Electrical taping techniques
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Joined: Aug 2007
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Army
Electrical taping techniques
I don't see this talked about here - I've been retaping some of my dash harness and started wondering about the best electrician's tape to use and best method to apply it. Seems no matter what I do it starts unraveling after a while and leaves a sticky mess all over the wiring.
I try to keep tension on it and stretch it as I apply it corkscrew wise and double wrap the last loop....still seems to come loose later though.
What have others done that worked better ?
I try to keep tension on it and stretch it as I apply it corkscrew wise and double wrap the last loop....still seems to come loose later though.
What have others done that worked better ?
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: northern california
C2 of Year Finalist (track prepared) 2019
You can buy rolls of harness tape from Lectric Limited, their part number: PM674-005S
Jim
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Army
You don't want to use electrician's tape. The original black harness tape used on wiring harnesses has no adhesive. It was just wrapped around the bundle of wires and then tied off at one end.
You can buy rolls of harness tape from Lectric Limited, their part number: PM674-005S
Jim
You can buy rolls of harness tape from Lectric Limited, their part number: PM674-005S
Jim
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2000
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From: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada NS
I don't see this talked about here - I've been retaping some of my dash harness and started wondering about the best electrician's tape to use and best method to apply it. Seems no matter what I do it starts unraveling after a while and leaves a sticky mess all over the wiring.
I try to keep tension on it and stretch it as I apply it corkscrew wise and double wrap the last loop....still seems to come loose later though.
What have others done that worked better ?
I try to keep tension on it and stretch it as I apply it corkscrew wise and double wrap the last loop....still seems to come loose later though.
What have others done that worked better ?
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 15,421
Likes: 8,873
From: northern california
C2 of Year Finalist (track prepared) 2019
Tieing the end of the harness tape is about as simple as it sounds. When you get to the end of the harness with your wrap, wrap a few extra turns of tape, pulling them all tight as you go. While holding most of the last several turns of harness tape with one hand, loosen the the last couple of turns just enough to thread the end of the tape underneath and start making a knot. Pull tight.
That's the technique I use, but experiment to develop your own technique. Since harness tape has no adhesive, you can always unwrap it and try again.
Jim
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From: Inverness FL
St. Jude Donor '07
Frank
this is what i used to wrap all the harnesses we made when doing all my mods; i got it at Lowes. seems to be, as the name implies, super tape...
i have always done the wrapping by lapping half over the preceding wrap and then when i get to the end do several over-wraps and stretch the tape tight until it snaps. John prefers to do the ends by several over -wraps of normal tightness and then instead of stretching the tape until it snaps, snip the tape and just stick it in place. either way, so far, has stayed tight; even with the heat of the engine compartment.
Bill
this is what i used to wrap all the harnesses we made when doing all my mods; i got it at Lowes. seems to be, as the name implies, super tape...
i have always done the wrapping by lapping half over the preceding wrap and then when i get to the end do several over-wraps and stretch the tape tight until it snaps. John prefers to do the ends by several over -wraps of normal tightness and then instead of stretching the tape until it snaps, snip the tape and just stick it in place. either way, so far, has stayed tight; even with the heat of the engine compartment.
Bill
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Michael S. Palmer
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From: Washington Michigan
Tieing the end of the harness tape is about as simple as it sounds. When you get to the end of the harness with your wrap, wrap a few extra turns of tape, pulling them all tight as you go. While holding most of the last several turns of harness tape with one hand, loosen the the last couple of turns just enough to thread the end of the tape underneath and start making a knot. Pull tight.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Newark DE
I HATE black electrical tape in cars. It never stays wound, it will unravel and leave a sticky mess. This goes back years from when i was in the car audio industry.
If I need to splice wires I always solder and use heat shrink over the connection. Nice, neat, professional, and it no messy stickiness from electricians tape. If I need to splice several wires in the same harness I stagger the solder splices so they are not all in the same place otherwise you get a big lump when wrapping the harness back up.
