Wiring loom advice

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I had my LHD Crossdresser Westy front loom fuse box behind dash etc done by Johnson Autoworks Leicestershire pretty reasonable I thought. But I did make a loom that went from the rear lesure battery thought to another fuse box under the rock and roll bed and out. It's used for interior lights cab and back, the LED strip lights in the wardrobe and above the bed, two 12v *** lighter sockets 1x in side the cupboard for 12v cooler (when travelling also have 240v supply when hooked up) and one 12v *** lighter outer panel of the fridge unit fir out side use (mainly for my air awning pump if I fell lazy 😀 and the radio. I also added a few extra cables incase I decided to add a rev counter and other stuff. The Shinked wrapped the bits that went under the bus. Internal cable went under the floor etc. lf I can find my photo I'll add it later.Screenshot_20240104_212021_Facebook.jpg
 

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When I did mine. Got some of cables off ebay and others from a garage friend.
We printed a poster with the wiring diagram on. On a4 printer so we could work out what we needed, (As what we had already was useless, 3 core house wiring to break lights)
I put a few extra wires from front to back.
I have also used a label printer to print each end of cables so I know what they are
 
Hi guys, making my own wiring harness/ loom to replace the knackered old stuff with. Also want to include reverse and fog lamp wiring and maybe add optional spot light/driving lamp wiring for future addition.
Have any of you guys done the same?
Does anyone have measurements for cable lengths? I don't really want to pull out the old until the new is ready to fit.
Anyone know of good cable suppliers in the UK or anywhere where O.G colours can be sourced?
I know of Autosparks, VWP and Auto Electric Supplies.
Any help much appreciated.
Hi, my name is Rocket Ron, I’ve not been on this site for years now having given up my workshop and retired, BUT in my time I made many looms for splittys and bay windows, every van I restored had one of my new looms, I’m pretty sure I started the whole thing off way back when as I had a splitty at the time and no one was doing RHD looms, only looms you could get from the states, so I built my own, word soon got around and I was making them for the SSVC guys and then on here.
I have probably much of what you need to make a loom including sleeving and wire, I can offer you tips in getting the cables through etc.
If you’d like to chat then 07813947415
Ask about on the forum I’m sure they will remember me..
Rocket Ron.
company name was Endangered Species Ltd
Regards
Ron
 
Yes Ron, good to hear from you again. I bought a few bits and bobs off you at your unit I think from my very hazy old memory. Pretty sure your place was just across the way and in a place I used to work as a teletubby.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,, That s a while back :)
 
Hi, my name is Rocket Ron, I’ve not been on this site for years now having given up my workshop and retired, BUT in my time I made many looms for splittys and bay windows, every van I restored had one of my new looms, I’m pretty sure I started the whole thing off way back when as I had a splitty at the time and no one was doing RHD looms, only looms you could get from the states, so I built my own, word soon got around and I was making them for the SSVC guys and then on here.
I have probably much of what you need to make a loom including sleeving and wire, I can offer you tips in getting the cables through etc.
If you’d like to chat then 07813947415
Ask about on the forum I’m sure they will remember me..
Rocket Ron.
company name was Endangered Species Ltd
Regards
Ron
Thanks Ron, i'm no spring chicken either, but it sounds like you have a few years on me and professional knowledge. Any advice gladly taken. I work on motor yachts and wiring/looming out is part of my daily, fitting motors, control boxes and hydraulic pumps and repairing damaged product for warranty. I was a mechanic, then built superyachts for Princess and now work for a contractor.
I have made a few smaller auto looms before and already replaced the charging/starter main engine bay side cables on the bus when i fitted an alternator.
Dash wiring repaired years ago but still like a bowl of spaghetti!
I spoke with Craig at Autosparks this morning, before i read your post, and got confirmation that the cable lengths needed are just under what i measured out roughly.
They carry all colours to recreate the original loom and enough to have dedicated colours for fogs, spots, tacho, fireboy, and reverse lights. I was going to order online tonight but haven't ordered anything yet.
Looking around, 0.5, 0.75, 1.5 and 2.5mm cable are no longer available in multiple colours/tracers. It seems 1, 2, 3, 4.5 and 6mm are carried by the popular suppliers, so i was planning to upgrade most slightly by stepping to the next size up. Some of the original cables were undersized/on the cusp to begin with, or just designed with no extras in mind. So won't hurt to beef up a bit.
Planning to add fuses where needed, a start relay, to be fitted on the tank bulkhead, where the regulator used to be. Two ignition lives through relays, (black/yellow X terminal) existing and an additional from a second battery+ fed fusebox to run fogs, stereo, fireboy, reverse lights and any other extras.
At present there is a 12 way fusebox with a 2 way matching VW clip on extension and cover. Not sure what fusebox to go for, type 2 early bays look good and have relay holders, it's just finding a good one.
I've seen some new bade boxes with relay holders but not sure really.
Any opinions?
 
