OBC Retrofit???

[Dlight26]

I am installing a 18 Button OBC and i was wondering what type of wire i should buy to do this.

Went to RadioShack and they have "Hook Up Wire"...i think this will work but want to be positive. Thanks.

[johnf]

That could either be solid or stranded. You want stranded.

[Dlight26]

It is one solid wire not stranded like speaker wire.

I cant use this? If not can i use speaker wire?

[johnf]

I would not use solid wire in a car as the vibration will probably cause hard to find, intermittent failures. I guess speaker wire could be o.k. (I have never considered it) but might lead to some head scratching.

Ideally, you would want some 18-22AWG stranded wire in various colors. You might trying finding an electronics shop that will sell you multiconductor cable by the foot, slit it open and extract the individual wires. Or if they are big enough, they should be able to pull and cut some you a nice set of individual, colored wires. Germany's equivalent to Radio Shack (or becoming more so), Conrad Electronic, http://www1.int.conrad.com, sells all sorts of wire and cable by the meter. You might find the postage to send you something from Germany, however, a bit ridiculous.

If you are on friendly terms with a dealer or repair shop you could see if they might have some old harnesses they have pulled during repairs. If you are industrious enough, they might even let you match the original wire colors. My dealer salvages the connector shells so I could probably have all the colored wire I wanted were I to ask.

Hope that helps.