Stiffening up wires so they run where you want them

[Khaos]

I had a thought when I was planning my tail tidying project. I want the wiring to run tight to some of the frame and battery box contours, with minimal if any use of cable ties. So what I'm going to try is putting some very thin brass rod (.5mm) in the wire bundle for any given run (ends filed to remove any sharp bits) heat shrink to hold the wiring tight to the rod at strategic points (before and after . Doing it this way I'll be able to bend the rod to the wire run shape, attach the wire, and put a sheath over the top for neatness. If the wire run does need support, I'm planning on using self-adhesive cable clips.

What other ways are there of stiffening up the wiring? Are there any other ways of tidying wire runs that might be better?

 

[krafty]

You can often get the contours you want if you carefully shape the wires ahead of time and use your wiring tape to secure them in that position. I've had good luck with getting some close to 90 degrees, depending on the actual wires involved (and how many there are), and then being able to roughly maintain that shape with the tape. It takes practice and patience but it can look pretty decent. I like your idea - maybe some TIG rod. Especially if you do wrap it, you'll never see it. The big problem comes from having to remember that it's in there if you ever need to pull that wire through again.

 

[sav0r]

Conductive brass rod along with wires seems like a recipe for disaster. Zip ties and similar solutions are used for a reason, they are not conductive. If they chafe a wire, they provide less risk of shorting. I'm not saying your idea won't work, I'm just saying there are better ways. I prefer spiral wrap. It gives easy exit and entry for wires into a loom, provides structure yet is flexible, and it protects the wires. Spiral wrap is a huge pain to deal with though, specifically going on and off, but if you spend a lot of time getting everything nicely laid out in the first place it can turn out quite nice.

 

[Maritime]

I think if you shrink wrap the brass then bundle and shrink wrap to hold wires to it you'd be fine, the same risk as 2 wires next to each other with a shrinke wrapped solder joint. I would maybe just cut some 14 AWG solid strand house wire that is already insulated into the lengths you need for the contour points and use that. It will hold it's shape and is already covered. I kind of like this idea I don't always want to see zipties and the stick on wire gromet on the back side of a frame tube and rigid wires you could make blind runs without the ties every few inches.