"Shaun Van Poecke" wrote in message
...
Hi all,
Will hopefully be wiring up a boat in the next few months (thunderbird 26)
that has no existing wiring. It will be a pretty standard sort of a
setup; a couple of batteries, nav lights, cd player, compass light, GPS,
wiring to outboard and solar panel. Ive done a fair bit of wiring in the
past and dont have trouble making up a decent quality loom with color
coded wiring, spade connectors and heat shrink.

What im wondering is, does standard wiring do the job well enough here, or
do you use marine specific stuff? Standard battery terminals, standard
spade connectors? are most people running their wiring inside conduit, or
just using a wiring wrap to keep things tidy? Do you coat the finished
product in anything, especially in places like the back of fuse boards or
other panels? Any other things i need to keep in mind here?

Shaun,

When you say "spade terminal", do you mean the slide-on/off
quick-disconnects, or the fork terminals that go under a screw on a terminal
strip? Fork terminals are not usually recommended for use on boats, as they
are more likely to shake or slide off (even the ones with the little
up-turned ends). Ring terminals are the better bet, and getting the ones
with adhesive-filled heat-shrink sleeves will help prevent corrosion, and
reduce vibration effects on the crimp. As for the quick-disconnects, if you
have to use them I would suggest using a good dielectric grease (silicone
grease is good, but don't let it drip on the gelcoat) to reduce oxidation.
Better yet, use a more secure method of connection.

As others have said, you definitely want to use marine-grade tinned,
stranded wire. Try leaving some cheap "lamp cord" near the bilge and watch
how quickly the wire turns to dust.

Conduit is nice, and I recommend it if you can use it, but be sure to
oversize it because you will always discover one more circuit you want to
run. Well-protected cable looms are pretty standard, just be sure to
support the bundle well, and provide grommets or other protection where the
bundle passes through a bulkhead (for example).

Of course, I don't always practice what I preach, but at least I feel guilty
about it!

-Paul