Round stranded wire for mast wiring

[SV Demeter]

Can anyone suggest a source for round stranded duplex and triplex wire for mast electrical? Ideally tinned wire. Everything I see is flat and I would prefer to use round wire.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by SV Demeter

Can anyone suggest a source for round stranded duplex and triplex wire for mast electrical? Ideally tinned wire. Everything I see is flat and I would prefer to use round wire.

Any particular reason why? Most masts around here are just done with the usual marine-brand white-jacketed duplex and triplex. Common, durable, pretty easy to pull.

If you're near a large city, you'll usually find an industrial electrical/electronics seller who will have wire of just about any type, including tinned & stranded... but by the time you research and run around to get it, it doesn't seem worth the effort, just to have "round".

[ttex]

Extension cords are round. Cut the ends off and do whatever you want. The gauge is labeled on the package.

[smac999]

ancor makes round wire in 2 or 3 conductor. (dc or ac colors)

IE
https://www.ancorproducts.com/en/126510

looks like the even has a multi mast one. what ever that is

https://www.ancorproducts.com/en/pro...tor/round-mast

[dkenny64]

you might try amazon.
when you find the product there is a selector to choose the specific wire. there are
many round.



-dkenny64

[Tellie]

PACER electric supply, give them a call and they help you with any type of marine grade wire you'll need.

[Dsanduril]

For what kind of loads? Instruments and LED lights have a look at Belden Instrumentation Cables. They make round, multi conductor (tinned) cables up to about 14AWG. Try their 84xx or 94xx series. You can find online or any good electrical supply house (pretty much around the world).

For bigger tinned conductors Ancor is probably the most available.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by SV Demeter

Can anyone suggest a source for round stranded duplex and triplex wire for mast electrical? Ideally tinned wire. Everything I see is flat and I would prefer to use round wire.

My supplier for all tinned wires is Greg's Marine wire, also sells on Amazon. I just bought 14-gauge duplex and triplex for the mast rewire I am doing.
Triplex and higher will be round, but duplex round will be hard to find. Pacer has more options, even 5-plex, but pricey! Greg's I found has the best prices and quick service, I'm not linked to them in any form, just satisfied.

https://gregsmarinewiresupply.com/

[pcmm]

keep in mind that as you will likely have different exit points for your wire(s) typically mid mast for the steaming and decklights and masthead for the others. As the lengths are different the AWG will change a bit between. I found it easier to build a custom harness by purchasing spools of single conductor wire (with the negative being the only wire with a splice in it. and sized for all the loads on concurrently) This allowed me to colour code the harness and cost me a bit less than buying enough duplex and triplex wire to do the same. All it took as an extra 30 minutes or so to lay out, and tape up into a harness.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by ttex

Extension cords are round. Cut the ends off and do whatever you want. The gauge is labeled on the package.

My apologies, no offense, but this is bad advice.

1) Marine Grade wire is tinned
-> This prevents corrosion in a marine environment.

2) Marine grade wire is typically stranded
-> This prevents breakage of wire from movement and flexing.

Standard electrical, such as extensions cords, have neither of these features.

Please consider using tinned, stranded, marine grade electrical wire.

[rodgoult]

Shrew is absolutely correct. Not only is tinned wire corrosion resistant, but the flexibility is really important. Get the most strands you can for the gauge you need - not only does this increase flexibility, but also current handling.
This goes for the suggestion to buy single-strand and build a harness, which makes absolute sense - but allow a margin for harness take-off points, which will not typically be as precise as measurements would seem to indicate! Extra harness in the mast is no big deal... being six inches short when you go to install is a monster!

[donradcliffe]

Don't ever say tinned wire prevents corrosion--it just slows it down a bit.

[Dsanduril]

Originally Posted by rodgoult

...- not only does this increase flexibility, but also current handling....

Only in radio work where skin effect comes into play. For DC and regular AC stranded vs. solid does not change current carrying ability. AWG definition of wires sizes is the cross-section of the actual copper, so a 14AWG solid conductor is about 13% smaller in diameter than a 14AWG stranded conductor because of the spacing between the strands and yet both carry the same current.

Numerous strands also increase the surface area available for corrosion and wicking effects that suck water into the wire. Arguably solid wire would be better in a marine environment, but the lack of flexibility on a platform subject to movement and vibration outweighs any potential benefit from solid wire.

And while I would not recommend the use of an extension cord anywhere on a boat, they are generally constructed of stranded wire to make them flexible.

[George DuBose]

I second Tellie's recommendation of using Pacer Marine. Their cables are fine strand tinned and available in all gauges. Nicely priced compared to Ancor and better if not equal quality.

Great company and good service.

Using normal Chinese extension cords is a recipe for disaster.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by pcmm

keep in mind that as you will likely have different exit points for your wire(s) typically mid mast for the steaming and decklights and masthead for the others. As the lengths are different the AWG will change a bit between. ...

This is a good point, and because of the exit points I have one duplex for the spreaders and steaming and one triplex for the mast head. If you need more power then you customize the way you did. As for the gauge, it may be important if you have incandescent lights, but since I am converting to LEDs, 14 AWG is more than sufficient. I also have the coax - LMR 400uf.