go to the stator - since they carry the most power I've got some 12 gauge for those. I'm going to wrap each of the colored wires (blue, black, yellow, and green) with appropriately colored heatshrink (since aircraft wiring is almost all white - it gets numbers embossed in it to tell where it goes), so I can identify it, then I'll wrap the whole mess with black heatshrink to protect it, and I'll wrap that with a woven cover to add another layer of protection (am I starting to sound paranoid about my wiring....?). I also picked up a 9-pin connector to replace the old 6-pin one - just so I don't have to mess around trying to salvage the old connector pins.
I've also got a chunk of 4 gauge wire to replace the old wire from my starter relay to the starter, since it was getting pretty ratty, too. Yup - it'll get heatshrink and the cover, too..... (I HATE wiring.... so I'd rather only ever have to do this ONCE!)
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Post by dogbunny on Jul 31, 2010 7:16:19 GMT -5
ShakerNorm, I would re-think this. You are going to wind up with a VERY thick bundle, it will be difficult to route, and may not fit below the drive sprocket and behind the little chain guard plate thing, and will not fit through the D-shaped grommet thing that seals off the alternator compartment.
The number 12 wire is over-kill, and so is individually heat-shrinking each wire. Your original harness was probably subject to being whipped by a broken chain. Avoid broken chains, and you will be fine with what I originally posted. The glass-covered wire is easy to find in red, black, white and green, is specifically made for high-heat applications (it replaces older, asbestos-covered wires), and is sold by the foot.
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Post by ShakerNorm on Aug 4, 2010 0:00:43 GMT -5
Dog - it's already done, and it does fit - although it is a tight squeeze in the grommet. I agree that #12 wire is overkill, as was all the heatshrink, but when machines are concerned, if something is overbuilt, it's usually less prone to failure..... and I HATE failures - especially electrical ones.
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Post by dogbunny on Aug 4, 2010 11:01:31 GMT -5
ShakerNorm, I'm a bit surprised that it all fit, but I'm glad it worked out for you.
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Post by ShakerNorm on Aug 4, 2010 21:48:57 GMT -5
After working on planes for 25 years - you'd be amazed at some of the places where wires can be squeezed into.....! (not to mention other parts)
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glennpd
New Member
1980 XS650G 1985 XV1000 1975 RE5
Posts: 33
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Post by glennpd on Jul 4, 2011 16:19:46 GMT -5
As I was going about attempting to reassemble a cobbled wiring loom I came upon a terrific place for "old school" Japanese wiring connectors, loom wraps and other very handy stuff for vintage Asian bikes. You might want to check out www.vintageconnections.com/Glenn |
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Post by ShakerNorm on Jul 4, 2011 22:04:25 GMT -5
good spot to bookmark!
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