do i really HAVE to remove all this wiring? can i just cut the wires?

[ewo1]

If you ever had to trace or find a wire in a bundle less is best. If you have lots of safety lockouts once again less is best.

Finding wires in a bundle is easy!
Use a tone generator and amp probe!

Remove/ don’t remove… both arguments are valid.
It all comes down to a simple issue….

Do you know what you are doing it or are you winging it and hoping for the best!

If your winging it…..good luck!

 

[jfmusic@me.com]

Two bits after struggling with my bus, PO pulled the wires.
Leave enough at the ends to show the Printed numbers on the wire. OR add a tape note to each end. So if you have to troubleshoot, you have a fighting chance with the schematics. IT MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE.

 

[Mercuric Mind]

You got 3 options here.

The novice way
#1 See excess wiring and take hatchet/machete to them. They're all unneeded right?
#2 find out the hard way that they're interconnected, and now your your bus won't start, or won't shift into gear, or won't move, or now you have a buzzer that you can't find and won't turn off.
#3 make a profile here and several 911 posts because of this.
#4 get upset because this place isn't staffed 24/7/365 by experts who can help you for free
#5 tell everyone on facebook/instagram/tiktok that we're all useless and unhelpful.
#6 sell the bus for scrap, never to run again, and move onto the next fad in your life.

The intermediate way
#1 See the mess of extra wires.
#2 Know that it's beyond your skillset to mess with
#3 tuck them all away behind some decorative panel to never be seen by the light of day again.
#4 Move on with your conversion, accommodating the wiring/tidbits when you have to.

Expert level of operations.
#1 See excess wires.
#2 Use extensive skillset of electrical troubleshooting, source wiring diagrams, and begin the painfully long process of identifying and individualizing each circuit.
#3 Carefully unweave the interconnected mess that you've discovered.
#4 Create the bypasses where they're needed, cut out the rest that isn't.
#5 Put it all back together and hope you did it correctly.
#6 create the same decorative panel to cover the hole in the dash where the bus stuff was.
#7 collect your 10 dollars in scrap wiring that you recycled and continue on with your conversion.

I'm a mechanic by trade. My bus is an 1984 model, which is basic compared to modern buses, and even I left my bus wiring alone. For all but the most top level conversions, it's much easier to leave the wiring in place and well enough alone. So my tip is to proceed with caution, and think hard about whether or not the excess wires will actually affect your conversion.

I agree. I have degrees in mechanical engineering, and physics, and have worked as an industrial systems engineer. I left the bus wiring alone except for the wires that I had to mess with or repair from mice damage. (found some slightly charred mice too)

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it.
Good luck with your conversion and keep using the knowledge base here in the skoolie forum. There some really amazing bus wizards here.

 

[cadillackid]

I didnt rip out most of my wires... the flashy light wires? I capped em and marked them up front and in back.. now i have nice 10 and 12 gauge wires running from front to the back of the bus if i want t oadd something in my 12 volt systems.. they were already there and work great.. same with the wires going overhead in the front... you can use them as speaker wires.. an audiophile would say not but its a school bus...


I did take out the wiring related to the removed wheel chair lift as that wiring caused issues with alarms and flashy lights on the dash. no more lift no need for its wires and I didnt see a need that I would ever run a circuit over to that area of the bus..



in my opinion the way to remove wiring is ONE THING at a time.. yes its time consuming BUT alot less time consuming then ripping everything out and now the bus wont run.. so you unplug the wires for say the no child left behind or the vandalock or the emergency exits.. or any other ONE circuit.. now you start the bus.. drive it around the block.. make sure you have brake, tail, reverse, turn signals.. and that you can turn the bus on and off.. A/C, heaters, radio.. anything you want to keep still works.. OK cool.. next circuit... (your phone or a mirror is a great asset in seeing what lights up on the back of the bus..)..

thats how I take stuff apart..