Assembling Wiring Harnesses: What You Need to Get Started

Assembling a wiring harness is a technical skill anyone with an electrical background should master. However, it’s not entirely impossible for someone outside of the electrical industry to learn how to put together a reliable wiring harness. A harness is used in many sectors such as manufacturing, automotive, military, and aerospace. It can also be found in almost every modern device or machine. This is why learning how to assemble a wiring harness can come in handy especially in home projects like car restorations or appliance repairs.

The Purpose of a Harness

Understanding the purpose of a wiring harness is the first step towards learning how to assemble one successfully. To put it simply, a wiring harness is what transmits and distributes electric signals throughout a machine or device. Typically, a harness is composed of hundreds, if not thousands of parts that all work together to provide the necessary amount of energy for a machine to function.

Each wiring harness is made unique and designed specifically for where it’s intended to be installed. A car wiring harness is completely different from one that you would find in a spacecraft. Knowing the different parts of a wiring harness can help you recognize them easily regardless of what device or machine it was placed in.

Things You Need to Get Started

Planning to assemble a wiring harness yourself for the first time can become much easier with the right tools. Being equipped with the proper hardware can also increase your productivity and the efficiency of your wiring harness. Here are some of the things you might need that are also commonly used by wiring harness manufacturers today.

Crimping Tools- Terminals are fundamental parts of a wiring harness. Crimping tools are necessary to create the perfect crimp for terminals and avoid any risk of malfunctions. For manufacturers, the crimping process is often automated to make it more consistent.

Compression Tools- Much like crimping tools, compression tools are necessary to avoid any short circuits or malfunctions. It compresses the ends of connectors and terminals to ensure a uniform connection.

Ferrules- A ferrule is typically either a metal or plastic ring that is crimped over a wire to seal the connection to a terminal. They are also commonly referred to as eyelets or grommets in the industry.

Mounting Tools- A mounting tool aids in securing the cable ties into place when assembling everything. Mounting tools are not be taken for granted as they greatly organize the layout of conductors within a wiring harness.

Overview

Before getting your wiring harness project started, it’s also important to consider your options. Remember that each harness starts as a design and it’s up to you whether you’re going to take on the assembly process yourself or ask a manufacturer to put together the final output. Asking a wiring harness manufacturer for help can come with many benefits as they can assist you with the design process as well. However, accomplishing both the design and assembly process yourself can hone your skills in the field of electronics and may come in handy in the future.