Random thoughts on racecar electrical...

[Tom Simon]

I'm certainly not any expert on the subject, but I've taken my share of lumps when it comes to electrical systems gone wrong, terribly wrong in fact! During a round of benchracing at the track one day, I came to realize that I am not alone. In fact, some guys who treat electrical like voodoo and black magic with an almost "don't touch it if it works most of the time" attitude, seem to have the most trouble. Look around at some of the top race cars in any catagory. The car owners won't tolerate shoddy electrical systems on those cars, and neither should you. Everything is neat, tracable in the event of a failure, and simple.

Some of the things I have learned along the way:

A quality electrical system will not make your car run any faster. However, if the electrical system is perfect, it gives the tuner a chance to worry about the other stuff that can make the car faster, which is key!
A quality electrical system isn't an accident, it takes planning and hours of work
A quality electrical system doesn't wear out, you sort of do it once and forget it. Sure, keep a spare switch with you, fuses if you use them, some wire, but for the most part they are trouble free!
Good quality components are THEEE way to go.
KISS, Keep It Simple, Stupid is a good motto to remember when wiring up a racecar

Case study:
At a race two years ago, I watched the Venom sponsored Toyota Tundra drag race team struggle all day long, only made one "shut-off" pass after towing all the way up to Sac from SoCal. I talked with Driver Grant Downing, he said something about "electrical gremlins..." Bull_crap! I thought...  I ducked under the ropes and took a look at what once was a beautiful Jerry Bickle built NHRA Pro Stock Truck converted to Toyota power. What I saw was the biggest wiring abortion I have ever seen! Grant introduced me to their "electrical genius" who was installing his 5th or 6th Scotch-Splice into the same circuit. If you've ever used scotch spices, those little blue goodies that require almost no effort to use, you'd know they are famous for working only about 60% of the time, totally unacceptable for a race car in my opinion. Clearely wonder-boy absolutely no idea what the heck he was doing.He was too wrapped up in trying to "look the part" to ever make any headway in fixing the original problem, and was unintentionally creating more open circuits along the way... They never did get the car down the track that day. Hopefully they sent the kid back to the stereo instal department at Best Buy or something... lack of perforamce wasn't for lack of trying. But in the end they trailered home disappointed. i think that team disbanded shortly after that.

When you are at the track, all it takes is one circut that doesn't work at the wrong time to end your day. If the car won't start, the badest, meanest firebreathing engine is reduced to just an interesting conversation piece to stand around and admire. A wire that came loose or bad connection to the tach or shift light causes you to shift only by ear, takes away your concentration, messes up your consistency, maybe resulting in you being "first round runner-up" (read: looser). The bigger crime is I've seen is guys just shrug and say "oh well, that's racing". Then go look at the electrical and you see it looks worse than a bowl of spagetti! That was no accident, it was a failure just waiting to happen and you got bit is what I want to say. Some say you make your own luck, and I believe that. Sometimes a component just fails, nothing you can do, but it seems to me using twisted wires and masking tape, 99cent plastic toggle switches and lousey ground connections is just asking for trouble.

I've had a few years of high school electronics, but to be honest was little more than average at it. What I did discover is how electricity works, and that its only as mysterious as you want to make it. I also learned why some guys just have "the knack" for wiring and other guys couln't wire up a simple light bulb with a knife switch. The difference is in the ability to understand that just because you can't see it, doesn't mean you can't work with it.

 Once I spent three half-days working with a blind machinist. This guy that taught me the meaning of "your mind's eye" which I have found to be key in working with electricity. I've noticed that racers good with electrical seem to have this ability to see what cannot be seen. They understand eletricity flows like water through a garden hose, it takes the path of least resistance and electrons flow from positive to negative. Like an old fashioned water wheel at a flour grinding mill, if you stop the flow, no work happens. Unlike a the water wheel, you can interupt electron flow anywhaer along its path to stop all work.

[TRM]

Well Said Tom,

I am one of the freaks that do know my way around wires.  My old partner in racing use to be the one to look over a car that wanted us to drive a race for them.  If he did not like what he saw or felt then I did not drive for them.  It scares me to see some of the stuff people put together and think it is fine.  The first time I got back into the garage lasts summer was after the power windows stopped working on our Chevy van the wife uses to deliver mail in. 
The dealer told us that there is nothing that can be done about it.  Well I took it a part and found the wires had been duct taped and put back into the loom scary stuff.   

"First round runner up"  LOL  that is my line LOL  I have been doing that for years thank God someone else see it.  LOL

I had turned jobs away many times because people want it patch for the weekend of racing or offroading. 

I do not get it and you can not pound it into some of their heads with a 10 lb sledge!  It is easier to start over in most cases then try to figure out what and where the problem is.   Somepeople find it hard when things are  simple sometimes.


