Re: How to start wiring from scratch?
On books, B&N unfortunately doesn't have much. But hopefully you have a Boaters World or West Marine next to you. They have a pretty good selection and the titles already mentioned are the ones I recommend. Boaters world has lower prices btw for the same items.<br /><br />Some things you won't find in the books. Here is a quick list, having done a ton of electrical work on my boat:<br /><br />1. Always buy more than you need. Other than wire, you can return what you can't use assuming you buy it locally. You don't want to keep going back and forth to the store for a different size connector. I find that kits dont have good quality connectors typically and give you too many of some items, and not enough of the others.<br /><br />2. Buy the best quality material you can. This is the key benefit of doing the work yourself. You save money on the labor, put that in best (marine grade) wires, adhesive lined crimp connectors, proper size wire (or even a bit thicker), etc. You will have a much more reliable boat this way, and less maintenance.<br /><br />3. Get a helping hand. Fishing wires is the biggest pain on larger boats. Having someone at the other end help with the end of the fish line makes the job so much easier.<br /><br />4. Be very, very careful around high-current sources such as the battery. Before connecting anything here, double-check all of your work. And then use an ohm meter to check to make sure you don't have any shorts before connecting the cables to the battery.<br /><br />5. Label all the wires. Most builders skip this step, making troubleshooting so hard next time. Where possible, use different colors and follow current conventions in current marine standards.<br /><br />6. Make sure you understand how to cut holes in fiberglass. Goof-ups here will be costly and negate any savings elsewhere. You could cause serious long term damage to the boat if holes are not sealed properly.<br /><br />7. Dont wear a watch or other metallic things on your fingers, arm or neck. At a minimum, you would blow fuses, and equipment. At worse, you would get a nasty burn or cause an explosion. A short across high current sources with a wrist watch is a nasty way to regret what you have gotten into. Accidents WILL happen, no matter how careful. Best to minimize chances of getting hurt or damaging something seriously.<br /><br />8. Try to be as neat as possible. By the time you are done, you will have a huge number of wires going everywhere. Nicely bending the wires and fastening them regularly (which is required anyway) will go a long way toward a clean and neat job.<br /><br />9. Finally, know that if you follow these steps and what is in the books, you will wind up with an electrical system that will be superior to 99% of what is installed in boats today! It is amazing how little attention and money is spent on good electrical system in boats. Some of it is horrifying. In my otherwise well built (new) boat, I found that nearly every fuse was rated for 10 amps regardless of what it was protecting! As an electrical engineer, I shutter to think what could be happening to all the other poor people who bought the same boat, and dont know about the ticking time bomb under them. <br /><br />Hope this helps!<br />Amir
