Wiring resource

[Arcticmiller]

Hey Guys and Gals, 

Working on my home-built mill I have run it to all sorts of wiring issues. There's not a lot of wires, but man they were bad! Mostly because it was put together by an orangutan at some point in its past I guess.....Not being the greatest with proper wiring myself, and dealing with these kinds of issues regularly for work I put in a lot of time trying to figure out best practices, and how to make a durable, weatherproof connector, proper wire sizing, etc.

I also work on boats a lot at work, so this lead me down the path of "if it's done correctly by marine standards, it'll be more durable on the mill.

I came across what I feel is a pretty phenomenal resource I thought I would share. https://marinehowto.com/marine-wire-termination/

This guy goes far deeper into the hows and whys than most probably need to know, but after investing in the right tools and connectors, and quality wire, I can honestly say my mill is getting done right, not just "good enough" now any of my stuff I do is fixed in a durable fashion, and I can go on to the next problem knowing the last one was fixed correctly. That sure is satisfying.

Like I said, I work on plow trucks, boats, atv's, you name it. And every single one has had wiring issues. Especially plow trucks, Boats, and "Tommy Lifts" most professional shops set it up. You wouldn't believe the slipshod way they connect into the battery and vehicle wiring sometimes. It's endlessly frustrating to see pro shops turn out garbage work, deliver it, then I go through the efforts to redo it 6 months later when it quits working. Job security I guess. 

My rant is over, but seriously have a look, this guys info is really good! Join me going down the rabbit hole.

[Old Greenhorn]

Thanks for this resource, no time to check it out now I have to be on the road in a little bit here, but I'll add one more industry that is guilty Fire Apparatus builders. Seems like we NEVER got a brand new truck that didn't come with working issues that would last months years, or even the life of the vehicle before we could track them down. Most were just annoying, like warning lights, some were more than annoying like having things quit for no reason in the middle of a job, and one in particular nearly killed 3 men who were inside a working structure fire when an electronic pump panel control box decided to drop the pump from 250PSI down to zero leaving them no water to fight their way back out. That manufacturer kept telling us it was operator error until we could replicate it right in front of their manager during a visit which took 6 months to arrange because it would work for a long time, then quit out of the blue. Turned out to be a flaky ground connection. They recalled and modified all the controllers with fail safe grounding systems due to the life safety issues.
 Yeah, I will check that out.

[Skip]

I sometimes watch a boat restoring show out of Florida ,the people they have on there have some MAD rewiring skills as well as fiberglass and painting .

[Oliver05262]

Yeah, OG. We had one truck with an aluminum body that had most lights and accessories individually grounded to:the body. Until we started running a proper common ground to those units direct to the frame we tore our hair out keeping things going.
And who ever thunk Scotchlocks were a good idea ?

OD  
Oliver Durand

[WWDave]

Hey Guys and Gals,

I also work on boats a lot at work, so this lead me down the path of "if it's done correctly by marine standards, it'll be more durable on the mill.

I came across what I feel is a pretty phenomenal resource I thought I would share. https://marinehowto.com/marine-wire-termination/



My rant is over, but seriously have a look, this guys info is really good! Join me going down the rabbit hole.

I agree 100%...boats AND sawmills operate in damp/wet conditions where vibration is common.  
The guy on the Marinehowto website is a marine surveyor and has a lot of great free content in the form of picture-laden tutorials.  Get a ratcheting crimper, some quality terminations and heat shrink and you'll be off to a great start.
/dave

[doc henderson]

I ordered the moderate priced ($162 with shipping) pro version for the heat shrink connection.  I had a battery wire give me trouble and it took a while to figure out as it was intermittent.  finally heard a snap and a little smoke come from the battery connection on the hot side.  it was only a few years old.  

[Tom King]

I use tin coated copper, marine wire, when anything needs to be rewired for the smaller, stranded wire.  

Boat trailers, and others too, like my Kaufman gooseneck, came with copper coated steel wire.  As soon as it rusted, it became a terrible conductor.  Now we have boat trailers over thirty years old that still have working lights after I completely redid the wiring the first time.  I have one boat trailer I custom made, and had hot dip galvanized in 1988, that has never had the first trouble with wiring.

I started soldering all connections back in the '60's, and even though crimp connectors are one of the few things that are better than they used to be, I'll still solder using rosin-cored electronics solder for the smaller wires ( 12 and smaller).  I do use the crimp connectors with heat shrink casings, on things that are easy to get to, like on a tractor (one toolbox in the shop has a dedicated drawer for crimpers, and fittings), but I don't want to lay on the ground to fix some trailer wiring, so it gets the high class setup.

I bought one of these little Wagner  heat guns, which gives a Lot better control over heat shrink tubing than a regular heat gun, or cigarette lighter.  

Amazon.com: Wagner Spraytech 0503038 Redesigned HT400, Dual Temperature Hot Air Tool 680 and 450 degrees, Shrink Tubing, Embossing, Craft Projects, sticker removal Heat Gun, Basic pack: Home Improvement

I bought one of these, hit with a big hammer, battery cable crimpers, and like the battery cables I make with it better than ones made by autoparts stores.  I've not had any trouble with one of the crimp connections.  Zoro stocks all sizes of battery cable ends.

One thing I did, on the last tractor I rewired, which needed new batteries too, was to put marine batteries in it.  Marine batteries have screw posts, as well as regular battery posts, so it makes a much neater, and more secure connection for other circuits.

Buy Battery Accessories | Automotive Electrical | Zoro.com

[Arcticmiller]

Having unique wiring requirements for my climate was a driver for me too.  Up here in the arctic we get temps down to -60 to -70 range. The records for North America of -81 was set not 30 miles away. 

You even look at factory wires at those temps and the insulation explodes. So I have started changing over to tinned copper, silicone insulated wire for ones that need to flex. On snowmobile and stuff. It's not great for wear resistance but better than bare wires with the insulation exploded.....another thing I have been using is -40 rated welding wire to replace my battery cables. Bought a nice FTZ lug crimper and dual wall adhesive heat shrink, and my engine bays have never looked so nice. Polarwire.com out of Anchorage is a great resource for arctic rated wire if a person has the need for such qualities.

I picked up a nice rennsteig crimper off eBay, but as he says on the site beware of 3m branded terminals....I have a 60 dollar box of junk aluminum terminals sold as 3m brand- yeah the heat shrink is, but the terminals are junk. Lesson learned there.

I also work on solar systems and man those battery draw cables can be dangerous if not properly crimped! I had one bad connection almost start a fire in a shed providing remote power to a 500 gallon fuel tank. Melted the battery case bad. I didn't make the connection, but it was a lack of knowledge about proper methods that led to me not catching it earlier. 

Looks like I am in good company being into my wiring!

Tom, I'll have to look into those Wagner heat guns. My Milwaukee is a little overkill for heat shrink even on low. 

[D6c]

Interesting article.  Buying quality crimp tools and terminals is a challenge.  Like most everything I try to buy, the only choice is usually the cheapest Chinese junk they can find.

[florida]

Great article! I sent it to my brother who does more rewiring than I do. He told me he spent the next day installing LED lights on his wife's new motorcycle and followed all the instructions in the article! Thanks!