More Floor Progress 65 caravel

[gwchitty]

I wrestled the front floor section out of the Caravel this weekend and started work on new pieces to go back in. In the process I cleaned out two plastic grocery-bags full of crud off of the belly pan. About 15 pounds of dirt, mouse crap, acorn shells, and a relatively small amount of insulation. I'll go over all the electrical connections while their accessible. In the attached picture you can see the pigtail and breakaway wiring emerge from the frame. The wire going up the wall is for the front marker lights. The black pigtail lead changes to red and goes to the brakes. The blue pigtail lead is for battery charge and includes a circuit breaker. The yellow wire is a mystery still, its not for back-up lights.

The biggest leak came from the Caravel nameplate mounting holes. This was evident from the water stains inside the outer skin.

When I run my new pigtail wire, should I go out thru the little hole in the top of the hitch (near the jack) or should I just go straight out of the frame channel like modern trailers? I wonder if the extra tight bends cause early wire failure?

[Silverhobby]

The tight bends do not likely make wire fail early on. Frequently bending the wires might cause failure. I wired my new wires back through the hole on top of the hitch in my 62 Bambi II.

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by cosmos

,,,When I run my new pigtail wire, should I go out thru the little hole in the top of the hitch (near the jack) or should I just go straight out of the frame channel like modern trailers? I wonder if the extra tight bends cause early wire failure?

The tight bends are not a problem as long as there is no tension on the wire--the big failure item in a tight bend is the insulation if it's up against an edge. One other requirement in an area of tight bends is a good gromet.

I believe the yellow wire is the brake line. See the 1970's electrical diagrams here (I'm assuming the color code remained the same):
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f37/...ams-38170.html

For some reason I had it in my head that yellow was the main charge line from the tow vehicle--I'm going to have to check my latest installation in the Sovereign!

Zep

[gwchitty]

Thanks Guys, I'll go with the top hole and grommet. Good point about tension being the issue for cable wear. As for the yellow wire, it is headed towards the battery but I won't know for sure until the final floor segment comes up. By the way, everything I can find says the yellow is a brake line. But the reality for my coach is the black pigtail wire turns red and runs to the wheels. It doesn't appear to have been modified but it could have.



One segment of the front floor had been replaced by an idiot. It didn't go under the wall channel and wasn't bolted in anywhere. It was held in place by a generous application of expanding foam. The only good thing is it came out with just a pry of a screwdriver. And at least they didn't butcher something putting the patch in. Maybe I'm being too hard on the PO, he may not have had the access to Airforums back then.

[Stefrobrts]

Sounds like you're making good progress. Don't be too hard on the PO, how was he to know expanding foam wasn't structural?

Good luck, I've been there, you're better than halfway through. It all gets easy once the nasty old stuff is up.

[Darol Ingalls]

Here's the factory wire color code: red-left signal, brown-right signal, green-running and tail, black-back-up lights, blue-charge, yellow-brakes, white ground. New 7-wire cord is available from NAPA or RV suppliers that has these colors. Cut an access hole in the belly pan so you can get to this wire junction in the future. Of course, make a good cover (patch) for the hole! Go to a marine supplier and get a 6-terminal block with screw terminals. Mount this to the underside of your new floor straight above your access hole. Now, use ring terminals on the ends of all your wires, match up the colors on the terminal block. I mount the terminal block on a piece of white 1/2" sign-board plywood large enough to label each terminal with wire color and use. Makes it real easy for the "next guy" to figure out what's what. The blue charge wire with the circuit breaker is left as is, but fasten it to the floor also. You should also have a power wire going to the break-away switch on the hitch. It might be yellow, blue, or red. It gets it's power from the trailer side of the charge wire so that the trailer battery provides the power. The return wire from the break-away switch attatches to the yellow brake wire (terminal) to provide power to the brakes in case the worst happens. If you ever have to replace the 7-wire cord to the tow vehicle, for whatever reason, the terminal block and access hole will make the job much easier. Darol

[gwchitty]

Thanks for the encouragement and the tips. I really like the terminal block idea!