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White-Black wire from coil to distributor

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Just looked at our loom: one white & one white with black stripe, then about 5" back down the loom, another white with black stripe. There is continuity between both w/b wires, are they the same wire, or do they come from the same spot? Just to make sure, which goes to the + on the coil (pos. ground car)?

Brian
www.teamsprite.com
 
Brian, the W/B wire should be the same wire. One end should go to the + terminal on the coil, and the other to the distributor. The solid white goes to the opposite terminal of the coil. Incidentally, earlier coils were marked SW and CB instead of + and -. SW= switch and CB = contact breaker.
Jeff
 
I think Brian is getting close to fireing off an engine?
 
Lor' you folks is tough! S'pose I'll have to buy a bigger soldering iron - the one I have is a 20W electronics one, barely able to solder that kind of connection.

Or would you have me solder it with a blowtorch? :smile:
 
Chris, we're not tough at all.
By the way, the shrink tube with the sealant inside is the best. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Jeff
 
Sealant inside, that is new to me? Do they come that way?
 
Can I get shrink tubes at Napa? I've been there three times in the last week, one more time won't hurt. Fortunately for me it is actually the closest auto store.

Also can I do the shrinking with a soldering iron too? Never used them myself.
 
Jack, the sealant type shrink tube has been around for quite awhile. I usually buy mine through one of the electronic supply houses. 3M makes a good one. It's a bit pricey, though.
Chris, NAPA generally has shrink tubing, but you may be better off dealing with an electical supply place for cost reasons. But, if you only need a small amount, NAPA is fine.
For instance, a small package of assorted sizes runs about 3 bucks at NAPA. I can get a 48" piece of 3/16" tubing from Allied Electronics for about a buck and a quarter, if I buy the whole package of 25.
As far as shrinking the tubing, a cigarette lighter works OK if you don't have a heat gun. It usually shrinks at around 250 Fahrenheit, so I don't know if a blow dryer gets hot enough or not. My heat gun goes to 750 degrees.
Jeff
 
Aha, I have a heat gun, normally used for stripping paint, that do?
 
A cigarette lighter works OK too. I was going to mention yesterday while reading the thread, for a secure connection (I work on yachts a lot) we always smear a bit of silicone on the connections after soldering and before shrink-wrapping - it insures water-tightness - very important in a marine environment where corrosion is ever-present!!
 
Mike, that's where the sealant lined tube is nice. You can actually see the glue oozing from the ends when it shrinks, and you could submerge the splice in salt water for a year without any penetration to the joint.
Jeff
 
Well that is good advice. I have a Chaparral 230SSI with a 300hp Mercruiser V8 and Bravo 3 drive that I do minor work on occasionally. I had to replace the ignition switch a year or so ago and there wasn't much soldering in sight under there... Actually I was rather surprised that the wiring is not more protected. I never put it in salt water though.
 
Cheezy BIC butane lighter for mine... and heat shrink as Jeff noted. We would buy it in 4' lengths in cardboard tubes. One tube now woud be a "lifetime supply"! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif

AFAIC, soldering a joint is the only way to go.
 
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