general boat wiring?
 

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?

Thanks,
Shaun

general boat wiring?
 

Shaun Van Poecke wrote:
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?

Thanks,
Shaun


You should use marine specific stuff and, in particular, I would
strongly recommend to use marine-tinned wire.
For an almost complete text on wiring a boat:
Charlie Wing: Boatowner's illustrated handbook of wiring, International
Marine, Camden, Maine.
You can order it easily on the internet.

Daniel

general boat wiring?
 

By all means use tinned, marine grade wire. There are lots of places
to buy it on the Internet... don't waste your money at West Marine et
al. Get good tools like a ratcheting double crimper and use good,
nylon terminals. Here are some of my favorite places to buy this kind
of stuff. No commercial connection, just a happy customer.
http://www.terminaltown.com/ great place for terminals and tools
Wire sources:
http://www.bestboatwire.com/
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/
http://www.pacermarine.com/wirecable.html
http://stores.ebay.com/Genuinedealz

Here's a little freeware program that will help you figure out what
size wire you should be using: http://www.midcoast.com/~aft/index2.html

general boat wiring?
 

Shaun Van Poecke wrote:
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?

Thanks,
Shaun



Some components manufactured for the automotive market are as good as
their marine counterpart, but many are worse, and I doubt that any are
better than marine components.

Do it right with the right materials and it ought to last a lifetime.

Chuck

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general boat wiring?
 

"Keith" skrev i en meddelelse
oups.com...

SNIP

Here's a little freeware program that will help you figure out what
size wire you should be using:
http://www.midcoast.com/~aft/index2.html

Hello,

Thank you for a useful link. I have played with it, and I need some help
in conversion.

The result in the program is something like #2 or #3 etc.

Can anyone in the group point to a link with conversion rates from these
dimensions (i.e. #1, #2, #3 etc.) to mm-squared ... or tell me how I do
the calculation, if there is a specific formula?

--
Flemming Torp
Gimle/DEN-61

general boat wiring?
 

Flemming Torp wrote:

Hello,

Thank you for a useful link. I have played with it, and I need some help
in conversion.

The result in the program is something like #2 or #3 etc.

Can anyone in the group point to a link with conversion rates from these
dimensions (i.e. #1, #2, #3 etc.) to mm-squared ... or tell me how I do
the calculation, if there is a specific formula?


I don't know if there is an exact formula and knowing the rationale
behind the inch/foot/yard system I doubt it :-)
(The length of the thumb of a king...)

Gauge Cross sectional area
AWG mm^2

18 0.82
16 1.31
14 2.08
12 3.31
10 5.26
8 8.39
6 13.3
4 21.2
3 26.6
2 33.6
1 42.4
0 53.5
2/0 67.7
3/0 85.2
4/0 107

Regards
Daniel

general boat wiring?
 

Flemming Torp wrote:

"Keith" skrev i en meddelelse
oups.com...

SNIP

Here's a little freeware program that will help you figure out what
size wire you should be using: http://www.midcoast.com/~aft/index2.html

Hello,

Thank you for a useful link. I have played with it, and I need some help
in conversion.


http://www.reade.com/Conversion/wire_gauge.html

Persistance and google, that will conquer all...

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)

general boat wiring?
 

"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

general boat wiring?
 

"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?

Thanks,
Shaun

Here's my two cents:
-tinned wire, doesn't have to be "marine"
-good quality crimp terminals, not the cheap ones often found in auto parts
stores
-proper size crimp terminal for the wire
-industrial quality ratcheting crimper like Xcelite.......buy on eBay
-heat shrink tubing with internal adhesive to shrink over the crimp and 1/2
inch of the wire
-I like to use BoShield T9 on terminal blocks, buss bars, etc., to prevent
corrosion
-label your wires with white vinyl tape and permanent black marker pen

general boat wiring?
 

Thank you very much ..

--
Flemming Torp
'kun en tåbe frygter ikke haven'

"Daniele Fua" skrev i en meddelelse
...
Flemming Torp wrote:

Hello,

Thank you for a useful link. I have played with it, and I need some
help in conversion.

The result in the program is something like #2 or #3 etc.

Can anyone in the group point to a link with conversion rates from
these dimensions (i.e. #1, #2, #3 etc.) to mm-squared ... or tell me
how I do the calculation, if there is a specific formula?


I don't know if there is an exact formula and knowing the rationale
behind the inch/foot/yard system I doubt it :-)
(The length of the thumb of a king...)

Gauge Cross sectional area
AWG mm^2

18 0.82
16 1.31
14 2.08
12 3.31
10 5.26
8 8.39
6 13.3
4 21.2
3 26.6
2 33.6
1 42.4
0 53.5
2/0 67.7
3/0 85.2
4/0 107

Regards
Daniel