KISS

Like you said

Great Post Tom should be post on all board and Mags with tech in them.  You said the truth.

Later,

Myles

[Tom Simon]

thanks Myles...  it's not that I sit in judgement of anyones work, that's not it at all. It's just that I know some new racers can't quite figure out what it takes to win. Some may not know the difference between preparing a car so you can win races, and taking your car to the track so you can work on it.

I've done both, and the second one has always left me frustrated...

it's aaaaaaaall the little things, ain't it?...

[marty hiskey]

if you think that is bad i am a marine mechanic by trade and boy let me tell you i have seen some nightmares. i do a lot of repowers where i work and some boats are old and had a lot of owners. and people seem to think they can wire anything. especially with lampcord or wire everything with red wire or black wire. in my business we have codes to follow. so when i wire we use nothing but the best wire and connections and follow code, meaning color code, wire guage and protection for the circuits. i had one boat i repowered once that i took and entire garbage can of wire out of it because it was such a ball of spaghetti that it was easier to gut and rewire than to trace someones elses nightmare. after i was done i sent the customer under his dash and he was amazed at how much more room was under his dash without all that mess. the same goes for racecars, i try and follow the same marine code for wiring. picture a guy that knows nothing about wiring and tries to install his new $8,000-$10,000 radar system on his brand new boat. that system has a lot of wires and all these new units can interface with other systems too. i want to kill people somedays. people should leave certain things to professionals. although i have seen lots of people call themselves pro's and they could not work there way out of a paperbag. we call those people in my business hackers.

[turbo_bob]

people should leave certain things to professionals. although i have seen lots of people call themselves pro's and they could not work there way out of a paperbag. we call those people in my business hackers.

I know that one Marty, I am a aircraft tech, I work on airplane instrument panels, instruments, installations. I have seen it all too, from shorts, bare wires, tape, string, lampcord, scotch splices, cold solder joints, fractured solder joints, broken wires, switches & circuit breakers with too high of resistance, leting voltage through but not current. And all this is in airplanes, you just cant pull over when there is trouble like in a car.

[my62ragtop]

Great Post Tom should be post on all board and Mags with tech in them.  You said the truth.

I agree.  Thank-you to Tom who allowed me to post it on the Air Cooled Drag Racing Magazine (http://aircooleddragracing.blogspot.com/).

[ErikTheRed]

In fact, some guys treat electrical like voodoo and black magic with an almost "don't touch it if it works most of the time" attitude

Works for me.

Cool post Tom, and so true. I got some help with my electrical to avoid all those things you just noted, Im not exactly an electrical genius. Its not only a matter of understanding wiring basics--- to wire a racecar one needs a working knowledge of all the components of the systems he's wiring to, and in what order, such as ignition systems, fuel injection, pumps, fans, relays, NOS electricals, computers, fuse blocks, switch panels, lights, gauges, etc.

[carapace]

A man has got to know his limitations... I leave wiring to the pros.

[Muffler Mike]

I remember when my car was just a rat's nest worth of wires and part of my day job was to wire up industial control systems.
I was once told a long time ago, if your wiring looks good, there is a better chance that it will work good and it is easy to trouble shoot. (with the few exceptions) and i have tried to live by that.
So when it came time to rewire my car, every thing was layed out, crimped and then soldered and covered with shrink tubing.
a thousand ty-wraps later, and most of my stuff is all bundled, right angled, terminated, etc.




I still have the ocasional stray wire when i am exparamenting with things, but i can live with that.

[turbo_bob]

I have allways been impressed with your wiring job Mike, this is how it should be done.

[Tom Simon]

I have seen it all too, from shorts, bare wires, tape, string, lampcord, scotch splices, cold solder jointsAnd all this is in airplanes, you just cant pull over when there is trouble like in a car.

I fly commercial 2-3 times/ month... I sure hope you are talking about private civilian aircraft Bob.

I've crewed on a sailboat up the coast of California on this 48ft POS wood boat with another good guy for a skipper that sufferd from a serious case of denial... little more than the anchor light and a hand held GPS worked. It's funny to think back on now, but I wasn't laughing while tring to get the engine re-statred while we were heaved-two and drifting in 6 foot seas about 1000yards off a rocky point... at night.  The skipper insisted we were'nt in any danger... I pointed out that the light house off our starboard was probably there as a tourist atraction, yea, that's it, a tourist attraction. I no nautical history buff butt didn't they used to erect one of them things after the first 10 or 15 shipwrecks?

anyone caught using a scotch splice on anything that leaves the the hiway should be keel-hauled...

[turbo_bob]

I fly commercial 2-3 times/ month... I sure hope you are talking about private civilian aircraft Bob.

I should have been more specific Tom, yes two seat through six seat private airplanes.

[Goin Postal]

Excellent post as usual Tom, except electrons flow from negative to positive.