A bit more spannering

is the second "off"? Sounds like he could be Oirish

 

I've only loosely cable tied my Garmin lead into place. The accessory
socket is down by the starter motor, level with my left calf. I wasn't too
sure if the feeble wires would be robust enough so wanted to be able to rip
it out if needed. As I said above, several Alpine trips on, it works fine
so messing with it is pointless IMV. It seems the socket is inset enough so
that nothing gets rubbed as you move your leg around.

 

Avoid soldered joints on a bike/car/genset or anything that vibrates.
Sooner or later the conductor will snap at the back of the soldered
section. Better to splash out some (not a lot) money on a decent
crimping tool and pukka crimps with proper cable retention.

 

Ah, that makes sense.

The accessory socket sticks out rather on the Tigger so that would be no
good, but the GPS power socket is tucked away in the nose cone.

Bit surprised that the GPS is on the same fuse as the heated grips and
power socket mind

 

Why? The GPS takes bugger all current and as you have found, has a 1A fuse
in the lead so is adequately protected.

It sounds like Triumph have made the "GPS socket" as you describe it, to
the same spec. as the "accessory socket". There's bound to be some idiot
that plugs in a compressor into the "GPS socket" to pump up his airbed as
he's using the other one to make a brew.

 

Ah, no, the other way round IYSWIM.

Due to the location, you're not going to accidentally plug a kettle in
to the GPS socket as it's a bespoke loom rather than a DIN socket,
however I'm more than likely to get a 4-1 adapter and try and run the
kettle, microwave, TV and 3-bar fire off of the accessory socket and be
amazed when the fuse goes.

For reasons of protecting myself from my own stupidity, I'd rather the
accessory socket to run all the things that aren't that important was on
one fuse and the GPS loom was on another, so once I've seen the error of
my ways, I can still get home.

 

You're probably right. Unfortunately to my untrained eye, whilst the
"professionally installed" [1] kit was crimped, it looked like it was
made using one of those crimping tools and terminal sets that get bought
from the pound shop.

Of course as my eye is untrained, it might be the pinnacle of the
electrical installers' art, and I'm doing the installer a dis-service.

[1] By which I suspect he means that he paid someone to do it rather
than it was done by someone who is trained and professionally qualified
to work on vehicle electrics [2]
[2] Is there an Institute of Vehicle Electrical Engineers?

 

Never heard of one. There are plenty of know-nothing cunts who'd like to
think of themselves as autosparks, though.
Now, if zis was Chermany, there vould be.

 

Crimped joits are horribly prone to pulling apart unless made very
properly with professional tools. The best DIY method is to slip a
piece of heatshrink tubing up the wire, solder the joint, then
cover the joint with the tubing and shrink it on to prevent
vibraton reaching the joint (actually the end of the solder which
has wicked up the wire). An inch and a half is about right for
small sizes.

 

there are specific college courses and apprenticeships in auto electrics.
Typically go to level 3 qualifications (used to be called ONC/OND) which
have always been the standard grade of qualification for technicians &
fitters. They won't be very good but at least they might be able to unplug
modules and fit new ones without bending any pins in the connectors.

 

Professional tools help no argument but with half a clue, suitable levels
of dexterity and an appropriate tool[1] any fucking tosser can make a good
crimp. I can and there are few round here would deny I am a fucking
tosser.

Whilst I cannot disagree with your recommendation to use a bit of heat
shrink in the way you describe your reason for doing so is utter fucking
bollox. A properly made soldered joint will outlast you, whereas a bad
one (usually consisting mostly of flux) will break as you describe with or
without the heat shrink and stuff designed for crimping is often not
solder friendly which leads to high risk of a bad joint.



[1] Horses for courses what you use innit but the tool part of the secret
of bodging a crimp is to crimp as little as you can get away with. For
this you need the wire to be a good fit in the lug thingy so you don't
have to deform it much to get a good grip. My personal first choice
favourite is a pair of five anna arfinch "linesman's" wire cutters what I
got on my first day as a yoof with what is now BT but I have been known to
use the closing action of a pair of mole grips on chunky stuff and an
extremely fine pair of cutters wot I think came from a goldsmith on very
fine connectors in computer type plugs that I can operate with my little
finger doing the squeezing. Squeezing is very very important and is a
part of the suitable levels of dexterity bit and really does need to be
done gently so you have good control and the half a clue thing comes from
having fucked up more than a few in my time by not paying attention to the
other two things.

 

http://tinyurl.com/5wgk6ys

 

Well, fucking duh.
What the **** did you think I wrote?

 

You missed out the bit where you should have said that failures of a wire
at the end of the solder are more about the wire being nicked slightly
when it was stripped of it's insulation thus weakening it and making it
more likely to break as the fracture spreads over time due to vibration.

 

Well, yes. Few are capable of achieving those levels, although those of us
who were tutored by the Great Gooch in the Forest of Dean became masters of
bodgery with crimps & soldering irons.

 

Mine didn't have names but they all wore full length[1] brown dust coats.


[1] Rebel me[2]. When I was finally allowed to wear mine other than in
front of the mirror I turned it up a foot and made it 3/4 length and the
sleeves by not much less. Got me in trouble it did.

[2]Well it was the 60's.

 

Cool, fit my new fairing can you mistah ..

Paul.