Anders Green Anders Green Professional Moderator Location: Raleigh, NC Join Date: 03/30/2006 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 1,478 Rally Car: Parked |
Multiple searches on the topic of electrical and connector here yielded nothing. I think people still build cars that have electricity in them, so, for those people, the following information may be useful.
Anders
To me, it was interesting to know that those three families had a timeline and evolution, so if you had to "choose between Metri-Pack and Weather Pack" you can understand that one came after the other. What about PowerPoles? Still great for dry installations, and the main benefits are: -rated for 10,000 connections (compared to weather pack rated for 5 connections) -starts at 30 amps and goes up to 150 (compared to 7.5 for DTM or 13 for DT) Bottom line, it seems like Metri-Pack / Weather Pack stuff is going to work decently well, and it's way better than the spade connectors you may have been using before, and the crimping tool is pretty cheap. If you want to step up from good to great, Deutsch is your choice, and that crimping tool will run you $150 to $300. Grassroots rally. It's what I think about. |
czwalga steve czwalga Mega Moderator Location: Pittsburgh, PA Join Date: 09/16/2011 Age: Settling Down Posts: 376 Rally Car: 95 awd celica |
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johnhuebbe John Huebbe Elite Moderator Location: St. Peters, MO Join Date: 08/31/2012 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 283 Rally Car: 1970 VW Beetle & 1991 Subaru Legacy |
I've used weatherpack for some connectors. I agree, they are bulky with more than 4 pins.
I've also used simple 2, 4, or 5 pin flat trailer plugs for various things. (Like: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002Q80RW/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687442&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00030COC4&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0GZ7KGZG1EJ3P4SW3C0Z) Cheap, lots of auto part stores have them if you need a new connector, works fine for less critical things. I've also used lots of simple crimp spade connectors and put heat shrink over them. Although my bug is a lot easier with wiring than a modern car. |
Since the internet ate my last post I'll make it shorter.
Good source on motorsport harness building: https://www.rbracing-rsr.com/wiring_ecu.html No wire nuts, ever. I like non-insulated spade and butt connectors. I use staking pliers instead of the standard squish from both sides pliers, much stronger pullout resistance. I finish all my connections with heat shrink to offer protection and strain-relief. Marine grade/ glue-lined heat shrink is the bomb, and offers the best strain relief and corrosion resistance. Weatherpack is okay. They're cheap and available everywhere. Connectors are pretty bulky and sharp, and they don't seal THAT well. Deustch DT/DTM is pretty darn good. Better sealing, better connection, better wire retention. You can strain relief the connectors with glue-lined heat shrink for the best sealing and strength. Crimping pliers are expensive. Deustch AutoSport (or any AS connector) are amazing. You want a $3k wiring harness, start using these. Small CNC aluminum connectors, shielded, fully sealed, gold pins, super high pin-density. You will need to rob a bank to use these. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2015 01:39PM by Robert Culbertson. |
Pete Pete Remner Mega Moderator Location: Cleveland, Ohio Join Date: 01/11/2006 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 2,022 |
I love Weatherpak. The parts are available anywhere, in onesy-twosies from NAPA or in bulk from places like Summit. The connectors are a bit bulky compared to modern things, but this also means that they're easier to fiddle with if and when you need to make a wiring repair. And the crimp tool to assemble them is so generic I saw them for sale at O'Reilly's for $13, they were part of a cheapo duzitall crimp tool that probably is worth every penny.
Pete Remner Cleveland, Ohio 1984 RX-7 (rallycross thing) 1978 Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver. |
Anders Green Anders Green Professional Moderator Location: Raleigh, NC Join Date: 03/30/2006 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 1,478 Rally Car: Parked |
Yeah, those are horrible. I admit to using them in one place though: the rear turn signals on my dual sport motorcycle. I crash enough and rip them off enough that I wanted something that was "breakaway". Anders Grassroots rally. It's what I think about. |
Towona Tony P Senior Moderator Location: Alberta, Canada Join Date: 08/21/2010 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 149 Rally Car: MK2 Golf |
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m7stic Nicholas Kroll Godlike Moderator Location: Midland, MI Join Date: 06/13/2012 Age: Settling Down Posts: 27 Rally Car: Merkur XR4Ti |
I'll add a few notes here, since I've been searching on this topic a bit lately.
