Which electrical tape do you prefer for wiring harness repair/maintenance?  Please add the reason(s) for your preference.  Also, please let me know if there is an alternative choice which should be added to the poll.

When rewrapping parts of my 76 280Z engine and dash harnesses I used non-adhesive vinyl harness tape. It’s what the factory used, it’s easy to work with and won’t turn into a sticky mess like regular electrical tape will over time.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

My issue with electrical tape is the same as what @pogden mentioned, over time it becomes a sticky mess.  Use the non-adhesive stuff.

My favorite stuff is this.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/190823047174

It looks and feels like the stock harness tape. No sticky adhesive on the back.

 

Edited March 15, 20223 yr by zKars

I have used this cloth type many times. Looks good and doesn't make sticky mess when removed.                                                                               

Amazon has it.

 

Wire Harness Automotive Cloth Tape - Adhesive High Noise Resistance Heat Proof Chemical Fiber Fabric Electrical Tape for Wrapping Wiring Harness/Insulation/Car Engine (0.75″82′Pack of 1 Piece)

1 hour ago, mayolives said:

I have used this cloth type many times. Looks good and doesn't make sticky mess when removed.                                                                               

 

This is also what I used on my recent harness build. Worked awesome.

3 hours ago, zKars said:

My favorite stuff is this.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/190823047174

It looks and feels like the stock harness tape. No sticky adhesive on the back.

 

zKars,

What is the application process to prohibit the installed tape from unwinding from the covered wires?

Keith

Wrap the non-adhesive over itself at the start, use a bit of sticky tape at the end and if needed at "tee" offshoots... You'll notice that there are locations on the stock harness where sticky tape is used as markers or to tie off unused (but still present) wires (like the fog lamp wiring up front or the electric fuel pump wiring under the dash and back by the fuel tank)

I don't know if this is considered cloth tape, it's more fuzzy than that, anyway I've been using it a lot to wrap harnesses.

 

I thought about using the cloth tape, but was not planning on rewrapping my entire harness and thought it would look better if everything was wrapped in vinyl. I ended up rewrapping almost everything anyway, so I guess it wouldn't have mattered. 

As Chuck says, you can finish end with a wrap of adhesive electrical tape to keep the non-adhesive tape from unraveling. There's also a way to tie it off by splitting and knotting the last few inches, but I never got that to work in a way that looked good. 

BTW, it seemed to me that the way the factory harness was wrapped was pretty clever. If you imagine one of the harness sections being a "tree" where the trunk is at the big end and branches are where the individual smaller connectors are - you start at the farthest branch, wrap a little ways past the first "Y" and then cut. Then you wrap the next farthest branch past where the first wrap stopped and keep going till you pass the next branch, and cut. The you wrap that next branch from its tip back to the bigger branch and carry on to the next branch, and so on. In most cases, you can do the whole harness section like this and only have to secure the final cut, at the "trunk", with tape. 

Edited March 15, 20223 yr by pogden

I'm using Elliot harness tape (ETN1000E) on spot repairs to my '71 harness - nice match to the OE tape, and it is adhesive.