Wiring mess clean up

[KrisZ]

The previous owner installed a fender eliminator, aftermarket LED turn signals, brake light and brake light modulator. All of which are I'm Ok with, However, the wiring leaves a lot to be desired. Not only the routing was bad, as it was outside the motorcycle frame and in the elements, but the connections, although shrink wrapped, the wires were not sufficiently twisted together.

What actually had prompted me to check all connection, as I originally just wanted to clean up the routing, is that one of the turn signal wires came out the moment I tried to re-route it. Check the first two pictures.

Needles to say I re-did all the connections, soldered them and wrapped properly with electrical tape. Then I tucked in all the cables inside the space provided under the seat, so that no connectors are outside. Last two pics.


I guess you can sort of get away with this kind of shenanigans in a dry climate like California has, but this kind of butchery would quickly fail in a rain storm, putting the rider at risk and totally defeating the purpose of going with LEDs to begin with.

 

[Kestas]

I was about to suggest shrink tubing instead of electrical tape, but it looks like you did use shrink tubing.

 

[KrisZ]

I had to use both because I don't have some of the bigger diameter sizes of srink tubing. I have to buy some more.

 

[Kawiguy454]

Nice Job! ...get a shrink tube kit that has the sealing glue inside for bike/auto. Will make the connections waterproof.

 

[FordMan59]

I just rewired the lights on my neighbors trailer for him a couple months ago. He told me when it was wired it was supposed to have been a professional job. When I started tearing out the old wiring it was one of the biggest messes I've ever seen. The wires going from the tail lights to the tongue were approximately 15' long. All of them had been done with used wire that had cuts in it from previous wire taps and some of the wires were spiced as many as 4-5 times in 15' with different color wires. Some of the pieces spliced in were less that 1' long. When I removed the electrical tape at the tongue where the wire was spliced to the plug that goes to his truck there were wires running in every direction you could think of with splices barely twisted together. A couple of the splices fell apart when I took the tape off. I rewired it with one spice in 2 of the wires for his side markers and the other 2 wires were a single wire from lights to tongue. I twisted all my connections good, put wire nuts on them and covered the connection with plenty of electrical tape to keep out dirt and moisture. After seeing the professional job on those lights it just reminded me of why I don't hire anyone to do what I can do myself.

 

[Oildudeny]

Is that a before or after solder? Doesn’t look like the solder fully flowed through the joint or is that one wire just tinned.

 

[BusyLittleShop]

Make it sanitary like if it were the Space Shuttle...

 

[KrisZ]

Is that a before or after solder? Doesn’t look like the solder fully flowed through the joint or is that one wire just tinned.

No, no solder and that is what I found once I removed the shrink tube. Just a hook type twist on both wires and shrink tube over the connection. All other connections were done the same way.

 

[KrisZ]

Make it sanitary like if it were the Space Shuttle...
View attachment 35650

Love it. Wrap it in some heat reflective foil and it will look like it is a space shuttle.

 

[Oildudeny]

No, no solder and that is what I found once I removed the shrink tube. Just a hook type twist on both wires and shrink tube over the connection. All other connections were done the same way.

Ah no good

 

[HangFire]

I twisted all my connections good, put wire nuts on them and covered the connection with plenty of electrical tape to keep out dirt and moisture. After seeing the professional job on those lights it just reminded me of why I don't hire anyone to do what I can do myself.

I'm sorry... while I'm sure you ended up with a better job than the original... but wire nuts (Marrette connectors) have no place on anything on the road. They can gather moisture and hold it.

Also... "Plenty of electrical tape" is not waterproof, and not professional for trailer use. Heat shrink tube is.

I use crimped end connectors, or western union splice + solder, and heat shrink on top. If I need a quick disconnect, I solder on a matched pair of trailer plugs.

 

[FordMan59]

I'm sorry... while I'm sure you ended up with a better job than the original... but wire nuts (Marrette connectors) have no place on anything on the road. They can gather moisture and hold it.

Also... "Plenty of electrical tape" is not waterproof, and not professional for trailer use. Heat shrink tube is.

I use crimped end connectors, or western union splice + solder, and heat shrink on top. If I need a quick disconnect, I solder on a matched pair of trailer plugs.

I'm not a professional and did the wiring job as favor at no charge. I've used wire nuts on other automotive applications over the years and taped them to never have a problem. I like heat shrink but, I've had problems in the past with it getting stressed in some way and breaking/tearing at the splice and exposing the splice. If it was an area where there was more than one set of wires spiced I wrapped them individually with tape then when I had all the splices complete I gathered them together and wrapped them all together covering the wire nuts with the electrical tape running several inches up the insulated portion of the wire. I don't doubt that in several years it might need to have the tape removed and re-taped but I don't see it being a problem for a long time. My neighbor is well pleased and everything is holding up so that's all that really matters. His professional job wasn't working out quite so well.

 

[KrisZ]

Personally I don't see anything inherently wrong with electrical tape, provided it is applied correctly, which means stretching it while wrapping around. This creates a pretty tight wrap.
Shrink tubing is less prone to user error I guess, but I still wrap it with electrical tape if the connection is exposed to the elements.

 

[FordMan59]

Personally I don't see anything inherently wrong with electrical tape, provided it is applied correctly, which means stretching it while wrapping around. This creates a pretty tight wrap.
Shrink tubing is less prone to user error I guess, but I still wrap it with electrical tape if the connection is exposed to the elements.

Regardless of what I wrap with electrical tape I stretch it to get a good tight fit and always put it on 2-4 overlapping layers thick. The places I had multiple splices in the same area and got double wrapped probably ended up with a total of 6-8 layers of tape covering the splice and the areas where the tape overlapped itself which would have been nearly everywhere maybe 12-16 layers. As tight as I pulled the tape and as far up the insulation as I went I don't see any moisture getting to the splice until the tape has weathered several years, if then.