cleaning wires

[charlies]

the wires of my under-hood harness are in good shape. they are supple, and somehow, no moron has ever spliced into it. however, the tape is coming unwound in places, and the wires have grease and grime on them in places. it is not overwhelming in quantity, but it is not coming off with soap and warm water. any suggestions? also, any tips for cleaning the plugs?

 

[2nd Mustang]

I use vinyl dressing, like the ones used on tires. I also found this tire cleaner at the 99 cents store that cleans the tire before using the dressing, works well, so maybe could be used on the wires too?

 

[charlies]

thanks. do you think vynil dressing would prevent an elect. tape wrap from sticking afterwards?

 

[2nd Mustang]

thanks. do you think vynil dressing would prevent an elect. tape wrap from sticking afterwards?

I'm sure the dressing would prevent anything from sticking. Once electrical tape starts unwrapping, it's effectiveness is gone, best to redo the tape. I remove the tape until I get to a point that the tape is still intact then add new electrical tape. I may be paranoid, but at the starting point, I use a small skinny cable tie to hold the new tape to the old.

 

[charlies]

thanks alot for your suggestions. i do, in fact, intent to replace all of the electrical tape. what i meant though, was this:

after i clean the wires with vinyl dressing (i don't know what this is btw), would the residual vinyl dressing on the wires cause problems with the adhesion properties of the new tape wrap?

 

[2nd Mustang]

I guess vinyl dressing wouldn't be a good idea if you're going to replace all the tape. Maybe something like Simple Green might be a better choice to clean with, but it may still leave some residual coating on the wires. You're probably going to have to experiment unless someone else knows of something else. Have you thought of using vinyl tubing made for wiring harnesses? They have a slit down the length of the tubing so you just slip it over the existing wires. I do believe they are available in different diameters.

 

[charlies]

that is a good idea. i am planning on cleaning, taping for protection, then the tubing for looks. i have never tried simple green.

 

[bnickel]

plain old GO-JO hand cleaner works better than anything i have ever seen for cleaning wiring

 

[crushnut]

plain old GO-JO hand cleaner works better than anything i have ever seen for cleaning wiring

That stuff is awesome! It has always worked for me.