Hi, my name is Rocket Ron, I’ve not been on this site for years now having given up my workshop and retired, BUT in my time I made many looms for splittys and bay windows, every van I restored had one of my new looms, I’m pretty sure I started the whole thing off way back when as I had a splitty at the time and no one was doing RHD looms, only looms you could get from the states, so I built my own, word soon got around and I was making them for the SSVC guys and then on here.
I have probably much of what you need to make a loom including sleeving and wire, I can offer you tips in getting the cables through etc.
If you’d like to chat then 07813947415
Ask about on the forum I’m sure they will remember me..
Rocket Ron.
company name was Endangered Species Ltd
Regards
Ron
Hello Ron, good to see you back on here.
 
Been ill for a couple of weeks and not been on here.
I have a plan for power distribution from the battery but not sourced a cab fusebox solution yet.
So for batt+ distribution:
The original 6mm cable from the starter to the fusebox is barely cutting it even when new. The volt drop over the distance and current draw at max means it's near it's limits. Not likely to catch fire but dull headlamps etc.
As i also want to add a second fusebox feed this needs attention.
As i'm rewiring all it makes no sense to run a seperate cable from the starter or battery.
At first i was considering a 16mm cable from the starter to the front, then split through midi fuses to each fusebox with 6mm. Around 35a max load on either.
I am concerned about the unfused, live side of the fusebox and supply cable, it's a fire waiting to happen. Also the connection at the starter, as it is exposed to the elements and potential damage from branches/debris on the road/field, accidents happen.
For decades now, manufacturers have been fusing everything at source, and for good reason.
For these reasons i have sourced a small, battery clamp mounted 3 way midi fuse holder.
This will feed a 100a fused 16mm to the front and two 40a fused through a midi fuse splitter at the front as above. The whole supply side will be protected and the connection is less exposed.
The starter relay 4.5mm supply needs to be fused also. This would have been fed from the starter stud and included a fuse carrier at the tank bulkhead, beside the relay. Instead, this will be fed from the batt+ and fused at source.
The 55a alternator charging cable 16mm, already runs from the batt+ but will have an 80a fuse. This is to protect the cable and battery from an internal short to earth as well as overcharging.
This option seems best to protect everything but the main starter cable.
The fuses will be easily accessible too.
Cost: Around £35 for 3 way box at the battery, 2 way box at front and a bunch of strip/midi fuses. The cable and terminals i already have.
Opinions...
 
The post was a big wall of text but I skimmed through and saw 80a fuse? Which might give you a problem Eg your domestic house fuse is 60 or 70.
80a in a car is bonkers.

An 80a fuse will need 90 or 100a wire.
Starter cable is normally 70 and you don't fuse bigger than the the cable (never ever) or by the time your fuse blows all your wire will have melted.

If you do plan on that much amperage you might be better to spread the load.

I've built in lithium batteries that range from 105a to over 200a but the biggest fuse I've ever used is a 50a
 
The post was a big wall of text but I skimmed through and saw 80a fuse? Which might give you a problem Eg your domestic house fuse is 60 or 70.
80a in a car is bonkers.

An 80a fuse will need 90 or 100a wire.
Starter cable is normally 70 and you don't fuse bigger than the the cable (never ever) or by the time your fuse blows all your wire will have melted.

If you do plan on that much amperage you might be better to spread the load.

