After reading Rusty's write up on installing the relays for the headlights, I decided it was time to go ahead and tackle that project.

You have to understand that every time I have tackled anything electrical on the coach I discover wires that are not connected to anything.

Well, this time I decided to start removing the extra wires. I found 32 wires that terminated in the wiring compartment but were not connected to anything.

I decided to start at the rear and work my way forward. This is a picture of almost 600 feet of wire that was removed from the engine compartment and most all ran to the tail lights.



Previous owners had added three different types of trailer connectors. Guess no one ever heard of adapters!!



Here is a picture of some of the handy work I found. This is representative of the quality of someone's work. Look at the butt connectors placed only inches apart.



Hopefully I can keep you updated as this progresses.

Nick

Hey Nick,
Congratulations! I'm a little jealous. I have minimal electrical skills but would love to tackle this project someday. Every time I start a project I find something I didn't expect & most of the time it stops me in my tracks. If anyone out there would like to help me on this I would be happy to provide all the parts & will do all the dirty work plus some. Nick, how much will this cost you? Any idea how much I'd be looking at for a 28' 454?
Tere

Jim and Tere, this is almost a labor only type project. Other than a small amount of wire and connectors, the project is really removing the excess wiring that is undoubtedly from the use of standard wiring harnesses that covered every possible accessory. Many of the wires appear to have never been connected. The other part is just correcting the work where someone was just too lazy to cut out the previous patch work when adding trailer outlets etc. I'm also sure that some of the wires are where people added a new ground and left the old wire in place, etc.


I expect this is a project that will be ongoing and will take months to complete. I also have to try and not fall into the same trap and not just patch problems in the future but take the few extra minutes to remove any bad wiring when I do correct something. The headlight relays is a good example. After adding the relays there will be old headlight wiring that should be removed.

Will keep you posted.

Nick

It's a lot of work, but look at all the neat wire you are collecting for your stash.

As you find "extra wires" you might consider leaving a few of them in place as spares in case later additions or corrosion creates a fault. I have found a large number of wires and even relays that are not connected, because this was a Gillig Bus chassis and some wires opened an closed rear doors, operated rear ac equipment and controlled lots of interior lights. I have marked the wires and relays and noted them on a home made schematic that I intend to add to the Barth Binder book. From this inspection I found at least five relays that could be activated for the headlights with a minimum of effort and wiring.

To me it makes perfect sense to have a lot of extra wires. Since the Barth was a custom coach the wiring would be there to support all or most of the additional options that may or may not be included on each coach.