Beach Buggy .Info

Beach Buggy Help Zone => Beach Buggy Electrical Help => Topic started by: Sam101 on August 08, 2024, 02:54:15 PM

Title: Water / rain and the colum controls ….
Post by: Sam101 on August 08, 2024, 02:54:15 PM
Afternoon all , just a quick one , now I am getting into the electrical stage , I'm curious as to how weather proof / resistant the column controls are to water / rain etc , by that I mean the indicator and wiper arms . It doesn't take too much to realise it is not remotely sealed , but just curious to those who have driven in the weather and how you get on ..... as my only othe option is a series of weather proof rocker switches and that just seems a pain in the buttocks from point of use of leaning forward to flick lights on and off etc

Cheers Sam
Title: Re: Water / rain and the colum controls ….
Post by: Dave DND on August 08, 2024, 03:59:59 PM
Much of my dash is Marine based, as is my interior fabrics - but my steering column is not

Not that I clean mine that often, but when I do, I am known to use a Karcher on the inside as well as the outside, and never ever had any problems with electrics

But then mine spends most of its life on axle stands in bits anyway  ::)  ;D
Title: Re: Water / rain and the colum controls ….
Post by: Doon L001 on August 08, 2024, 04:19:24 PM
They seem remarkably good. Mines had a few soaking without noticeable problems but could all go wrong tomorrow  ;D

Main issues I've had are water hitting the air filters, worse with twin carbs, and water affecting the spark, but in each case I would have been better off in a boat.

Hit a Ford in Lincolnshire and drenched me and my passenger, she's never really forgiven me, and buggy just carried on. Got through over a foot of floodwater and once water was over my shoes and the wheels were on the road just drove on.

No guarantees but they're pretty good
Title: Re: Water / rain and the colum controls ….
Post by: Sam101 on August 08, 2024, 11:47:33 PM
Cheers for the replies guys ....

As per yours , most electrics will be hidden / concealed , as I am complete re wiring it , I will keep any joins local to each end , no needless joints .

And it was the steering column I was most worried about and you've given me some reassurance it should be okay , far short of becoming a submarine ... and I can give the whole internals a good coat of wd40 or equivalent contact spray ....

Thanks for the help both of you 👍🏼
Title: Re: Water / rain and the colum controls ….
Post by: Doon L001 on August 09, 2024, 04:41:58 AM
When I rewired mine I put heat shrink on terminals with a bit of hot melt glue where the cable enters the heat shrink. When you shrink the tube it makes a good seal
Title: Re: Water / rain and the colum controls ….
Post by: Dave DND on August 09, 2024, 09:27:11 AM
Quote from: Doon L001 on August 09, 2024, 04:41:58 AM
When I rewired mine I put heat shrink on terminals with a bit of hot melt glue where the cable enters the heat shrink. When you shrink the tube it makes a good seal

Top tip - However . . .

Make sure you use a higher melting point stick than the cheapie craft ones that often come with the gun,
else they can easily soften in the summer sunshine leaving small holes behind them when they cool down   ;)
Title: Re: Water / rain and the colum controls ….
Post by: Sam101 on August 09, 2024, 09:46:09 PM
Thanks for that idea , I like that , simple but effective ... I'm going to try and build it as either a one piece or two piece loom , as fortunately I don't have any obstacles end to end .so other than the plugs I'll be adding to the light set up , I should be able to keep it pretty "clean" .


Quote from: Doon L001 on August 09, 2024, 04:41:58 AM
When I rewired mine I put heat shrink on terminals with a bit of hot melt glue where the cable enters the heat shrink. When you shrink the tube it makes a good seal