Re-wiring boats>need quality crimper and crimp connections

[echo8287]

I am an electrician by trade. I recently bought an old pontoon boat and it needs re-wiring as squirrels go into the wiring and chewed it to pieces. Took me a couple of days to figure it out. Anyway I have patched it up. I have some new marine vinyl coming and when I get it I will be re-doing the flooring and a lot of other things. I will put the wiring in emt conduit from the bridge to the motor. Bridge wiring was a rats nest anyway. What I am looking for is a quality set of crimpers, brand of crimp connectors and brand of good marine wire>no junk stuff. I have THHN electrical wire on rolls that I could use. Something like>Ancor 701030 vs Panduit 1551 vs Amp 58628-1. I realize these are more expensive and have no problem with that(just not $500 and up). Does anyone use any of these tools on a daily basis? or can you suggest any others that are quality. I bought some of the cheap harbor freight ones to patch it up and they got looser after about 15 crimps. Any assistance would be very helpful, Thanks for any replies, Dave [h=1][/h]

 

[Scott Danforth]

I get my wire and terminals from Pacer Marine group, however you can buy the motor to helm wiring harness pre-done for significantly less money than you or I could make a harness for.

marine wire is pre-tinned. see below for the standard wiring colors

avoid harbor freight tools at all cost. they are chinese junk with very few exceptions

even the home depot / lowes ones would have been hundreds of times better (they carry GB tools and since Gardner-Bender makes most of the electrical terminals, stands to reason they may know how to make a crimp tool) [h=2]American Boat and Yacht Council Standards[/h]

Black	Ground	Negative / Neutral Main Return
Blue-Stripe	Tilt up and or trim out	Tilt and or trim circuits
Brown	Alternator Charge Light	Generator Terminal or Alternator Auxiliary Terminal to Regulator
Generator Armature	Generator Armature to Regulator
Pumps	Circuit Breaker or Switch to Pumps
Brown w/Yellow	Bilge Blowers	Circuit Breaker or Switch to Blower
Dark Blue	Cabin & Instrument	Circuit Breaker or Switch to Lights
Green or Green w/Yellow Stripe	Bonding System	Grounding Wires (if insulated)
Green Stripe	Tilt down and/or trim in	Tilt and or trim circuits
Grey	Navigation Lights	Circuit Breaker or Switch to Lights
Tachometer	Tachometer Sender to Gauge
Lt. Blue	Oil Pressure	Oil Pressure Sender to Gauge
Orange	Accessory Feed	Ammeter to Alternator or Generator
Common Feed	Distribution Panel to Accessory Switch
Feed	Accessory Circuit Breakers or Switches
Pink	Fuel Gauge	Fuel Gauge Sender to Gauge
Purple	Ignition	Ignition Switch to Coil & Electrical Instrument
Instrument Feed	Distribution Panel Electrical Instruments
Red	Instrument Feed	Distribution Panel to Electrical Instruments
Power Feeds	Positive Main Power (particularly un-fused)
Tan	Water temperature	Water temperature sender to gauge
Yellow	Generator Field	Generator to Regulator Field Terminal
Ground	Negative / Neutral Main Return
Yellow w/Red	Starting Circuit	Starting Switch to Solenoid

COLOR ITEM USE

 

[echo8287]

Thank you Mr. Scott for that reply, and especially the wiring colors. I have noticed the motor wiring corresponds to your color chart. It is a Crest pontoon.This motor is an inboard Mercruiser 4.3LX with Alpha drive. It is a pontoon boat. When I take the carpet up I am going to fix the wiring. I will get the correct wire and I wanted to get a good crimper. So far I'm having a hard time figuring out which one to get. I didn't realize there were so many different kinds for many different kinds of crimps. I figured on a boating site, the folks would be the most knowledgeable on what I should buy. I am an electrician but we don't use many crimp type connectors. I am looking at the Amp, Panduit, Anchor ,Thomas & Betts crimpers. I don't mind paying a little more for something that is good. I was trying to stay under $250, which is the money I got for my birthday. Any help on which crimper would be best and maybe a model number would be great, Thanks for any replies, David

 

[StingrayMike]

Klein makes some good crimpers and strippers. I like using their model 1005 crimper. Some prefer the ratcheting type, but I am partial to the 1005.
Their stripper 1010 is pretty decent, but I only use it for the stripper portion.

I use those on a daily basis and they work really good, didn't break the bank either

 

[sberl]

I purchased the Ancor Ratcheting Single Crimp. I’ve only done about 20 or so crimps with it and have no experience with other crimpers but so far I’m really happy with it.