• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

Electrical for Dummies

Share this page

sail

sail

Darth Vader
Country flag
Offline
I admit it, I just don’t get electricity. Ok, maybe in shop class I was busy making tin boxes that week. Stuff I can see and feel I get. Electricity is as abstract to me as Don Juan’s Yaqui Way of Knowledge. So if someone would point to a basic source or book which might give some insight to electronics as they apply to TR owners with attention deficit it would be most appreciated.
 
You might check out Dan Master's book: TR250 TR6 Electrical Maintenance Handbook.... lots there to get acquainted with. It is available thru TRF, or perhaps here: https://www.advanceautowire.com/ where you'll also find excellent color schematic diagrams. Good luck!
 
I like Dan's book, too. Besides explaining the circuitry, you can read about how the components function.
 
mrv8q said:
You might check out Dan Master's book: TR250 TR6 Electrical Maintenance Handbook.... lots there to get acquainted with. It is available thru TRF, or perhaps here: https://www.advanceautowire.com/ where you'll also find excellent color schematic diagrams. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Not only is Dan's book excellent, so is Dan. A true gentleman and EXTREMELY knowledgeable about TR electrics. I got to hang out with him at the Portland ME VTR a few years ago and you will never meet a nicer guy.
 
mrv8q said:
You might check out Dan Master's book: TR250 TR6 Electrical Maintenance Handbook.... lots there to get acquainted with. It is available thru TRF, or perhaps here: https://www.advanceautowire.com/ where you'll also find excellent color schematic diagrams. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks for that I just put it on my RF wish list which needs a few parts added to it when I get outside tomorrow. The list grows, hopefully so do I.
 
And if you get stuck, you can always ask here.
 
SidescreenTR said:
Not only is Dan's book excellent, so is Dan. A true gentleman and EXTREMELY knowledgeable about TR electrics. I got to hang out with him at the Portland ME VTR a few years ago and you will never meet a nicer guy.
Click to expand...

Fergie..........Dan, Fred Thomas, Henry Frye and Phil.....darn....can't remember Phil's last name...all hooked up in Keene NH and drove to Portland together. Dan is truly a southern gentleman.
 
BobbyD said:
Fergie..........Dan, Fred Thomas, Henry Frye and Phil.....darn....can't remember Phil's last name...all hooked up in Keene NH and drove to Portland together. Dan is truly a southern gentleman.
Click to expand...

I can't remember Phil's name either. Wasn't he the one who was from "Nowhere near New York City"? I met up with Brad Kahler and Andy Mace in Sturbridge...we took the southern route to Portland. I spent the entire cruise to the lobster dinner standing on the bow of the boat talking with Dan.
 
How Stuff Works dot com answers a lot of elementary questions.
 
Best way to learn the art of Lucas devil worship is to rewire a car.
 
DNK said:
Best way to learn the art of Lucas devil worship is to rewire a car.
Click to expand...

Ah, and then there are all those DPO temporary "fixes" and "improvements" that Lucas themselves were never imaginative or devious enough to devise.... :devilgrin: :jester:
 
if you don't have one already, you will need a VOM (volt-ohm-meter). you don't need an $80 Fluke. just pick up something at Radio Shack and learn how to use it. it will tell you what you can't see.
 
Dan and his book are truly gems, he was great when I needed his advice while putting one of his powerblock systems in the MGB. Gave me his home and cell numbers and even Ted Lathrop's number as he was travelling up there to see his V8.

BUT, and this is a big but, his book never even mentions Lucas smoke! what kind of book about electricity ignores the smoke? He also never credits Lucas for their patent on the short circuit. Other than those serious shortcomings, I also highly recommend his writings.
 
Does he discuss hole flow?
 
While I admit to knowing a bit about electronics and electricity, I found the task of installing a brand new wiring harness into my 1959 TR3A to be fairly straightforward. I simply downloaded one of the several color-coded wiring diagrams that show the wiring schematic and followed the color code when hooking things up (modern wiring harnesses are built to use the older wiring color codes). The only time I had problems was in resolving the difference between the schematic diagram and the reality of the physical hookup. For example, the wiring diagram shows a brown and black (main color first, stripe color second) wire running from the control head to one of the horns and then from the first horn over to the second horn. What I had to learn for myself is that the second wire that runs between the horns was built into the wiring harness, but I needed to also create my own 1.5 ft extension from the ends of those wiring harness wires into the horns themselves. Other weirdness like finding out that in order to test blinking turn signals, it is necessary to actually have a turn signal attached to the harness (and not just a LED-based shop test light) was learned by trial and error. These two problems were the exceptions, however and for the most part I could easily follow how to hook things up.

A cheap Radio Shack meter is fine - you will need something to measure voltage and ohms, and I found it very useful to have a meter with a buzzer (it checks for electrical continuity). A cheap 12 volt shop test lite can also be useful, but your meter can stand in for the lite.
 
angelfj, that you for that it made things somewhat more clear although i have been out all afternoon with a dead frog on the lake with my fully charged battery and i still can't get him to jump thru thru the ice. more protons?
anyway, frog aside, thanks for the advice all. just a dumb dead frog anyway. legs taste like chicken, just smaller.
 
After playing with electricity all but the first three of my 47 years, It all comes down to...

You gotta have a goesinta,

and a comesoutta,

with car electrics,

a test light connected to the final comesoutta, usually the battery minus,

you start chasing the goesinta's until the light don't no more.

tada, the problem.

piece of cake.

nothin' to it. :rolleyes:

editted to fix my speeeeling
 
I think that was about as eloquent an explanation as anything I've seen yet.

I especially like th' test light as all th' tools ya need. :thumbsup:
 
Back
Top