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MG Midget and Sprite General - Cables

When replacing old and unreliable wiring to headlights etc, has anyone used modern thinwall cable and is it compatible with the standard types of bullet etc connectors as used on the old system?

I understand that the thinwall stuff can carry a heavier load for the same diameter.

Dave
D MATTHEWS

Thinwall cable refers to the thickness of the PVC insulation.

It's thinner on thinwall, than the older so called "thickwall". It's suitable for low voltage, such as 12 volt systems on cars.

Assuming the same quality of copper is used, for a given cross section area (of the copper core), you'll get the same current carrying capacity.

As for bullet termination, again it will depend on the thickness of the copper core.

Lawrence Slater

Hi Dave,

yes, I have.

Here's a link to British Wiring's web site, with a comparison between the original, and thin wall that they sell (BTW, in the UK, you'd purchase from Autosparks, their source)::

http://www.britishwiring.com/CAT02_07.PDF

http://www.britishwiring.com/CAT06_07.PDF

But please note that it won't necessarily last longer than the OE wire did. Wire itself doesn't get "bad" unless it has been chafed, worn or overheated. 99% of harness problems are in the connectors, which can be cleaned, and replaced as needed, during an overhaul.

If replacing an entire harness, it is fine to use the original wire size/shape. In my case, I used thin wall when I needed to use some connectors that would not fit the OE sized wire into their terminals, not for a performance difference.

After doing the math, I was satisfied that the OEM 28 strand wire (17.5A capacity) for the headlights was capable of handling two 65W/55W bulbs and an additional 50W driving light. If you are going for 100W high beams, then I agree that new, larger capacity wires are needed, either 44 strand (like used for the horns, 25.5A), or thin wall 28 (25A)

In a modern car with a harness comprising many times more wires than our cars have in them, the bundles can get huge and then the thin wall stuff can make a really noticeable difference, in packaging space and weight.

Norm
Norm Kerr

This thread was discussed between 18/12/2011 and 19/12/2011

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