I've built in lithium batteries that range from 105a to over 200a but the biggest fuse I've ever used is a 50a
It's obvious you skimmed it as youv'e missed the point entirely.
Domestic 230V A.C wiring and protection has nothing at all to do with 12V D.C wiring and protection.
The same current in A.C would require a much thinner cable and fusing is not the same.
80amp in a car is nothing.
Take a look at any car from recent years, all those big cables from the battery aren't for show.
Cable to fuses at front is 16mm cable, rated to 110amps so 100 or less is plenty to protect it. It is then split and two 6mm cables fused at 40a before the fuse boxes. The fuses are there to protect, they will only blow if there is a fault on the otherwise unprotected cables on the live side of the fusebox.
70amp cable is 10mm. Both fuseboxes can draw around 35amp max. So the cable needs to be bigger to account for volt drop and a factor of safety. You would not put 70a continuous down a 70a rated cable, the cable should always be capable of more.
The alternator cable is 16mm as there's currently a 55a alternator but a leisure battery and split charge system will be added later, the cable will not need to be changed to accomodate for this or a bigger alternator.
Again, the cable is 16mm and the fuse is 80a so the cable and battery are protected in case of an internal short to earth or damage to the cable.
 
It's obvious you skimmed it as youv'e missed the point entirely.
Domestic 230V A.C wiring and protection has nothing at all to do with 12V D.C wiring and protection.
The same current in A.C would require a much thinner cable and fusing is not the same.
80amp in a car is nothing.
Take a look at any car from recent years, all those big cables from the battery aren't for show.
Cable to fuses at front is 16mm cable, rated to 110amps so 100 or less is plenty to protect it. It is then split and two 6mm cables fused at 40a before the fuse boxes. The fuses are there to protect, they will only blow if there is a fault on the otherwise unprotected cables on the live side of the fusebox.
70amp cable is 10mm. Both fuseboxes can draw around 35amp max. So the cable needs to be bigger to account for volt drop and a factor of safety. You would not put 70a continuous down a 70a rated cable, the cable should always be capable of more.
The alternator cable is 16mm as there's currently a 55a alternator but a leisure battery and split charge system will be added later, the cable will not need to be changed to accomodate for this or a bigger alternator.
Again, the cable is 16mm and the fuse is 80a so the cable and battery are protected in case of an internal short to earth or damage to the cable.

Do you mean 6 mm, 10 mm & 16 mm OR 6 mm², 10 mm² & 16 mm², because they are NOT the same!?!
 
Do you mean 6 mm, 10 mm & 16 mm OR 6 mm², 10 mm² & 16 mm², because they are NOT the same!?!
Really, you don't say. And here's me having ripped cable from a substation to wire me bus. Feels like you are trying to bait me, but i will assume not as this is a friendly forum.
Read the rest of the thread, i didn't wake up yesterday and decide to "have a go at wiring".
Cable size is always referred to as a csa measurement, or number of strands/csa (of the strands) or AWG (where higher number refers to thinner cable), never diameter. I think it is clear that i'm not fitting cables of 16mm diameter and i think you know that. Even the 40mm squared battery starter cable is not that big.
I dont have the facility/haven't sussed how to add the little 2 on my keyboard, but thanks for the helpful comment.
 
Really, you don't say. And here's me having ripped cable from a substation to wire me bus. Feels like you are trying to bait me, but i will assume not as this is a friendly forum.
Read the rest of the thread, i didn't wake up yesterday and decide to "have a go at wiring".
Cable size is always referred to as a csa measurement, or number of strands/csa (of the strands) or AWG (where higher number refers to thinner cable), never diameter. I think it is clear that i'm not fitting cables of 16mm diameter and i think you know that. Even the 40mm squared battery starter cable is not that big.
I dont have the facility/haven't sussed how to add the little 2 on my keyboard, but thanks for the helpful comment.

You assume correctly!

Please keep in mind that not everyone is acquainted with the various different national and international conventions. Part of my professional remit as a teacher and technical writer / editor, has always been to question potential sources of confusion or ambiguity, so please don't take it as a personal sleight. Many of my students (typically GCSE & GCE "A" Level candidates, plus occasional undergraduates) seem unable to visualise typical sizes or quantities in any common measurement system, whether it be Imperial or metric!

Given your acquaintance with electrical wiring and circuitry, you will probably be familiar with the convention of using i and I to distinguish between instantaneous, sinusoidally varying AC current and peak AC current / constant DC current. When dealing with AC current theory, one uses the alternative convention of adopting j as the symbol for the square-root of negative one (an imaginary number) rather than i as used by mathematicians; enabling one to determine phase differences between current and voltage wave-forms.

The little 2 or superscript 2 can be found in the Symbol section of the Insert menu of Word for Windows, which can then be copied and pasted into one's posts on virtually any on-line forum. There are many other useful symbols and characters to be found there, which I recommend you to investigate, including the little 3 or superscript 3, as used in cm³ for general volume measurements and engine displacements / swept volumes.

