Hi all, I am replacing the wire running from the loom to the coil and from the dizzy to the coil. I bought this from an autofactors:
"44/0.30 (010104): Charging circuits, main feeds."
Now it has been delivered it I realise its thicker (more strands) than the existing wire. Do I need to get the same strand wire as the existing or will this wire be ok for the job? If it's not OK, does anyone know how may strands the wire should be?
14/030 would have been ideal, you could even have gone down to 9/030. The first number refers to the number of strands of copper in the whole cable, therefore the bigger the number the more strands, the thicker it is and the higher the current that it will take. 44/030 would be OK for the dynamo ! However, it's also OK for the coil, it just won't be as flexible and will look a bit odd. The danger comes from using a thin cable when you should have a thick one - that's how fires start.
Make sure that you get the correct size female blade connectors to crimp on - you need 1/4 inch or 6.3 mm blade for the terminals and large enough at the crimp end to handle the thicker wire (3.00 sq mm). The cross section size of the cable is given in the catalogue specs, and the terminals show which size cable they will fit.
Recognising the part number you quote, the terminals you need are 030205.
If you get a terminal for the smaller cable then it will not crimp properly onto the larger cable. Ideally you'll use a crimp tool, but you can get away with pliers.
Of course, a metre of cable isn't very expensinve, so for a really good job I'd simply buy some more, use the smaller terminals, and keep what you have for future use.
How are you going to joint the new cable to what's in the loom? You can get crimp connectors, bullet connectors, solder & heatshrink sleeving, etc. The "choc block" screw terminal strips don't look right, and insulating tape is a bodge. Hey ho, nothing's ever as simple as it should be!!
The number of strands will determine how flexible the wire is - 1 strand is quite stiff (and so on).
The second number (If I remember correctly) is the cross section area of one strand.
Tha maximum current that a wire can take is determined by the number of strands times the cross-section area.
If the wire has a greater current capacity than you need, then it's more expensive (only a few bob per wire but it's important for a manufacturer), and heavier than it needs to be (ditto as cost).
The only problem you might find is fitting the connectors correctly if the wire is very different diameter.
hi both, once again, many thanks for the useful info. With your advise I now know what I am doing!
simmitc, I now have a decent ratchet crimping tool and a lot of male/female connectors so I should be ok. I am going to get some thinner wire now - I was just worried about getting too thin (fire) but now realise that 44 strand is a little overkill and will indeed looka bit silly!
