3 things that make a relay look factory fitted

[ogri48]

you probably know all these already. me, being a builder, did not

I only found out about five years ago you can get relays with built in fuse holders. bolt it somewhere to allow access to the fuse and it looks pukka... No more inline fuses flapping about. At roughly the same time I also found out you can get actual relay connection blocks, that look so much better than lots of naked spade connectors crimped to wires. Its easy to remove the tabs too, so you can swap them around depending on what colour tail you want to use for permanent live/switched feed etc. brilliant. Finally, last summer my bro in law showed me these luter connectors you can get. normally, I try to spline wires together then solder them then heat shrink over. These luter jobbies you just feed a wire in from either end so the bare strands are in the inbuilt solder band, then apply heat via a small nozzle on a hot air gun.dunno if the solder has a low melting point or summat, but it melts, bonds the wires, and then heat shrinks over the join. cleverly thought out too...one side has a slightly larger bore, meaning you can splice thicker cable to thinner, or if taking a spur off (as I did for a switched feed off the back light), you can feed two wires into the larger bore to meld into the single wire on the other side. all three things together make for a pro looking job that you aint gotta worry about. I still used a big heat shrink to contain all the wires and look neat, but its nice to know each individual joint underneath is both strong and watertight. And it looks factory, along with taking the worry outta leaving the grips on. took the xjr out today with both heated grips and underjacket and it was berluddy lovely. the trade off for three hours out on the bike was an hour to wash the salt off and drown it in fs365/wd40, but worth it.

[ogri48]

 

[Frosties]

Have to admit it does look factory fitted - cracking job 


I work with Control Panels, wiring every day and have never seen these " heat n solder" connectors.....brilliant idea.


And you know the next question fella 


Where did you get them, I love them, want them and need them - don't NEED right now but would be great to have when I do.[size=78%] [/size]

[ogri48]

Amazon mate 😉👍

[His Dudeness]

I never would have guessed that was a relay. Looks like a connector. Very tidy install! The solder and seal connectors look very handy too.

[ogri48]

cheers mate, though its easy with the right bits innit them luter connectors aint cheap, thirty quid for the boxfull I think, but a cant see i'll ever have to buy anymore theres loads in the box

[His Dudeness]

Yea good quality electrical connectors aren't cheap but as you say if you make the investment and buy a box you should have them for life. Soldering isn't cheap either. You need a decent soldering iron with a bit of power, good quality leaded solder, rosin flux, cleaner for the iron tip and heat shrink. It all adds up but it's a good skill to have if you can repair wiring I'd like to get a really nice crimper tool for doing the OEM style block connectors. Another tool to add to the list

[limax2]

Thanks for that, some useful tips there. I didn't know about the built in fuse or the Luter connectors. You do see some right botched wiring jobs at times so it's nice to see the neat job you've done there. That box of connectors should keep you going for a while. 

[ogri48]

im learning every day mate lol, nice to be able to pass it on

[mtread]

.... and for the cheapskates amongst us, available from Lidl this week, £2.99 each