If I need to wrap wires in a harness I also use the black harness tape with no adhesive like Jim mentioned. It's neat, no stickiness, stays wound together, and you can unwrap it and redo it when needed.
When I got my '78 it had a non-working aftermarket alarm system in it that I had to remove. Everything was connected with butt connectors (I hate those too - that's just a connection waiting to fail!) and TONS of electricians tape. H*ll, half the connections weren't even butt connected together, just bare wires twisted together and wrapped in electricians tape. What a mess! The wires and my hands were covered in black sticky crap all over from the tape. Man, I was cussing Bubba the alarm installer on that deal.
If I need to splice wires I always solder and use heat shrink over the connection. Nice, neat, professional, and it no messy stickiness from electricians tape. If I need to splice several wires in the same harness I stagger the solder splices so they are not all in the same place otherwise you get a big lump when wrapping the harness back up.
If I need to wrap wires in a harness I also use the black harness tape with no adhesive like Jim mentioned. It's neat, no stickiness, stays wound together, and you can unwrap it and redo it when needed.
When I got my '78 it had a non-working aftermarket alarm system in it that I had to remove. Everything was connected with butt connectors (I hate those too - that's just a connection waiting to fail!) and TONS of electricians tape. H*ll, half the connections weren't even butt connected together, just bare wires twisted together and wrapped in electricians tape. What a mess! The wires and my hands were covered in black sticky crap all over from the tape. Man, I was cussing Bubba the alarm installer on that deal.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2002
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From: Wheaton IL
Frank
this is what i used to wrap all the harnesses we made when doing all my mods; i got it at Lowes. seems to be, as the name implies, super tape...
i have always done the wrapping by lapping half over the preceding wrap and then when i get to the end do several over-wraps and stretch the tape tight until it snaps. John prefers to do the ends by several over -wraps of normal tightness and then instead of stretching the tape until it snaps, snip the tape and just stick it in place. either way, so far, has stayed tight; even with the heat of the engine compartment.
Bill
this is what i used to wrap all the harnesses we made when doing all my mods; i got it at Lowes. seems to be, as the name implies, super tape...
i have always done the wrapping by lapping half over the preceding wrap and then when i get to the end do several over-wraps and stretch the tape tight until it snaps. John prefers to do the ends by several over -wraps of normal tightness and then instead of stretching the tape until it snaps, snip the tape and just stick it in place. either way, so far, has stayed tight; even with the heat of the engine compartment.
Bill
I used this stuff too and it worked great.
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Army
Yeah lacing cord & I too have wrapped many an aircraft harness from P-2 WW-II aircraft to F-4s, A-6s & F-14s. I had a roll of that as well as a large spool of stainless steel safety wire which I lost or gave away over the years and occasionally cuss myself for not having it around !
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 2,460
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From: Wheaton IL
They still used the lacing cord in telecommunications offices to dress cables. I used to work in engineering for a telecom equipment manufacturer and rolls of it were all over the place. My favorite use is to bundle branches for curbside pickup!
brian
brian
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I bought some of this stuff at from a vendor at Carlisle. It looks interesting, if it performs as advertised. It has no "stickum" on it and sticks only to itself. Only drawback for wire wrapping would be that when it bonds to itself it is more or less permanent depending on the pressure of the wrap, so it may have to be cut off to remove it. Supposed to be used mainly for patching leaks in hoses, but I bought it with the intention of using it as wire wrap.
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 58,061
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Army
I bought some of this stuff at from a vendor at Carlisle. It looks interesting, if it performs as advertised. It has no "stickum" on it and sticks only to itself. Only drawback for wire wrapping would be that when it bonds to itself it is more or less permanent depending on the pressure of the wrap, so it may have to be cut off to remove it. Supposed to be used mainly for patching leaks in hoses, but I bought it with the intention of using it as wire wrap.
