33 replies to this topic

[mini93]

Unlucky mate Sorry to hear. A message to all, buy fire extinguishers! Rita will have one when she's done!

Better to invest even if its a cheap one than stand and watch as your livelihood burns away infront of your eyes.

Halfords do them for under 25 quid including a mount!

a £25 foam fire extinsuisher will do nothing... just so you know

[samsfern]

Youd have more luck throwing a bag of flour onto the fire then you would with a cheap fire extinguisher.

[mini93]

I work at a place that manufacturers fire extinsuishers for motorsport and military vehicles, if you could see what it takes to put out some test fires we conduct, you wouldnt be scrimping... of course prevention is the best route here. Theres no reason why if a cars in good condition it should have an accident. I dont have one in my road car afterall.

[Bungle]

no bungle wiring not been touched. All standard apart from a 12v socket which has been in over a year and is fused and wired properly. hard to tell now but I think that the coating has just perished after 33 years of use and finally shorted out quite spectacularly!

it's just one of the last topics you started you were asking about how to do some wiring

[Orange-Phantom]

Sorry to hear about this fella! Not really what you want when taking your car for a drive! Glad your all okay though!

What type of fire extinguisher would you recommend Mini93? After hearing this I want to get one for my garage at least!

[mini93]

For a garage a 9-litre foam, as seen in workshops will be of use.

For my mini im going for a gas system when its complete, they are lighter and much more effective, downside being, they are alot more expensive.

Something to remember though, the purpose for an extinguisher isnt to save the car, its to delay the same exit of the occupents of the vehicle. If it does however manage to save the car, its simply a bonus for the safety of the passengers.

[robminibcy]

Would like to just clarify the fact that it was a very small fire and was put out almost immediately! Just in case people have visions of a raging inferno pouring from under the bonnet! Car has had wiring in past yes bungle but not recently. All wiring has been done properly with soldering and heat shrink not simply twisted and taped up! Wiring has not been altered just fixed and restored. Brand new loom arriving tomorrow so should be sorted then. Looks like it started down by the starter solenoid although hard to tell as a bit charred.

[Bungle]

i have read that you should never solder the wiring loom in a car as it causes a inflexible bit to form on the cable and due to vibrations can cause a week point

i'm a domestic sparky by trade and soldering isn't my thing so can't comment my self

[robminibcy]

Oh? Never heard that one before. I would have thought though that it would be preferable over having wires contacting only through touching each other which could cause additional resistance. Either way it doesn't seem to have anything to do with any work that's been done to the car. will be all new soon so no problems in the near future I hope!

[Alex_B]

Plus bad soldering can be brittle and split away from the copper wire and thus create a short if it were to contact bodywork,

going for a new loom is a good idea which I will be putting into practice at some point as even though my loom is quite tidy and original it will probably be a bit brittle after its 28 years and the thought of an electrical fire does worry me a bit,

[Bungle]

Oh? Never heard that one before. I would have thought though that it would be preferable over having wires contacting only through touching each other which could cause additional resistance. Either way it doesn't seem to have anything to do with any work that's been done to the car. will be all new soon so no problems in the near future I hope!

if soldering is better why is most car wiring crimped ?

[mini93]

Id say automation, assembly of looms is alot easier when everythings terminated and you just need to slot a terminated wire into a connector. The MOD dont mind about solder joints so i doubt its a vibration concern.
Solder isnt too bad as long as its soldered correctly. But its whats called dry solder joints which are a problem when you havent got the wire correctly ahearded to the parent material

[Alex_B]

Also crimping is down to faster manufacturing I would imagine, a lot quicker to crimp on a connector than solder it

[Noah]

Ease of manufacture, to solder a joint takes a-lot longer than to crimp one.

[robminibcy]

i would have thought mainly for speed of production Allowing for easy alteration for differant models and because the connections are usually to plugs and connectors which are a differant material to the wire and therefore the solder wouldn't join properly. Where mine has been soldered it in the middle of circuits where previous owners have chopped stuff out and I have put it back to how it should be.