what wiring to choose

[bob johnson]

I just tore my LOWE Ultra Roughneck down to the bare bones and will rebuild using new wiring as I am moving the console up and over from the center!!...so my wiring I installed in 2010 when I originally built this boat really cant be used. I used a lot of DUPLEX wiring as well as single strand.....on retrospect I am think of NOT using any duplex this time around, enough though it makes things so neat. I am figuring that Ill save some money and have less issues, if I run my grounds to regional buss blocks and take a single black lead to my fuse box from each area of the boat ill use less than half the black wire I would if I ran duplex!!

is this common practice??
also, I should be able to get away with 16 guage for lighting....including nav lights...correct?

how about a GOLIGHT...they are pretty powerful...do I need to go up to a 12? for that light?

thanks

bob

 

[mjf55]

First off use Marine wire. Next you can run large positive and ground wires from the backitchen to the front and then use a fuse box with both ground and positive distribution. The gauge of this wire has to be large enough to accommodate ALL the current. For sizing, assume that you will all switches on to calculate the max current. Then take into account the ROUND trip of the current path ( from battery to fuse panel and back again). Search for an online gauge (awg) calculator and now use the max current and round trip distand. Then round up to the next common gauge.
16 awg wire would not be large enough for a buss wire.

 

[mjf55]

I hate spell correction. Too late to edit post. Backitchen = back ( no kitchens on the boat )

 

[Grub54891]

They do make marine grade in duplex and trlplex, I-boats has it, search in the electrical section.

 

[bob johnson]

yeah I was just trying to get some feedback on wether I should NOT use duplex .especially since the + lead goes a different place than the ground lead!.and I could save some money on wiring if I just did a regional ground block, then took the one ground lead back to the battery from each 'region"

bob

 

[Grub54891]

yeah, I get it now. You do what you planned, as long as it's marine grade wiring, Buss bars are a good thing, as long as they are rated for the load you are addressing, and marine grade. All the wires to different parts of the boat, can be wrapped in wire loom, and still have a nice looking installation.

 

[Grandad]

I suggest that you don't run any single conductor wire smaller than #16. I've found that #18 and smaller wires, even if they are large enough to handle the current, don't have adequate mechanical strength to tolerate any abuse. As Grub says, use wire loom where you can, but there'll be lots of places where the conductor runs unprotected. - Grandad