speedyxjs
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 02:53 PM |
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Easiest way to design wiring
Sooner or later, i am going to have to start on my wiring and i wondered if there were any programs (free?) that could help me design a wiring diagram
for my car.
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vinny1275
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 03:12 PM |
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I looked about when I was doing the engine/megasquirt wiring on the pinto, and got bored trying to find one - paper and pencil worked fine for me....
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Land Locked
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 03:23 PM |
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Paper n pencil.
1. Make lil squares/circles in an aproximation of final layout.
2. At each square circle make marks for every wire needed for that item
3. Play join the dots.
Remember that some items will want a constant positive and others will need to be switched.
Don't be shy with fuses, the fewer items running on a fuse the easier it is to trace the fault when they do go faulty.
Edit: Use as many different coloured wires as possible and try not to use similar colours for similar circuits or items close to each other.
[Edited on 20/5/09 by Land Locked]
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Nosey
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 03:41 PM |
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Have wired a few cars and found the best way for me was to draw out the dash (and all wires needed), then what's needed in the engine bay, then
what has to come from the rear, then just start wiring it, taking notes of the colour of wires as you go.
(None of them were perfect when I first turned on the ignition, but none of the problems were biggies!)
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Mix
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 04:19 PM |
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Hi
I like the 'look' of Smartdraw however couldn't source a Locost version. I found Visio OK but limited, (probably by my ability), and
search as I might I couldn't find a program where you could design a circuit and then the software would 'test' it for you.
Regards Mick
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mr henderson
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 04:38 PM |
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Depends on how you value your time versus your cash. If it was me I would contact Premier WIring, tell him what you are building, and get him to make
you a loom.
It's not just the time saved, it's the fact that in order to make a reliable loom, with different colour codes for all the different
functions, you are going to need lots and lots of different cable, and as you don't know the lengths you will need, there will be quite a bit os
wastage, so you probably won't save any money anyway (unless you do what some of my previous customers have done, and just use two or three
different colours  )
John
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speedyxjs
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 05:12 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mr henderson
Depends on how you value your time versus your cash. If it was me I would contact Premier WIring, tell him what you are building, and get him to make
you a loom.
It's not just the time saved, it's the fact that in order to make a reliable loom, with different colour codes for all the different
functions, you are going to need lots and lots of different cable, and as you don't know the lengths you will need, there will be quite a bit os
wastage, so you probably won't save any money anyway (unless you do what some of my previous customers have done, and just use two or three
different colours )
John
Id like to do it myself as i suck at wiring 
I need to learn.
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Land Locked
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 05:27 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by mr henderson
It's not just the time saved, it's the fact that in order to make a reliable loom, with different colour codes for all the different
functions, you are going to need lots and lots of different cable,
John
Oops, I didn't think 'bout that, kind of forgot that not everybody has a wire caddy with rolls of different colours n sizes.
The caddy was an hours work one evening, filling it cost a small fortune. Buying tiny 3 or 5 metre rolls doesn't work, mine are all 30 metre
rolls of mostly 1.5 with a roll each of red n black in 4mm.
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mr henderson
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 05:49 PM |
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I fitted a premier loom a while back, and wen I saw what went into it, and considered what had been paid for it (something like £130 including VAT and
postage, I decided there and then I was never going to make a loom from scratch unless there was some compelling reason, and money saving was not
going to be one of them!
Learn plenty just installing and connecting one, don't need to make it up for that.
John
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blakep82
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| posted on 20/5/09 at 06:31 PM |
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i used microsoft visio too. works ok. not perfect, but allows you to place all the symbols in the right kind of places, print it out, and that way you
can count out what wires go where.
i split my car in 3 sections. front middle and back. all the rear lights, fuel pump etc wires all went into one budle, split tube and routed that,
front lights were the same, not done the middle yet, or engine electrics, but if you know roughly where things are going, its easy to work out after
and how many wires go together.
________________________
IVA manual link http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?type=RESOURCES&itemId=1081997083
don't write OT on a new thread title, you're creating the topic, everything you write is very much ON topic!
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