Steiner 12v conversion harness for a B??

Hey guys I am getting ready to convert my 6v positive ground B over to 12v negative ground. Is the Steiner 12v harness a good harness?
My brother is going to be helping me and he has an extensive background in motor vehicle wiring. Should I bother with the harness or just wire it from scratch?

Thanks

^^ Yep.  Get a harness from Steve.  Saves a lot of time and aggravation.

Same!

Edited by CrestonM - 22 Feb 2016 at 9:18pm

I have lost track of how many harness we have gotten from Steve, (B & B).  Best there is.

I've made several harnesses seeing how I'm 'frugal' AND know how to cut/strip/terminate wires.
It's not really hard BUT you need to know some 'tricks of the trade'.
1) carefully remove old harness. If 100% original great.
2a) mount on sheet of plywood,secure to screws at 'breakout' points( where a wire comes off main harness). This is the proper way and if you make more than 1 the only way to do it.
2b) measure each wire and cut new ones. this can take a trained octopus to hold harness and measuring tape,but you get better after awhile !
3) use wires that are the SAME colours and gauge(size)as the orignal ones! The manual will have the colors posted in the wiring diagram if not ask here, someone will post it.
4) put  1" length of heat shrink on BEFORE you crimp the lug or terminal !
5) solder the end of the wire in the terminal,This step,most don't do, will keep water from 'wicking' into the wire and rotting it from the inside out
6) apply heat to shrink the heatshrink tubing.Heat gun with adapter works best.
7) install, confirm 100% works THEN use plastic split loom or eletcrical tape to 'make pretty'.

It really isn't hard to do,maybe 1/2 day of easy work. Just be sure to get ALL the wires,crimps,etc. before you start!

Jay

Soldering the crimp lug may keep water out, but the solder will wick between the strands and make a stiff point where the wire will break from vibration a lot sooner than it would have without solder.

Gerald J.

If the old harness is in good condition, there's no reason to replace most of the wires for 12 volts. Other than the wire from alternator to ammeter and ammeter to battery the load currents at 12 volts will be half what they were at 6 volts for the same power. The alternator can put out considerably more current than the typical generator, so that wire needs to be fatter, like 6 gauge instead of 10 or 12 gauge. One of the justifications in the mobile equipment and vehicle business for going to 12 volts instead of 6 volts was to allow a lighter weight (and less expensive) wiring harness by using smaller conductors. The fatter conductors needed for 6 volt loads actually means better electrical performance with the lower current 12 volt loads, less power lost in the conductors and better voltage regulation. Other than the alternator output to battery circuit a 12 volt harness can have half the copper than the 6 volt harness and the circuits will all be exactly the same.

Gerald J.

Once you price a 100' roll of #10 wire and a couple of 100' rolls of different colored #16 wire and the terminals with a decent crimper and the loom material, I think you're going to be spending more than Steve will charge. The plus, if you can call it that, is that you'll have three 90' spools of wire left over which you'll have little use for.

i dont know what a harness cost for say a wd but if you have to go out and buy all the wire colors and sizes its pretty expensive,       most do it yourself wire jobs  get done withe wrong colors, wrong sizes  and two differant colors slpiced together  and  usauly dont fit good .           example .   three days ago we had a pontiac g6 in the shop with intermintant short in a cuircit,    having to track it down by wire colors in the schematic could not find the wire found a three inch repiar done with a piece of wire the wrong color sticking out of the harnass had it had been done in the right color it would have saved the customer a few hundred in labor  looking for the right wire 

Using an Alternator between 38-60 amps on an early Tractor that's just equipped with Headlights, a couple work lamps, and a tailight,  with a Battery Ignition, 10 gauge wire fits the bill just fine. We're not lighting up Detroit here. An Alternator that size isn't even working hard on an old early Tractor with limited draw. When you start running a bigger amp Alternator than I mentioned, with more of a complex wiring system , then it would be necessary to step up the output circuit size a gauge or two depending on the complexity of the system.
Steve@B&B

In 12 volt circuits the voltage drop tends to cause using larger conductors than NEC current rating. The NEC also rates long runs on voltage drop. NEC allows 2.5 or three %. At 12 volts that much voltage drop (dependent on the current, not the circuit voltage) is 25 or 30 %. A 30% voltage drop cuts the power to the load to 1/2 for a resistive load.

Gerald J.