Wire for tail and signal lights

[valkmc]

Hey, does anyone know what gauge the tail and signal light wire is? 16 or 18 maybe?

Thanks

[Bagger John - #3785]

18ga. 16 works in a pinch to build your own accessory harness (which I've done multiple times).

[RonW]

Might be even less than 18. I always use 14ga if the wire runs along the frame etc. to get to the tail light. Anyways, my suggestion is go larger gauge. Btw, are you soldering the wires together. If not then what type connectors are you using to join the wires?

[valkmc]

Might be even less than 18. I always use 14ga if the wire runs along the frame etc. to get to the tail light. Anyways, my suggestion is go larger gauge. Btw, are you soldering the wires together. If not then what type connectors are you using to join the wires?

Not sure yet! I don't solder much. Most likely the connectors you slide the wire in from each side and then shrink wrap. Have had luck with that in the past.

[Bagger John - #3785]

Go to Electrical Connection and get a kit of the correct (metric) bullet-style connectors plus a decent crimper.

You'll thank me.

[RonW]

"Not sure yet! I don't solder much. Most likely the connectors you slide the wire in from each side and then shrink wrap. Have had luck with that in the past."


The thing that I don't like about most butt connectors is they don't allow the wire strands to overlap at the joint and form a copper-to-copper contact. You could drill out the stop in the middle of the barrel to allow the wires to overlap but that's an extra step. Oh, the reason I asked about what type wire connector you're using is that by chance perhaps some member found a revolutionary connector.


This type were formerly available only to the aircraft/marine industry but now they're sold everywhere with varying degrees of quality. There are some available with a crimp feature but hard to find. I watched a youtube video where the author sliced the finished product in half and the low temperature solder didn't saturate the overlapping wire strands completely on 14g wires here. Since the joint is also held together by adhesive, an inferior solder joint isn't holding the two wires together by itself. On, 18g wires, solder saturation was okay. The hot melt adhesive also provides a water proof seal in addition to the shrink tube.