Clams Canino

Now that I have the seats and rugs out of my '68.... I can see that 2 of the 3 fiberoptic cables coming from the rear are broken.

Of course the break is at a corner. They travel on the wall behind the seat toward center and then turn "north" at the inside tunnel corner by the e-brake to head up under the console. They are broken right at the apex of that corner.

So what's the best fix? (aside from a new rear harness)

Thanks!

-W

SmokinBBC

New piece of cable and shrink tubing.

You can get a repair kit at Ecklers

http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?p...7&dept_id=1153

There are other places as well

http://www.watsons-streetworks.com/fiberoptic.html

Red 71

Corvette Central also sells repair kit.

jnb5101

i've tried them all, and none are effective.

Clams Canino

So: Assuming one does not want to add cable (thereby turning 1 splice into 2 splices) the "kit" is nothing but shrink sleeve to splice the broken cable together?

And you're saying it doesn't work well? As in light is noteably dimmer?

-W

avner

You can find plastic fiber optic cable and root them separately to the rear, that what I done to the rear & front.
Avner

jnb5101

the light transmission thru the joint is poor and the light intensity at the dash is extremely low. i've tried every combination of materials i could think of to butt the pieces together, but once the light leaves one end of the cable, the other end just won't pick it up. i have noted that the ends of the factory cables have a "button" of some type that may act as a lens to collect more light at the source. there may be kits that are used for optic data lines that have special connections, but just butting the ends together (in my experience) doesn't work.

7T1vette

The critical factor in getting a 'splice' to work well with fiber optic (glass) cable is that the spliced ends need to be cut precisely true and the faces need to be polished so that they have no (or very little) mismatch in fitting together. Any air gap between the two sections of cable will cause poor transfer of light between them. I don't think that heat-shrink tubing will hold the two pieces together well enough to keep them 'mated'. I would think a mechanical collar or binding them with epoxy would be much more effective than shrink tubing.

Clams Canino

Thanks for all the replys.

I'm going to try my best possible butt-splice tonight with shrink sleeve after facing the cable ends. If I'm not happy with that, I'll just get some new cable on fleabay and make a new 3 wire run for the back. Only so much time to put into a repair when replace might be better and faster. (sigh)

Avner... do you remember what you used and from where?

-W (never thought fiberoptics would become an issue this time)

Artsvette73

Back in the 70's we repaired many fiber optics in the assemly plant. The ends need to be cut square. Find a piece of wire that the insulation wil fit snug over the fiber optic. Strip the copper out and make sure the two ends butt up against each other. The shrink tube method maybe sinking into the splice pushing the splice apart and blocking off the fiber optic.

Clams Canino

Thanks Art.... I'll try it.

-W (the last thing I wanted to detain me was fiberoptic stuff)

avner

I don't have the details, what I remember it was a company from Japan that was connected to our company and they sent me example of 50 meter for free, it was 10 years ago when I made the frame off.
I'm sure if you make a Yahoo/Google you can find it.
I found this link: http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/Unjacketed.htm
pick the right size like the original.
Avner

69Vett

If your goning to splice them,
1. use a new razor blade, cut them square 90 Degrees.
2. I use a short peice of 2-4" metal tubing with inside dia.
same as Optic cable outside Diameter,
( you can buy Aluminum or brass tubing at Hobby Lobby and such places)
this will keep the light paths aligned.
shrink tubing will flex and let the cables bend out of alignment.
after everything is together dab some RTV on the ends of the tubing to hold the optic cable in place. if you want slap some heat shrink ove the whole repair when done.
69VETT

highschool67

I use the end of a 18 gauge female spade terminal cut in half. The soft aluminum made to be crimped is just long enough to accept both ends of the freshly 90 degree cut ends. I push them flush and give a light crimp to hold them aligned. I used heat shrink afterwords to make it light tight.

7T1vette

That sounds like a workable approach.

Clams Canino

Try as I might.. I just can't get much light through any kind of splice. It's the 2 red ones that are broken and the "red only" light isn't the brightest in the world to start with. A slice just results in too much loss. Looks like I'm going to be running some new cable when the time comes. I'll make a 3 wire optic harness with e-tape and run it back through the regular harness grommet. (sigh)

Thanks for all the help...

-W

Iliad

Another alternative is to go to a junk yard and look for an older Caddy and liberate all the fiberoptic lines. Look for a mid 80's Caddy. Should only cost a couple of bucks.

Drbluevert

I have fixed so much fiber optic I can do this blind folded!
A lab scientist at Lucent (years ago) showed me how the pros do it.
With both ends in a head to head overlap (about 1/4" to 3/8") and a new razorblade, cut both at the same time (You do the same with wallpaper and flooring to get the same duplicate/matching cut) make sure both ends are round and open - Butt these two ends together as they were cut, on top of a small scrap of foil and a dot of clear windshield stone chip repair epoxy (the dot covers one half of the splice). Remember that you are only bridging the outside - never on the inside edge of the fiber. this epoxy sets in seconds so apply one more dot and gently fold foil over while still wet - don't apply pressure! (it will bond and protect the repair. Some micro amount of epoxy does bridge the cut face ends. Oh, and it was one the first repairs I did on a friend's Vette over 15 years ago and still is good today.

Drbluevert

Or you can just go to Graingers and Michaels.

71rdster

I believe that Lectric Limited sells the fiberoptic harness as a separate item. if you are not able to make satisfactory repairs to your old harness.