Smith and Wesson 8884 Wiring - Help Needed

Jacks715

New Member
Apr 19, 2021
5
Jonesboro, AR
First time poster here. Hopefully I am putting this in the correct forum, if not hopefully the mods can get it where it needs to be. My son and I just picked up a S&W 8884 light bar at a flea market. The siren was removed by the previous owner. I am really just wanting to get the all of the lights to work if possible. I have taken out the four headlights and checked them - they all work. Does anyone have a wiring diagram for one of these? I have tried looking in other forums and websites, but no luck. I am attaching some rough pictures of the wires I am working with. The brown, blue and white wires were disconnected by someone and I can’t tell where they originally went. The green wire seems to have gone to the siren and is disconnected as well. The black, heavy gauge wire, which I believe is the ground is connected. The red wires that go to the spinning lights are still connected and the yellow wires that go to the headlights are still connected. I did find a YouTube functionality video that showed what seems like a 12gauge Romex wire powering the lightbar, but I don’t know how that is possible without some kind of transformer. I know there are some really smart people on this site and would really appreciate any help/guidance you can provide. Thanks.
 

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Jun 18, 2013
3,709
PA
These bars are pretty basic. Not much in the way of explaining other then having you trace your wire connections back to the cable.

Black is Ground, Red is primary for the rotators.
Going by your picture I see Yellow going to the flasher which then seems to split to the lamps, which are then grounded to the frame. There is a Dark Green wire there as well, that might goto the other set of flashers on the other side. The flasher might be faulty, I would take it out of the circuit for now and see if the lamps light without it.

Make sure you fuse your 12V+ lead so you don't blow anything out in the event there is a short.

Get a multimeter, set it to continuity and go to town check wire connections.
 
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Jacks715

New Member
Apr 19, 2021
5
Jonesboro, AR
Stampeed Valkyrie - thanks for getting us started. All the wiring has been figured out. You were correct, one of the flashers was faulty. I located another flasher so we are good to go there, both lamps flashing properly. I appreciate the mention of fusing the lead, I would not have done so if it want for your reply. image.jpgOne more question for you. On the rotator lights, the worm gear looks to be the issue on all four lights. Only one light is spinning right now. The motors are good and spinning, but the worm shaft is worn and not making good contact with the gears. How is everybody fixing this? I pulled one of the motors out and it did not seem like the worm gear could be popped off the metal shaft and easily replaced. Thanks for any insight.
 

tsquale

Lifetime VIP Donor
Oct 12, 2010
10,511
Minnesota, USA
Hi @Jacks715

Unfortunately, that is a very common issue with those S&W bars. The gears get notoriously brittle and the times I have tried to get one loose to replace, it broke. I found it was better to replace the entire assembly. That said, I may have one or two laying around. I can check tomorrow if I remember.
 

Jacks715

New Member
Apr 19, 2021
5
Jonesboro, AR
Hi @Jacks715

Unfortunately, that is a very common issue with those S&W bars. The gears get notoriously brittle and the times I have tried to get one loose to replace, it broke. I found it was better to replace the entire assembly. That said, I may have one or two laying around. I can check tomorrow if I remember.
That would be great if you did have a few (or even just one). When you have a chance to look just let me know. I will gladly pay you for them plus shipping of course. I will have to figure out how to private chat later to work out details. Thanks!
 
OK...I know nothing about the working of this light, but being a Mr. FixIt and looking at the photo (good resolution!), it looks as though the motor is attached with screws (looks like lock washers under the screw heads). It also looks like some kind of star head screw. My suggestion (if they are screws) is to loosen a the one closest to the reflector and see if you could force a shim between the motor and the mount frame to pitch it closer to the reflector gear.
 

stansdds

Member
May 25, 2010
3,533
U.S.A., Virginia
OK...I know nothing about the working of this light, but being a Mr. FixIt and looking at the photo (good resolution!), it looks as though the motor is attached with screws (looks like lock washers under the screw heads). It also looks like some kind of star head screw. My suggestion (if they are screws) is to loosen a the one closest to the reflector and see if you could force a shim between the motor and the mount frame to pitch it closer to the reflector gear.
That might buy a little time, but the worm gear looks to be very worn. I'm wondering how well that worn worm gear is going to mesh with cog gear.
 
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Jacks715

New Member
Apr 19, 2021
5
Jonesboro, AR
That is a great idea. I will try that either tonight or in the morning and report back. I am committed to getting this thing working somehow and I knew there would be some good input from people on this site. Thanks.
Ok so I tested two of the of the three spinning lights and got two different results. The shim will work on at least one of them. I will have to find a longer screw and an appropriate shim, but I think it will work for one of them. When I loosed the screws and manipulated the motor in same way a shim would, the one light worked. As for the other light I tested using the same manipulation, the worm gear was just too far worn to make proper connection. I think my next move may be to contact a company that makes theses small worm gears and see what they think. Maybe I can take a small Dremel tool and cut the worm gear length wise (like a Subway roll) remove it from the motor shaft and send it off for a replacement. As always, I look forward to any posters input and will report back after the next step.
 
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