A couple of really odd questions...

[Ishkabibble]

Here is a way to always know which is hot and which is ground...if the wires are red and black...I used this in aircraft electrical school to remember.
Red is always "positively red hot".

And if they're both black, you have a 50-50 chance of creating a puff of Magic Smoke!

[you you]

That was a funny comment of gn2s. The puff wafting up, the smell, the remorse...

[Mel46]

If they are both black someone screwed up! Could you imagine if every single wire in the PCX was black?! The only way to know whether you got the correct one was to watch for the smoke! Poof!! Poof!! Poof!! OK! Wow, that was easy!

[Ishkabibble]

Both of the wires on the power supply were black.

Hence my comment.

This was a really interesting experience.

Thank you all

[honkerman]

If they are both black someone screwed up! Could you imagine if every single wire in the PCX was black?! The only way to know whether you got the correct one was to watch for the smoke! Poof!! Poof!! Poof!! OK! Wow, that was easy!

Try working on a Harley...lots and lots of black wires. It gets a bit crazy.

[honkerman]

Both of the wires on the power supply were black.

Hence my comment.

This was a really interesting experience.

Thank you all

If you're not sure, you can always use a multimeter set to VDC (Volts DC). touch one meter lead to one wire and the other to its opposite. If you get a positive reading, the one on the positive meter lead is hot and the one on the negative lead is cold. if you get a negative reading, it's the opposite. Simple.

[honkerman]

Here is a way to always know which is hot and which is ground...if the wires are red and black...I used this in aircraft electrical school to remember.
Red is always "positively red hot".

This gets a bit more complicated in a motorcycle harness...Unless it's a Harley, then, like I said before, most of the wires are black. Good times right there.

[iceman]

Both of the wires on the power supply were black. Hence my comment. This was a really interesting experience. Thank you all

That's because they are massed masnufactured by machine and the polarity will always be correct when assembled - until someone chops the end off Sometimes a wire will have a thin strip of white which can be either + or -, but that is why you check with a meter (as mentioned, if you get a positive reading, then whatever is plugged to the red meter lead is + out).
Those small encapsulated supplies can last a long time if run under max load, but if you run them near max load for too long they tend to die suddenly due to heat and no ventilation (not a good idea to drill some unless you know what you are doing - so don't!)

[Mel46]

If I were you and the tester I was going to use a lot had only black leads, I would get some red heat shrink and put it on the + lead so that you would know it from then on. I do this on a lot of things.

[GeorgeSK]

Good for you, Ish - You can't win or loose if you don't make the bet.

As Iceman said, one side of the wire might have a faint white line, or have one side be a bit flat. Which is positive is anybody's guess, but that is where the multimeter comes in. OTOH, with LEDs, if they light up, you guessed right. If they don't, switch the wires. No big deal.

[Ishkabibble]

Now all I have to do is find some place around here where I can get five pieces of 1" x 5" x 0.060 steel strips.

Everywhere I've gone around here said "We ain't gots no scraps, but I'se kin sell ye a whole sheet and cut em fer ye. Whatcha makin ennyway?"

Nothing that would require that kind of a purchase, my toothless friend. And a whole sheet is 48" x 96". A couple hundred dollars for five damn little strips.

I'm having another mental block here.

[Alibally]

Here is a way to always know which is hot and which is ground...if the wires are red and black...I used this in aircraft electrical school to remember.
Red is always "positively red hot".

This gets a bit more complicated in a motorcycle harness...Unless it's a Harley, then, like I said before, most of the wires are black. Good times right there.

Red to black and blue to f**k

[GeorgeSK]

Must you have steel? You can get hobby brass at a place like Michael's or AC Moore (arts and crafts places) If you can stand upping the thickness, HD ( and very likely your good old fashioned local hardware store) has steel flat stock 1/8" x1/2".

If you can suffer a material change to aluminum: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-2 ... /204604762

You could also use flat stock: http://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/06200059 1/16 is only 25 thousandths bigger than you ask for. Another possibility - wait until school starts and get the machine shop students on it.

A last, out of the box idea - what about a bit of hack saw blade? So long as you don't need to drill a hole in it, you are all set.

[Ishkabibble]

Actually, I need to drill three holes in it.

I have a clipboard made of aluminum that is just over 0.060. I figured it would be about the right weight and thickness to make a bracket out of, and wouldn't be too terribly affected by the vibration of riding. Steel would be ideal, but I don't know that I have the ability to work it at a size this small.

The bracket has to fit on the bottom of the running light, as the light has a hole at each end, and the reflector bracket has one hole in the center. In order to use a bolt to attach the running light bracket to the reflector bracket, it has to have a hole in the center. The reflector bracket has to have a hole in each end to attach to the running light.

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