Installing connectors for your wiring: Difference between revisions

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[[Category:Electrical & Lighting]]

__TOC__

====Cleaning up the mess====

Let's say that your bike's previous owner mangled the turn signals connections due to his inept electrical skills. Or, perhaps you want to add some electrical accessories, but don't want the permanence of [[Soldering 101|soldering]]. Electrical connectors are your answer.

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[[Image: molex2_02.jpg|150px]]

====Molex connectors====

Here is the replacement: 3 pin Molex connectors. Any electronics store should stock these. 0.62" connectors were chosen for several reasons:

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[[Image: molex2_01.jpg|150px]]

The aftermarket turn signal lamps have three leads, and the motorcycle's electrical connection only has 2 lines. The third lead will be uninhabited on the bike-side connector, which is perfectly OK. It could be used for a [[I want to make the stock front flasher pods into ~~DRL's.~~|DRL line]] into the front signal light later. The third line will leave that option open.

The aftermarket turn signal lamps have three leads, and the motorcycle's electrical connection only has 2 lines. The third lead will be uninhabited on the bike-side connector, which is perfectly OK. It could be used for a [[I want to make the stock front flasher pods into DRLs|DRL line]] into the front signal light later. The third line will leave that option open.

These are the plastic Molex connectors. Here you can see the female connector on the left meeting the male connector on the right. The "wings" on the connector are for mounting the connectors on a PCB, or other plastic housing. As you're probably not mounting these connectors onto anything, you can clip them off.

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The wires are twisted, and a significant amount of the insulation has been stripped away. Since it was shortened to begin with, we don't want to trim this wire.

====Using heat shrink tubing to cover exposed wire====

Here you see that the crimp-on connector still leaves exposed wire. This needs to be covered, or else it is going to short on something.

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[[Image: molex2_05.jpg|150px]]

Use a hair dryer or heat gun to shrink the tubing. All the wires are now insulated. The middle one had nearly an inch of wire that was exposed. They are now ready to be crimped. The bottom wire shows a good angle of how the heatshrink tubing is going to be under the crimping "wing" bits. This looks neat, protects the wiring from shorts, and isn't going to degrade very easily.

Use a hair dryer or heat gun to shrink the tubing ('''Not''' a lighter). All the wires are now insulated. The middle one had nearly an inch of wire that was exposed. They are now ready to be crimped. The bottom wire shows a good angle of how the heatshrink tubing is going to be under the crimping "wing" bits. This looks neat, protects the wiring from shorts, and isn't going to degrade very easily.

[[Image: molex2_06.jpg|150px]]

====Finishing up====

After crimping the bottom crimp, the terminals are installed into the Molex sheaths. The ones in these pictures are the "barrel" type receiving connectors. The barrel connectors are put into the "male" Molex connectors. The spear-type connectors are put into the "female" Molex connector. You'll notice that one of the connectors only has 2 wires. The turn signal has 3 wires, and the bike only has two, so a three-terminal connector was used to avoid dangling wires.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Category:Electrical & Lighting]]
+__TOC__
+====Cleaning up the mess====
 Let's say that your bike's previous owner mangled the turn signals connections due to his inept electrical skills. Or, perhaps you want to add some electrical accessories, but don't want the permanence of [[Soldering 101|soldering]]. Electrical connectors are your answer.
@@ Line 7: / Line 10: @@
 [[Image: molex2_02.jpg|150px]]
+====Molex connectors====
 Here is the replacement: 3 pin Molex connectors. Any electronics store should stock these. 0.62" connectors were chosen for several reasons:
@@ Line 17: / Line 22: @@
 [[Image: molex2_01.jpg|150px]]
-The aftermarket turn signal lamps have three leads, and the motorcycle's electrical connection only has 2 lines. The third lead will be uninhabited on the bike-side connector, which is perfectly OK. It could be used for a [[I want to make the stock front flasher pods into DRL's.|DRL line]] into the front signal light later. The third line will leave that option open.
+The aftermarket turn signal lamps have three leads, and the motorcycle's electrical connection only has 2 lines. The third lead will be uninhabited on the bike-side connector, which is perfectly OK. It could be used for a [[I want to make the stock front flasher pods into DRLs|DRL line]] into the front signal light later. The third line will leave that option open.
 These are the plastic Molex connectors. Here you can see the female connector on the left meeting the male connector on the right. The "wings" on the connector are for mounting the connectors on a PCB, or other plastic housing. As you're probably not mounting these connectors onto anything, you can clip them off.
@@ Line 38: / Line 43: @@
 The wires are twisted, and a significant amount of the insulation has been stripped away. Since it was shortened to begin with, we don't want to trim this wire.
+====Using heat shrink tubing to cover exposed wire====
 Here you see that the crimp-on connector still leaves exposed wire. This needs to be covered, or else it is going to short on something.
@@ Line 49: / Line 56: @@
 [[Image: molex2_05.jpg|150px]]
-Use a hair dryer or heat gun to shrink the tubing. All the wires are now insulated. The middle one had nearly an inch of wire that was exposed. They are now ready to be crimped. The bottom wire shows a good angle of how the heatshrink tubing is going to be under the crimping "wing" bits. This looks neat, protects the wiring from shorts, and isn't going to degrade very easily.
+Use a hair dryer or heat gun to shrink the tubing ('''Not''' a lighter). All the wires are now insulated. The middle one had nearly an inch of wire that was exposed. They are now ready to be crimped. The bottom wire shows a good angle of how the heatshrink tubing is going to be under the crimping "wing" bits. This looks neat, protects the wiring from shorts, and isn't going to degrade very easily.
 [[Image: molex2_06.jpg|150px]]
+====Finishing up====
 After crimping the bottom crimp, the terminals are installed into the Molex sheaths. The ones in these pictures are the "barrel" type receiving connectors. The barrel connectors are put into the "male" Molex connectors. The spear-type connectors are put into the "female" Molex connector. You'll notice that one of the connectors only has 2 wires. The turn signal has 3 wires, and the bike only has two, so a three-terminal connector was used to avoid dangling wires.