- each connector type/brand/whatever is rated from its manufacturer for a certain number of connect/disconnect events. - support all of your connections: anywhere a wire terminates into something else is a stress point. support the wire (and hopefully the thing it's attached to) a few inches out with a zip tie or something. This prevents the wires from breaking at the connector. I've read that page Rob posted, and it's like wire harness porn. Sexy stuff, but way outside my budget. Highly recommended reading. Nicholas and his '86 XR4Ti |
Mad Matt F Matt Follett Junior Moderator Location: La Belle Province, Montreal Join Date: 03/13/2006 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 645 Rally Car: Don't Laugh, the Justy is Fun! |
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ElectroTech Steve Wheeler Professional Moderator Location: Fork Lake, Alberta Join Date: 06/09/2015 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 336 Rally Car: 1992 Golf |
For general automotive wiring not requiring weatherpack or other high density junctions these are hard to beat
http://www.shopwurthusa.com/wurthstorefront/Electrical/Connectors/Insulated-Electrical-Connectors/Solder-Seal/c/16040404 Power means nothing if you cannot control it! |
Anders Green Anders Green Professional Moderator Location: Raleigh, NC Join Date: 03/30/2006 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 1,478 Rally Car: Parked |
I can add a little bit to the high-end part of this discussion:
There's the official Deutsh crimper (HDT-48-00 Deutsch Solid Barrel Crimping Tool) which goes for about $265, which squeezes in from 4 points http://www.amazon.com/HDT-48-00-Deutsch-Solid-Barrel-Crimping/dp/B0075P88IY There's also the Daniels Manufacturing Corporation with their model AF8. http://www.dmctools.com/Products/standard_adjustable_crimp_tool.html http://www.amazon.com/Dmc-Af8-Crimp-Tool-Frame/dp/B00DIQ4BWG This one is interesting in that it's apparently possible to put a variety of dies in it and crimp just about anything. And it squeezes in from 8 points. This is your MIL spec crimper. Unsurprisingly... it's more expensive, about $400, or $350 from Wirecare.com: https://www.wirecare.com/dmc-crimpers.asp DMC seems to be a granddaddy in the area of crimping. Anders Grassroots rally. It's what I think about. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/14/2015 03:39PM by Anders Green. |
Wedge Matt Barnes Mod Moderator Location: Seattle, WA Join Date: 12/05/2012 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 15 Rally Car: TOYOTA PASEO |
I second that. I don't use any other kind of heat shrink on any car of mine. Right now, someone somewhere is practicing. And when you face him, he will beat you. |
MattP Matt Pullen Infallible Moderator Location: Calgary Join Date: 10/22/2013 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 282 Rally Car: 2002 Ford StRanger |
The joys of being an industrial electician means oodles of heat shrink 1/8" to 4', and as many crimp connectors, ty-raps and cable as I need. I just do two layers one slightly longer that the first. If I want to be completey anal I have a Brady Printer to hand! Yes, it's a Ranger. Xr4Ti, it is rwd and was made in Germany. |
MattWatson Matt Watson Ultra Moderator Location: Calgary Join Date: 04/17/2013 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 151 Rally Car: Merkur |
I just wanted to add a couple things to this discussion: There are a couple more items that you should consider for people that want multi-connector (4+) and or circular connectors, and that is that AMP has industrial lines (eg CPC Series 1) that are MUCH cheaper than their respective Mil-Spec brothers. They ARE thermoplastic so they aren't the fancy aluminum ones, but they do work, provide some lines that are fairly high power, and are cheaper.
They again are rated for connect/disconnect cycles but can be had with back-shells, bayonet locking or threaded locking connectors. They are VERY similar to the BMW circular connectors. contacts are sourced separately from the connector, and can be had in anything up to gold plated for signal connections. They are a very good alternative if you are trying to construct a harness but don't want to spend a couple hundred dollars on a complete connector pair. I echo the comments about the datasheets - check them and love them. They will tell you everything about a connector and its design. Note: You are NOT limited to the power transmission based on wire gauge. You CAN pair two pins to transmit more power than rated. IF you do this, check the datasheet to see what the de-rate is. ie. using 2 pins rated for 15 amps each does not = 30 amp capacity. Also: pins to the outside will handle higher power better (cooling) |
BobOfTheFuture Rob Senior Moderator Location: LI, NY Join Date: 09/25/2010 Age: Settling Down Posts: 629 Rally Car: None, anymore. |
We use these exclusively. But the vehicles are slightly different than rally cars... Enablers, All of you. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2015 03:41AM by BobOfTheFuture. |