Re: type3-d Digest V2006 #77

[Jim Adney <jadney@vwtype3.org>]

On 3 Mar 2006 at 9:59, J. Jonik wrote:

>    Thanks for rap on wiring.  One thing I'll do when
> it warms up a bit is to go around cleaning up
> connections.

IMO, "cleaning up connections" is a much over-hyped exercise. The 
only parts of the metal that are important are the parts that are 
pressed against each other, and those parts will always connect as 
long as they are tight. They self-clean, by virtue of being tight and 
the wiping action of connecting them. The parts that you can actually 
see are totally passive and irrelevant to the connection.

The tightness is the key, so connections that have been frequently 
disconnected are the most troublesome. Bob Hoover has a theory about 
the brass losing its temper after some years, but I'm not sure I 
believe that. It certainly hasn't happened to most of the connectors 
on my VWs.

>  But....what about, for one, the wire from the
> condenser at the condenser end?  The plastic always
> seems to break there, exposing the copper wires. No
> insulation worries?

Insulation is only there to keep the conductor from touching other 
metal that's at a different voltage. If there's no other metal 
around, then there's no problem. Here's a secret: Green corroded wire 
conducts just as well as bright shiny wire. Exposure to air is not a 
problem.

Of course that's assuming that not a lot of the actual copper has 
corroded away. I've personally never seen a wire in a car which has 
corroded away to a serious degree.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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