Just curious about the different styles out there as far as keeping installs clean. I have seen different people use different methods.
- some do a bench pre-wire where they take out all unneccesary wire, run/tape/strap wires going to the same places together.
- some twist wires together.
- some wrap wires in tape.
- i knew one installer who found all his connections, used bulk wire to connect to all the wiring and then gathered it in one place, then connected it to his starter/alarm.
- some use loom on everything.
just curious what the different styles are out there
I try to do as much pre-wiring and pre-planning as possible before I start. Neat black tape hides well and black zip-ties. I don't hide my installs - but I don't like them to scream at you either. Of course I do very few alarms.
And what is this trend of installers wrapping units and bypasses with the extra wire and shoving it wherever? Drives me nuts - well except for when the starter dies and I get to replace it with one of mine :)
extra wire drives me nuts too. There is a guy here in town, who is a perfectly capable installer and does great work, but he never takes wires out or cuts them down. Every wire is as long in the car as it is out of the box. I can't imagine the extra time it takes to clean it up with all the extra wire....but he does.
I do as much prewiring as possible too. I go in the vehicle and map it out, neatly tape wires together going to the same places. I use loom in some places, if it could use a little extra protection and maeks it look better.
One thing I always seem to have to force myself to remember is taking into account the adjusting/telescoping and tilting steering wheel .. and making sure wires are 1) not in the way of the tilt, and 2) have enough length to accomodate the maximally telescoped steering wheel. This gets tricky at times with tight fitting steering column shrouds, etc.
I pre-wire, cutting down length as much as possible, then make all my connections/solder/etc and then zip tip new bundles of wire to existing OEM bundles. I will double 3M foam tape all accessory modules (bypasskit, data interface, etc) to the top of the r/s brain with all harnesses facing me (including the r/s brain harnesses) for easier trouble shooting in the future. This is definitely NOT stealth install by ANY stretch, but it's user-friendly and troubleshooter-friendly.
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I agree with all of the above except for twisting, its sole purpose is to eliminate interferance* on low current circuits such as CAN networks or speaker wire e.g. Honda and BMW. Unfortunately we have to stealth because of our Cat 1 rules, also find myself having to use that awful fabric backed tape as used on German autos.
*Not sure whether it's inductive or RF interferance but I know demolition and military explosives people use the twisted wire method.
well this is what i do, find where im goin to hide the brain. I like units that have starter relays on board. external relays require more work to hide. i then Plan where the wires go then i cut my wire down to length making sure its long enough to go where i need to and along factory wiring. ill wire what is needed, tape it up with a small piece of tape to hold it in place, tied up all needed wires then tape them up really well. then loom, finally rip tie the loom to factory wiring. I usually get feedback on friends and they say that they didnt even know i messed with their car. so thats what i do =D long process. btw i always solder my wires and use Scotch 33, make sure u dont rip the tape but cut it with a knife or scissors . whewww