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Old 14-12-2014, 18:57   #16
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

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Originally Posted by drousy88 View Post
i am repowering my 41 morgan and needs lots of battery cable. best price and quality. eyelits, heat shrink, connectors, fuse blocks, switches, etc. thanks for any advice
If you care to deal with them in Michigan, Wolf's Marine in Benton Harbor Mi. has monster NOS, discontinued & discounted stuff. Also good salvaged stuff & a dive shop. You have to call. Most of the items are not on their web site. For us, its an all day adventure to playland. These are just a few shots in the electrical aisle. The place is about a city block.

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Old 16-12-2014, 07:27   #17
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

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I don't want to take this off on a tangent, but there are many who disagree with you on this (pretty much all of Europe). Many people believe tinned wire is not required and a waste of money. There are certainly boats out there for many many years (30+) without tinned wire.



Personally, I would install nontinned wire if that was the only thing available or I was on a budget. I would be extra careful with the terminations and ensure I used proper heat shrink with sealant.

Good Morning Travellerw,

Ha ha there are many folks that disagree with me so no worries there. I based my comments on years of working on boats replacing numerous corroded wires(both European and NA vessels) . On our old cruising boat (Allied 39 built in 1969) all the original wiring was nontinned and when trying to replace gear I could not get soldier to take as it was all corroded. Some of the wire I stripped back 3-4' as a test to see if I could get to a clean piece of wire and found it totally black.

Having rewired the entire boat 27 years ago with marine grade wire and having replaced pieces of gear for the 3rd time the wire is still looking good and easily soldiered. The boat has been cruised 20 years mostly in the tropics.

I am not an expert but IMHO For me the only way to go is marine grade tinned wire.

BTW: Years ago I installed a Lighthouse windlass and purchased 70' of marine grade stranded tinned wire (navy spec) battery cables. If I remember correctly the cost of the wire was more than 60% less than my Port Supply discount at WM. Look at other places than marine business and you will save a bundle.

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Old 16-12-2014, 09:15   #18
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

Chuck - I agree %100 that tinned wire corrodes less than regular wire. I just believe that its not required if you have properly terminated ends, there is no way corrosion can creep up the wire. As Mainsail has shown, a properly crimped connector is waterproof. Then using sealed heatshrink will seal the other ingress point.

I believe you find corroded wire on older boats as they did not have access to the tools and materials (heatshrink) that we have today.

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Old 16-12-2014, 09:37   #19
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

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Good Morning Travellerw,

Ha ha there are many folks that disagree with me so no worries there. I based my comments on years of working on boats replacing numerous corroded wires(both European and NA vessels) . On our old cruising boat (Allied 39 built in 1969) all the original wiring was nontinned and when trying to replace gear I could not get soldier to take as it was all corroded. Some of the wire I stripped back 3-4' as a test to see if I could get to a clean piece of wire and found it totally black.

Having rewired the entire boat 27 years ago with marine grade wire and having replaced pieces of gear for the 3rd time the wire is still looking good and easily soldiered. The boat has been cruised 20 years mostly in the tropics.

I am not an expert but IMHO For me the only way to go is marine grade tinned wire.

BTW: Years ago I installed a Lighthouse windlass and purchased 70' of marine grade stranded tinned wire (navy spec) battery cables. If I remember correctly the cost of the wire was more than 60% less than my Port Supply discount at WM. Look at other places than marine business and you will save a bundle.

Safe Sailing

Chuck


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Why are you "soldiering" (sic) connections on a boat anyway? All connections should be crimped.

Please note that there's a more to marine grade wire than tinning. The conductors are more flexible, and the insulation has a higher temperature rating (105C) and is flame retardant. All desirable in a boat.

If you get the cable from Genuinedealz, they will crimp the terminations on for free, and they do a really nice job with a 4-jaw crimper. They'll also add heat shrink. I found I could get terminated, heat shrinked cables for less than the price of the raw material locally.
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Old 16-12-2014, 16:42   #20
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

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Originally Posted by travellerw View Post
Chuck - I agree %100 that tinned wire corrodes less than regular wire. I just believe that its not required if you have properly terminated ends, there is no way corrosion can creep up the wire. As Mainsail has shown, a properly crimped connector is waterproof. Then using sealed heatshrink will seal the other ingress point.

