Headamp wiring management

[crankin]

I am sure that Jac04 and SafeAirOne have done some pretty jobs of managing the wiring that runs through the radiator. I have always wrapped mine with electrical tape thinking that when I have all my issues worked out that I would do s professional job on it. I have given up hope on that being a reality nad have decided to just do it.

So, what have people done?

[mongoswede]

You can use the flexible split loom to house the wiring but it is not waterproof and there are other things you can use that are better. Some people run a length of heat shrink which looks better and can be sealed. You could run the wires through a piece of rubber tubing...solid or clear depending on what you want it to look like.

[jac04]

On my SIII Lightweight, the original wiring harness was originally wrapped in (basically) electrical tape. After cleaning up the harness and making needed repairs, I simply re-wrapped it in 3M Super 33 vinyl electrical tape (do not use cheap generic electrical tape). The only thing is that this tape is 3/4" wide. Using a 50% wrap overlap, it takes a lot of tape to do an entire harness.

Also, if you check around, you will find tapes marketed for re-wrapping wiring harnesses - IIRC they are usually about 1.5" wide and available in both adhesive and non-adhesive type.

[SafeAirOne]

Funny you should mention--The factory tape-wrapped harness just rubbed through the factory metal harness clip in the top inside of the radiator support panel a few weeks ago and almost set the truck on fire about 30 miles from home.

After replacing the burned wire and inspecting the rest of the front harness wires for damage, I tape-wrapped it and used adel clamps to hold the harness in place inside the radiator support.

I didn't get too 'mil-spec' with the harness rebuild as I someday intend to rip it all out and rebuild it to a much higher standard, using circular connectors at all the junctions and bulkhead pass-throughs and wrap the whole harness in that braided expandable harness/cable sleeving and clamp the whole thing down with adel clamps throughout.

Being a non-purist, I ultimately see the wiring inside the rad support being just one bundle running directly from a thru-bulkhead circular connector on the right side to a thru-bulkhead circular connector on the left side with only a couple of ground wires sprouting out from the middle of the bundle and a pair of horn wires sprouting out from the right side of the harness. All the connecting/disconnecting for the wings will be done outside of the rad support panel (SIII w/headlights in the wings).

Adel Clamp:
http://www.wilemanaircraft.com/cat_images/Adel%20Clamp.jpg

Expandable harness/cable sleeving:
http://www.delcity.net/images/photos/1845_primary.jpg

Circular connectors:
http://www.holmanelectronics.com.au/media/IMG_8872.jpg

[o2batsea]

I used the OE type cloth tape at first. That's not too awful to install, but it's sticky on the outside so it attracts all kinds of schmidt. Electrical tape is absolutely the worst crap for wrapping wire. My preference is for a "dry" wrap like spiral wrap or the sleeve material noted above. Both of those are hell to install on a harness and very unforgiving of mistakes or modifications. The sleeve has no good way to terminate it and you get a bird's nest on the ends. Then there's split loom which is about as nasty on a Rover as Vinyl siding is on a house. It can be modified easily and is very easy to work with which is why all the Chevy guys use the chrome version of the junk all over their engine bay. Tacky. There is solid vinyl tube which is again, very hard to install and rework.
So, spiral wrap for me. The clips should be nylon. This is about the best material cz its extremely tough stuff and grips like crazy. Just have to mechanically attach it to the sheet metal, which is easily done with pop rivets rivnuts nuts and machine screws or a good plain old screw. There are the kind that just push into a hole too.

The clips shown above are quickly attacked by ozone and the rubbery material cracks after about 8-10 months.

[SafeAirOne]

The clips shown above are quickly attacked by ozone and the rubbery material cracks after about 8-10 months.

That hasn't been my experience either on my rover or in the military aircraft I've worked on that had these all over the place. Of course, the "rubber" buffers come in different materials, depending on application and, presumably in differing grades of those materials depending on manufacturer and source.

If you are having problems with degredation after 8-10 months, I recommend that you find a different source for your clamps.

Helpful info on Adel Clamps: http://www.aeroelectric.com/articles/adel.html