rewiring boat

Sun Jan 23, 2011 4:47 pm

has anyone ever rewired a boat here. it appears all the wiring on her is of the auto type....not the tinned type for marine use and its begining to decay. i would like to know what size wire from battery to panel and panel to electronics, lighting etc. i have an orkney fastliner (19ft).

thanks

Re: rewiring boat

Sun Jan 23, 2011 5:46 pm

was wondering why there was no night time cod reports :lol:

Re: rewiring boat

Sun Jan 23, 2011 5:47 pm

Hi Tom if you want you can take a look at mine it's on the trailer at the moment...
Cork hill area

Re: rewiring boat

Sun Jan 23, 2011 10:42 pm

Cluais wrote:Hi Tom if you want you can take a look at mine it's on the trailer at the moment...
Cork hill area


Good stuff!
Mines in Glanmire if you need a second opinion :D

Re: rewiring boat

Tue Jan 25, 2011 12:14 pm

If your Battery is in the back of the Boat and your running the standard set of electronics (Fish Finder, GPS & VHF), 8mm wire from the Battery to your switch panel should be plenty. I've seen standard house hold electrical cable used. Copper wire should be fine if you put some solder over the exposed end before you crimp. After you connect the cable to the battery, apply a film of Vaseline to help keep oxidation on the terminal and cable to a minimum...

Kev

Re: rewiring boat

Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:14 pm

MAC wrote:If your Battery is in the back of the Boat and your running the standard set of electronics (Fish Finder, GPS & VHF), 8mm wire from the Battery to your switch panel should be plenty. I've seen standard house hold electrical cable used. Copper wire should be fine if you put some solder over the exposed end before you crimp. After you connect the cable to the battery, apply a film of Vaseline to help keep oxidation on the terminal and cable to a minimum...

Kev

thanks for that kev I will look further into it. Ive heard of a formula that works out the size. It also considers the length of wiring which can be very important as the longer it is the more volts are lost.

Re: rewiring boat

Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:09 pm

Unless you are looking to move your battery forward, you'll be fine with 8mm. To be honest 6mm would be fine as well & as I mentioned earler I've seen 3.5mm household stuff used. No need to bother rersearching unless your taking the time to move your battery Forward. Then you'll be looking at 25mm cable as the starter has a much higher current draw from the battery and you need to make sure there is no voltage or current drop accross the cable.

I use 8mm copper cable and have had no issues at all over the 2 years I've been using it.
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=17834&hilit=Raider


Kev

Re: rewiring boat

Tue Jan 25, 2011 9:08 pm

MAC wrote:Unless you are looking to move your battery forward, you'll be fine with 8mm. To be honest 6mm would be fine as well & as I mentioned earler I've seen 3.5mm household stuff used. No need to bother rersearching unless your taking the time to move your battery Forward. Then you'll be looking at 25mm cable as the starter has a much higher current draw from the battery and you need to make sure there is no voltage or current drop accross the cable.

I use 8mm copper cable and have had no issues at all over the 2 years I've been using it.
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=17834&hilit=Raider


Kev

hi kev,
thanks for that. while looking on the net i came across two interesting articles. i thought i might share them for those who might be doing a little electrical work.

http://yachtpals.com/marine-electrical-9162
(read all the article)



http://www.solar-wind.co.uk/cable-sizing-DC-cables.html

Re: rewiring boat

Thu Jan 27, 2011 1:41 am

excellent links...