Educate me on my wiring project

edbert

My inlaws are getting ready to head to Colorado for a couple of months this summer and flat tow their jeep behind their motorhome along the way. Whoever did the install on the wiring harness for towing must have either been in a hurry or really didn't care about what he was doing. I at least have the factory taillights rewired back to factory specs so that they are working properly now.

The problem I am running into now is I need to wire four diodes inline between both the trailer wiring harness and the Jeeps wiring. After a little research I have discovered that I will need at least 6 amp diodes according to this site. The thing that I don't know is what kind of diode I need. The basic function of this diode is to prevent any current going back to the RV when power is provided by the Jeep e.g. braking. (I may be stating the obvious here but I'm pretty much retarded about this stuff when it gets to the actual details) I found these at Radioshack and wondered if they would work for my application.

Just so you know, this part of the wiring will be inside the jeep and I plan on soldering everything and then putting some heat shrink around the connections just in case instead of tape. Is there any harm in putting heatshrink over the diode itself so that I can keep everything as neat as possible?

Thanks for the help and sorry for the rambling at times.

Edit: The reason I am wanting to do just buy them at Radioshack(or wherever) is purely from a cost standpoint. Doing it this way would cost me $5 instead of $50 so I figured if I can do it this way, I will.

disneyjoe7

Well I never done what you're doing, but some theory on the subject. The Diode think of a 1 way valve, allowing current to flow from Jeep to RV. I would wire the diode so the cathode (the banded end) is wired to RV, I don't see any problem with heat shrinking the diodes. The trouble I could see is the diode overheating and shorting, this would now work as a direct wire to RV. I see your link stated as 6amp but very large, perhaps used for a heatsink. I might go to a larger size diode, like 10amp as the larger the diode less heat would be giving off for the given amp draw.

edbert

That diode in the link that I posted isn't really all that large at all. The ones that the previous installers used are probably 0.75" x 0.75" x 1.50" and that contains two 6 amp diodes, one for the feed from the RV and one for the feed from the Jeep. I probably will step up to a higher capacitance diode just to be safe, but I didn't know if that was even the right kind. I just want to make sure everything works as though it came from the factory and last the life of the Jeep. Am I at least looking at the correct type of diode?

Thanks for the tip man!