Vehicle Communications: Equipment Installation

The upfitting of vehicles is critical to the use of your fleet and other vehicles. Installations utilizing the proper supplies and tools make for less troublesome installations and service. TESSCO is Your Total Source® for everything that you need. Why run all around town looking for materials? They are here, right at your fingertips!

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Don't Make These Top 5 Most Common Errors

Automotive electrical installation supplies and tools enable upfitters to route power generated by a vehicle’s battery to mobile devices vital to everyone from road warriors to emergency first responders. These mobile radios, computers, and other equipment require inverters, converters, and delay timers to alter the 12 VDC battery power to meet their specific power requirements.

After consulting experienced upfitters for both consumer, public safety and work vehicles, the staff of Law and Order Magazine1 uncovered the most common installation errors affecting the vehicle’s electrical performance, among them the following:

Installation Error 1: Improper wire size. View solution

Installation Error 2: Crimp-only connections. View solution

Installation Error 3: Improper fusing. View solution

Installation Error 4: Poor cable routing. View solution

Installation Error 5: Excessive electrical loads. View solution

Knowing how to avoid these errors could affect your choice of essential electrical parts and supplies.

Solution 1 — Safe Wire Size

Always use the same wire gauge that comes with the electrical device you are installing, and run that gauge all the way from the device to the power source to avoid shorts, blown fuses and possible fires. You’ll find the correct wire size among TESSCO’s full range of insulated copper wire.

Heavy duty Insulated Terminal Crimper	Weller Digital Soldering Station	3M Heat-Shrink Tubing Assortment
Solution 2 — Crimp Connections Plus   Crimp, solder and, when possible, heat-shrink connections. Mechanical crimping is always stronger after soldering, a step that fills inadvertent voids, prevents corrosion from exposed copper, and actually lowers resistance. For no-fail connections, heat-shrinking is a worthwhile final step.
View all terminal crimpers	View all soldering stations	View all heat shrink tubing

Solution 3 — Adequate Fusing

Each electrical device you install should have its own high-quality, brand-name fuse, rated 20% higher than the equipment requires.

Wireless Solutions Mini ATM Fuses Wireless Solutions Mini ATM Fuse Block  View all Mini ATM & Maxi ATC Fuses

Solution 4 — Tidy Cable Routing

Whenever wiring is exposed in the passenger, engine or trunk compartments, protect and route wires with inexpensive, tidy split loom rather than difficult-to-remove tape. Bundle common wires with tie wraps, place in split-loom for protection, and tie-wrap to the chassis for routing.

	Wireless Solutions Split Loom Tubing  View all Spit Loom Tubing
	Cable Tie Holder w/ Ties  View all Cable Ties

Solution 5 — Safe Electrical Loads

Fluke 87 V True-RMS DMM

In emergency vehicles, prevent electrical equipment from frying the alternator and battery by adding the amps drawn by the vehicle’s power train and accessories to the electrical demand of all aftermarket devices...when the vehicle is idling. If idling demand exceeds output, reduce the power somewhere, e.g., replace halogen and strobe lights with LEDs.   View all digital multimeters

For more information contact TESSCO
at 888-256-9220 today.

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