I installed an amp and speakers in my scoot last season. This season the system worked intermittently. Pulled the fairing and found...



The ground had broken, power about to break

I had soldered the end of the wires to get more bite inside the terminal. That part stayed intact, but the wire outside the terminal broke.

I was thinking of getting a male spade terminal, (crimp and shrink tubed) drilling a hole in the middle, and tightening screws and maybe adding blue loctite to the screws.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks!

 

Possibly tie-wrap the power/ground wires up to take the strain off of the connection points. This may prevent the vibration from fracturing the wire. I also strip wires longer and double them back on themselves to give more bite. That's probably not possible on 8-10 awg wires though.

 

Thanks Sturgis! I'll look to see where I might be able to tie them. BTW, I actually did double the wires back on themselves (it was tough).

 

All 8 gauge wire is not created equal my friend. Most of the cheaper kits like BOSS are closer to 10 gauge rather than 8. Need true 8 gauge wire for a high end set up. Most guys don't want to spend an arm and a leg for an amp wiring kit so I generally recommend the boss kit. Which is good for a starter set up but no where near quality cable with true specs. If you want to do it right here's the wire I recommend. Both for positive and negative connections. You will still need a 40 to 60 amp inline fuse.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/lp/pl...CocaAtQu8P8HAQ

 

Thanks Gann! I would have to tear the bike down and rewire...not sure I can get the parts AND get 'er done before Rockerbox next weekend. I do want it done correctly (and yes, I did use the Boss 8 ga kit)

Can you recommend an inline fuse holder?

Hey, what about this:

 

Perfect!!

 

Kind of strange to see that much stress on those wires. Do you have enough slack in them when u turn the handlebars to the extreme left and right positions? (That is of course only if the amp is installed in the fairing).
U have them zip tied up to stable harnesses or brackets just prior to the amp connections with a little slack?
T.

 

Tailwind, I did NOT have them zip tied to anything...that might be a contributing factor. The wires were straight into the amp.

They seemed to have enough slack in them. They broke outside the terminal (kind of like when you bend a piece of metal too many times and it fails).

 

I bet if you get them zip tied nicely up to some stable stuff up there under the hood so that those wires are slacked at almost zero gravity, ur problem will be solved.

T.

 

As gann stated some wire is better than others. I prefer American wire supply. Extremely flexible and very solid strands. Another highly used affordable brand is sky high. Avoid the cheap crap ad even what I just mentioned is very affordable and may actually be close to same as the overpriced kits are.