The little raised hollow circle symbol º as used for degrees of temperature or angles, is also quite useful.

The symbol for micro in micrometres, is the Greek letter mu, written as µ like the letter u with a tail.

One symbol which was commonly used, especially in relation to atomic spectra, was the letter A with a little hollow circle above the apex Å, which is a special letter in Swedish, that is used to denote an Ångström unit which is equivalent to 0•1 nanometres. The wavelength of the yellow light to which the human eye is most sensitive, would be written as 555 nm or 5550 Å, where the Å should not be confused with A for ampere.

To make decimal fractions clearer, I choose to use the mid-height large-dot symbol • rather than a faint full-stop. It hopefully also minimises the likelyhood of confusion between the contradictory use of full-stops & commas in numbers written the British way versus the European way!

Here are a few more that I use on a regular basis, in addition to the many special letters with accents in French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Czech, Polish and other written languages:

¼ ½ ¾ ± ® ™ © « »

On my ancient third-hand, early-1990s vintage 486 desktop computer, there was also a simple way of using keyboard commands with four-digit ASCII codes when certain other keys are depressed (I cannot reliably remember which, but I think the ALT key was involved), to incorporate a large variety of useful symbols and characters.
 
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You assume correctly!

Please keep in mind that not everyone is acquainted with the various different national and international conventions. Part of my professional remit as a teacher and technical writer / editor, has always been to question potential sources of confusion or ambiguity, so please don't take it as a personal sleight. Many of my students (typically GCSE & GCE "A" Level candidates, plus occasional undergraduates) seem unable to visualise typical sizes or quantities in any common measurement system, whether it be Imperial or metric!

Given your acquaintance with electrical wiring and circuitry, you will probably be familiar with the convention of using i and I to distinguish between instantaneous, sinusoidally varying AC current and peak AC current / constant DC current. When dealing with AC current theory, one uses the alternative convention of adopting j as the symbol for the square-root of negative one (an imaginary number) rather than i as used by mathematicians; enabling one to determine phase differences between current and voltage wave-forms.

The little 2 or superscript 2 can be found in the Symbol section of the Insert menu of Word for Windows, which can then be copied and pasted into one's posts on virtually any on-line forum. There are many other useful symbols and characters to be found there, which I recommend you to investigate, including the little 3 or superscript 3, as used in cm³ for general volume measurements and engine displacements / swept volumes.

The little raised hollow circle symbol º as used for degrees of temperature or angles, is also quite useful.

The symbol for micro in micrometres, is the Greek letter mu, written as µ like the letter u with a tail.

One symbol which was commonly used, especially in relation to atomic spectra, was the A with a little hollow circle above the apex Å, which is a special letter in Swedish, is used to denote an Ångström unit which is equivalent to 0•1 nanometres. The wavelength of the yellow light to which the human eye is most sensitive, would be written as 555 nm or 5550 Å, where the Å should not be confused with A for ampere.

To make decimal fractions clearer, I choose to use the mid-height large-dot symbol • rather than a faint full-stop. It hopefully also minimises the likelyhood of confusion between the contradictory use of full-stops & commas in numbers written the British way versus the European way!

Here are a few more that I use on a regular basis, in addition to the many special letters with accents in French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Czech, Polish and other written languages:

¼ ½ ¾ ± ® ™ © « »

On my ancient third-hand desktop computer, there was also a simple way of using keyboard commands with four-digit ASCII codes when certain other keys are depressed (I cannot reliably remember which, but I think the ALT key was involved), to incorporate a large variety of useful symbols and
 
Teacher, now it makes sense.
You must have a lot of time on your hands.
You have successfully killed any interest i had in the thread i started.
Feel free to ramble on, i won't be watching or contributing any further.
 
seem like you are trying to bait me, but i will assume not as this is a friendly forum.
Why would you say that assuming he's trying to bait you, quite inflammatory thing to say, not friendly and nothing to do with the post topic.
and my earlier post, I was trying to help you, 80amp fuse is not a good route to go but you got narked about that as well. It's all quite hostile purpledog, not friendly :-/
 
I'm gonna lock this thread as the Op says he's not interested anymore, and its sure as anything not worth anyone falling out over.

General advice - if you ask for advice and folk offer it. Either take it, or just smile, say thanks and do what you want anyway. :) But, be nice.
 
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