Differences between amateur and professional wiring? Options

[Tdskip]

OK guys - we have some very talented people here and I'm hoping to bring my wiring skills up a level.

What separates amateur wiring from a pro level? One item that comes to mind - no use of Harbor Freight connectors (which I am guilt of).

What else comes to mind?

[914forme]

Wire should be SAE Type GPT wire at minimum. Use proper crimp connectors, not the cheap crap you find at Autozone or Walmart.

Proper Crimpers and tools go a long way. Heat shrink, strain relief, and proper wire looming

But it is very hard to say what Pro wiring surely is. As various levels are used across multiple industries.

Soldering should not be used in an automotive strand wire application.

I would use heat shrink with adhesive.

Then if your stepping up to the top level your going to go with wiring that has been twisted, and loomed together, and using high end connectors. Weather-pack are like the low end connectors, and it just climbs in cost and complexity from there.

Wiring goes up, if you see anything that says MIL on it, run, it will cost you $$$$.

Label everything, and then clear heat shrink the label. They actually make printers that print onto heat shrink, I still add clear over it to keep it protected.

After that I can say I build all my wiring on paper first, then in string, then on a board or bench, then in wire.

Not a pro anymore, I used to wire up one-off prototype stuff, it was all MIL spec, and all in white, with numbers at each end. And a spreadsheet was used to keep it all straight. You can get the MIL spec wire in colors other than white, it was just easier in our application to stock white and use it for everything.