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Posted

This weekend I have been putting my wiring harness together from the info on the DPETCA website. I bought electric wipers and I have a heater. Where am I supposed to connect these into the system? Also, what guage wire? Thanks, Chris

Posted

Easiest place would be the acc post of the ign switch, or a terminal block powered by either hot pole. depends how you want them to work. With ign on only or with key in acc position. You can also power it from the ignition side of the coil for ign on operation only.

Wire will depend on whether you are still 6v or have changed to 12V

For 6 I would use 10 or 12 for the heater, and 12 for the wipers.

For 12 you can go to 12 or 14 for the blower and 14/16 for the wiper.

I would also run some in line fuses 20 amp for the fan 15 for the wiper.

so from a switched hot source to a terminal block, from the block through an inline fuse to the load. Or you could do each line seperately.

I suppose if you wanted to you could find a fused terminal strip and go that way also. some have a situation where you can power all the terminals on the strip with one connection to a hot source. I woud probably look for one that hase a couple extra terminals incase you want to power some accesories down the line.

The other option is to run them through a self resetting circuit breaker. (you can get them from auto parts place or radio shack) These are nice because they will trip on an overload, but reset after they cool off. If they keep tripping, then you need to look for a problem. But they will protect your lelctrical system if there is a problem. I ran one for my trailer brake circuit.

You just wire it hot through breaker to load. you do nedd to drill a hole to mount the breaker.

Posted
at either 6 or 12 volts the fuses don't much care about voltage. their rating is current draw based.

Yes but 6v draws more amps,which was the reason for larger gauge wire in a 6v system,therefore I believe a higher amp rated fuse would be required in a 6v system than in a 12v system in any given circuit.

Posted

Chris,

The info and drawings you are using were generated by Allan Parkhurst and myself. After just finishing up another wire harness I have a few suggestions that will make the job much easier.

First, extend the length of each dash gauge and switch wire by ten inches or so. This will allow you to pull the gauge cluster or switch out of the dash with enough room to work on the wiring. Makes installation and later work or testing much easier. The harness measurements are factory, and will work, but they are very close, and make installation very difficult.

Secondly, wrap the dash end of the harness in a plastic bag to save the labels you put on each wire, and then wrap the harness with masking tape. This makes pulling it through the firewall from the engne side much easier. It is almost impossible to pull the thing through from the dash side.

You may wish to find an aftermarket headlight switch. The stock unit will only turn the dash lights on with the headlights - not the park lamps, and only the park lamps alone, will come on, not the tail lights. It would be nice to find a switch that turns the lights on just like modern cars, but that won't happen with the original switch.

Good luck. Let us know how it works out for you.

Posted

Thanks Dave;

I have already put the wires together, but if it gives me too much trouble I may do it over again. I will look into an aftermarket light switch. I am trying to keep it as original as I can, but practical to drive around. I assume the light switch Robert's sells works the same as the original ?

Posted
Chris,

You may wish to find an aftermarket headlight switch. The stock unit will only turn the dash lights on with the headlights - not the park lamps, and only the park lamps alone, will come on, not the tail lights. It would be nice to find a switch that turns the lights on just like modern cars, but that won't happen with the original switch.

dave,

although my dash lights aren't hooked up, thus the switch doesn't do anything, i believe my headlight switch is the original. the park lamps only come on at the first stop, and are off when the switch is pulled to the second stop for the headlights. however, the taillights are on for both positions. i never even considered that they weren't supposed to be on in the park position from the factory. i keep finding new stuff, even though i'm glad mine work in the parking position.

wally

Posted

Wallytoo-I did this stuff awhile ago, so I'm not really sure exactly what needs to be done. The dash light switch should be wired through the headlight switch. I had to take mine apart and clean the sliding contacts before it worked. I set mine up so that the parking lights are on at the first detent and again when the headlights are on. That way if I lose a headlight, you can still tell that it isn't a motorcycle. Mike

Posted

mike,

mostly, it's a lack of time function that i haven't got the panel light switch and panel lights hooked up. too many other things to do, on the truck, the house, the jeep, work, etc. someday, though.

a few weeks ago, i repaired my heater motor. it didn't like 12 volts all the time, and the solder melted off of the commutator. so, i took it apart, resoldered the contacts, and changed the input to 6v so it works without melting. heat/defrost is more important functionally for me than dash lights. someday, though.

wally

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