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Old 08-13-2016, 04:39 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Stock wiring for speakers, lights and emergency exits

Hi everyone
So I'm just about done with gutting my bus but I have all the wiring that ran through the ceiling to get rid of. I'm not planning on reinstalling the speakers and driving lights, so how should I go about removing these wires? Also, if you open up any of the emergency exits an alarm goes off. Would removing the wiring to those exits cause the alarms to constantly go off while the bus is on?

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Old 08-13-2016, 06:54 PM   #2
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Removing your emergency exit wires will probably not make your alarms go off. My emergency exit doors just had switches that closed circuits and activated the alarm whenever the doors opened. If you're worried about it, it's not very difficult to take the switch off and unplug it to test.

Removing the wires is pretty straight forward but very messy. A good safety precaution to take is to disconnect the batteries before working with any of this stuff. It will be good to make sure to remove them from the accessory (ie: speaker or lights) and trace them back, I had a few moments where I removed the wrong wire and had to re-wire it. Also unless you're deadset on reusing them, I wouldn't be afraid to cut the wires you plan on removing to bypass the inevitable wire tangles.

I'm not an electrician, but I survived. Also if you're a fool like me who didn't know a thing when getting into this, remember that all of your lines you're removing are positive polarity. The negative polarity comes from the frame. (I might have the polarities backwards depending on perspective). Best of luck, be safe and have fun.
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Old 08-13-2016, 08:21 PM   #3
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Don't cut the wires...........

until you find out if that will prevent the bus from starting. Most if not all modern buses will not start if there is an emergency door, window or escape hatch open. You will have a nightmare on your hands. Check it out before you do anything.
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Old 08-13-2016, 08:46 PM   #4
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That's what I figured Roadrunner, it's a 2001 so it's pretty new. I think I'll just clip the end of one of the roof hatch wires and if it doesn't start with it disconnected I'll just reconnect it and insulate over the wires...
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Old 08-14-2016, 06:18 AM   #5
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Unless you don't plan on moving your bus, ever, the clearance and side turn lights are required by FMVSS, as see in this graphic from NHTSA-
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Old 08-14-2016, 07:50 AM   #6
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very useful, thank you.
got curious and after some googling found the link

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Old 08-14-2016, 08:42 AM   #7
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I'd leave all the wires. You never know if down the road you might want to us them for something else. After I thought I had everything done, I realized I needed power for some led's in the rear shop area.I ended up using the wires that originally went to my (removed) rear AC. Granted I now have low draw lites running thru a 8 gauge wire but I know the circuit will never overload.
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Old 08-14-2016, 10:32 AM   #8
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I already separated the accessory wires from all the lights and signals, im not touching those. Im having all of my interior power run though separate lines.

Can I just cut the accessory wires and cap them? Again, I am NOT touching any wires that go to lights, signals, or anything needed to drive.
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Old 08-14-2016, 06:13 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roadrunner View Post
until you find out if that will prevent the bus from starting. Most if not all modern buses will not start if there is an emergency door, window or escape hatch open. You will have a nightmare on your hands. Check it out before you do anything.
Roadrunner probably knows better than I do, my bus is super old. However I will note that if I recall correctly, my emergency exit door alarm was off(open circuit) by default rather than on (closed circuit). So disconnecting it had no affect and would be equivalent to jamming it shut with duct tape/rubber band.

I don't think cutting and capping the wires wouldn't hurt in short run, but why don't you just remove them entirely? I don't see much benefit in keeping a cut accessory wire around, I personally would want to avoid having the cap come off from vibration or breaking from continuous contact over long periods of time. If somehow it carried a current and made loose contact with the frame, then it would heat up and I think that's one way how fires start.
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Old 08-14-2016, 07:23 PM   #10
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When I get to the point of removing rear emergency door wires and roof escape hatch wires I'll be cutting one at a time and then turning the ignition key and starting the bus. When it does not start I'll know it was the last wire I cut and then can easily be fixed.
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Old 08-14-2016, 08:14 PM   #11
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My shuttle bus didn't have all those door interlocks but I did have a lot of wiring I wanted to remove. It took a day or two but I clipped and pulled one wire at a time back to the bus power panel. Buses have so bloody many wires in the main bundle that it's easy to get confused if you're trying to do a more than one at a time.
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Old 08-15-2016, 12:27 AM   #12
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What if I filled the caps with glue before I put them on? That way they wouldn't have any chance in coming off, and if I decide to use any of them down the road I can just cut off the capped part.

I'm gonna snip one of the emergency exit wires right at the connection tomorrow and see if the bus still starts.
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Old 08-15-2016, 04:04 AM   #13
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Why not just rewire the whole bus? That's my plan, and to be honest, I'd rather have fresh copper in there rather than something that's been bouncing around for so many years. On the plus side, you can create your own bundles for ease of repair.
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Old 08-15-2016, 02:39 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMagicBus View Post
What if I filled the caps with glue before I put them on? That way they wouldn't have any chance in coming off, and if I decide to use any of them down the road I can just cut off the capped part.

I'm gonna snip one of the emergency exit wires right at the connection tomorrow and see if the bus still starts.
If you just want to cut and cap the wiring you can use crimp on caps from the auto parts store or wire nuts.
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Old 08-15-2016, 03:09 PM   #15
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in most busses its pretty easy to find what is powered at the driver console... in mine everything goes through one of 2 main methods.. my main cutoff switch on the dash kills everything...

then there are 2 continuous duty 100 amp solenoids that power with the key...

there are 3 bus bars with rows of 20 amp circuit breakers in the driver console.. anything powered by a switch or with key goes to one of the 2 solenoid bus bars... anything powered all the time went to the 3rd..

so you can always cut power to any stray wires by unplugging them from the breaker... that way you dont have live-wires running to the back of the bus then capped... thats the main worry when ypu cut circuits is that you leave voltage.. so I would test every wire for voltage after you cut it.. test it at the end thats left and not ripped out... if theres voltage then find it in the driver console and unplug it..

ive already found an instance where one of my capped wires going to the back of the bus came in handy for another purpose.. so I was glad they were not pulled out all the way and destroyed...

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