I believe you find corroded wire on older boats as they did not have access to the tools and materials (heatshrink) that we have today.

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Our boat is 1984. Some tinned and some not. Moisture & its corrosive effects, given time, permeate the insulation. Makes no difference how the ends were terminated. We find blackened copper all along all un-tinned wires. Each one of these represents a potential hot spot as the conductor area decreases and the failed strands increase. Wires get brittle as well. I work at a machine builder and have access to the scrap wire dumpster. It grieves me watch miles of premium wire and multi-conductor go out the door. I just won't use it!
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Old 16-12-2014, 18:07   #21
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

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On battery cables, I read of another gent who saved a good bit of coin by buying the cables to lead to his windlass, from a welding supply shop. Non-tinned, but... for a long run needing big wires it's a real attractive option.
welding wire has no place on a boat. (well unless you have an onboard welder I guess)
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Old 16-12-2014, 18:09   #22
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

Another good source for marine wire and installation hardware is www.pacergroup.com with locations in Ft Lauderdale and Sarasota. Was in the marine industry for many years and highly recommend using tinned cable.
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Old 16-12-2014, 18:27   #23
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

Welding wire won't last long on a boat on Salt water or Brackish water.

Having lived on the St. John 's River for almost 20 years, I learned the hard way by not using good wire. What you think you save on low quality (didn't want to say cheap)wire you spend twice as much by the time you go to the expense of removal and replacement . Hopefully not causing damage to another component.

There are a lot of good providers very reasonable priced..

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Old 16-12-2014, 19:07   #24
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

Have done a good bit of rewiring, adding new LED lights, etc on my 1984 Pearson. All the wires are untinned copper. Of all the wires I've messed with, added new crimps and a few that I replaced only a couple were dark or corroded and those generally the ones going to bilge pumps or through the bilge.

The heavy cable going to the anchor windlass the copper is still bright and shiny. Just cut off a bad crimp and stripped a wire for a new light fixture tonight. Looked brand new.

All that being said, when I rewired the mast I bought tinned copper. Why not?
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Old 16-12-2014, 19:08   #25
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

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can anyone point me in the right direction for determining gauge of wire for certain things. is there a size chart by length of some sort. I.E. 2' from battery to starter size, inverter size and length
Genuinedealz website has a handy calculator. Voltage Drop Calculator Genuinedealz.com
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Old 16-12-2014, 19:19   #26
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

If anyone is curious, here's the standard for UL 1426, boat cable. Note the battery of tests, that mean there's far more to it than tinning.

https://law.resource.org/pub/us/cfr/....1426.1986.pdf
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Old 17-12-2014, 09:37   #27
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

MarkSF

Great doc on Marine grade wire

Thanks for posting

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Old 17-12-2014, 10:11   #28
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

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can anyone point me in the right direction for determining gauge of wire for certain things. is there a size chart by length of some sort. I.E. 2' from battery to starter size, inverter size and length
The wire is sized to meet the following rules :

It must be at least 16 gauge if it's on a boat.
It must be rated for more current than the breaker/fuse rating.
It must be rated for more current than the load can use, taking into account de-rating for engine compartments if necessary.
It must be rated to give less than the acceptable voltage drop.
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Old 17-12-2014, 10:47   #29
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Re: best online battery cable source

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Best source for electrical cable & parts and custom cables -- hands down -- is Genuinedealz: Marine Wiring, Boat Cable and Electrical Genuinedealz.com

They are reliable, cheap, and good. What more can you ask for?

Bill
Bill

I have been very tempted to but from tehse folks but could not confirm what brand of wire they sell. Can you please help me by clarifying what brand of wire does Genuinederalz.com supply? Thanks!

Charlie
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Old 17-12-2014, 11:30   #30
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Re: Best Online Battery Cable Source

Why don't you e-mail them and ask?
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