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12-05-2013, 08:57
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,138
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So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
After being told that high quality crimps on normal copper battery cabling is not good enough in another thread. I decided to check a few chandleries when passing to see how available fat battery cabling is in the tinned form.
Hmmm, seldom it would seem, No chandlery I have visited stocks it.... Do you know one?
Hmmm, Vetus, a big supplier of marine equipment, uses ordinary copper cable for the battery cabling.
Hmmm, so I'm doing a bit of boat work in the marina and find that I need some fat cabling, so I walk over to the boat shop, Surprise.... they only have non tinned, oh well, better use that then.... Or would some people suggest I order it online and wait a few days?
Do you have only tinned battery and other fat cabling on your boat?
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12-05-2013, 09:03
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: North Charleston, SC
Boat: Camano Troll
Posts: 5,176
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Re: So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
I have no idea what you mean by "fat" cabling, but my boat is wired with tinned marine grade wire. West Marine carries tinned marine wire. genuinedealz.com is a low cost source of tinned marine wire and cable. as well as connectors, ligs, etc.
If you're in some third world country you may have trouble finding it, but not in the USA.
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12-05-2013, 09:17
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: U.S., Northeast
Boat: Currently boatless
Posts: 1,643
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Re: So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
Where are you located? At least in the U.S., most chandleries stock tinned cable.
__________________
... He knows the chart is not the sea.
-- Philip Booth, Chart 1203
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12-05-2013, 09:28
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,138
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Re: So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ziggy
Where are you located? At least in the U.S., most chandleries stock tinned cable.
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Im in Europe in the Med.
They obviously dont seem to place as much importance on tinned here and certainly supplies from the average chandlery or marina are not common.
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12-05-2013, 09:31
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Skagit City, WA
Posts: 25,514
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Re: So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
How long do they need to last? You could use normal copper and put that heavy duty shrink tube on the ends (the kind that glues itself on when you shrink it. Alot of boats dont have tinned copper battery cables. Not that it isnt the best!
__________________
"I spent most of my money on Booze, Broads and Boats. The rest I wasted" - Elmore Leonard
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12-05-2013, 09:40
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#6
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Maine
Boat: CS-36T - Cupecoy
Posts: 3,197
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Re: So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
Done correctly, with a good wire jacket (105C rating), Mil-Spec dual wall adhesive lined heat shrink, closed end tinned copper battery lugs and crimped using a compression/swage type lug crimper that is properly sized for the terminals you'll be fine. Even using a finely stranded bare copper it can last a very, very long time if the execution is done well. Done correctly the bare copper wire will be sealed from the environment inside the jacket, lug and then sealed over with an adhesive lined heat shrink.
Over here, finding 105C rated wire with marine type stranding it is considerably easier to find tinned, than non-tinned.
Done well the tinned vs. non-tinned becomes a relative non-issue. Of course if you can fined tinned, then by all means use it, but don't beat yourself up over it if you do all the other steps well..
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12-05-2013, 09:49
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,138
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Re: So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maine Sail
Done correctly, with a good wire jacket (105C rating), Mil-Spec dual wall adhesive lined heat shrink, closed end tinned copper battery lugs and crimped using a compression/swage type lug crimper that is properly sized for the terminals you'll be fine. Even using a finely stranded bare copper it can last a very, very long time if the execution is done well. Done correctly the bare copper wire will be sealed from the environment inside the jacket, lug and then sealed over with an adhesive lined heat shrink.
Over here, finding 105C rated wire with marine type stranding it is considerably easier to find tinned, than non-tinned.
Done well the tinned vs. non-tinned becomes a relative non-issue. Of course if you can fined tinned, then by all means use it, but don't beat yourself up over it if you do all the other steps well..
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I agree fully,
Thats what I said in this thread below. The thread basically states that anything other than tinned is unacceptable in a marine environment. I think that this gives the wrong priority as what is most important is the quality of the crimping/heat shrinking etc.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...es-100984.html
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12-05-2013, 09:58
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: U.S., Northeast
Boat: Currently boatless
Posts: 1,643
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Re: So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
My boat was built with non-tinned wiring. I've been gradually replacing it all with tinned. The workmanship on the non-tinned wiring is definitely not up to Maine Sail's standards and it is corroding, but so far I've had no problems in practice.
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... He knows the chart is not the sea.
-- Philip Booth, Chart 1203
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12-05-2013, 11:07
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: North Charleston, SC
Boat: Camano Troll
Posts: 5,176
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Re: So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuss
Im in Europe in the Med.
They obviously dont seem to place as much importance on tinned here and certainly supplies from the average chandlery or marina are not common.
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It might have made a difference if you had given your location in the first place.
That said, I would be surprised if there really isn't any place to buy proper marine tinned wire and cable.
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12-05-2013, 11:11
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#10
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֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 15,136
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Re: So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
I think everyone has their own personal criteria for when "wire" becomes "cable" thickness.
We got lucky and found a spool end of Type3 Machine Wire, fully tinned, which is almost identical to battery wire. (I call it cable, they call it wire.) Do you plan to keep the boat for five years or longer? Do you like doing the same job twice? Do you like gambling? <G>
Sealing things up is all well and good and probably will work for you, but when you used tinned wire you simply eliminate one possible failure mode. Then you just find a handy 7-11 to rob to pay for it.
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12-05-2013, 13:37
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: North Charleston, SC
Boat: Camano Troll
Posts: 5,176
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Re: So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
I'm still wondering what "fat" cabling is.
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12-05-2013, 13:49
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#12
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Nearly an old salt
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Lefkas Marina ,Greece
Boat: Bavaria 36
Posts: 22,801
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Tinned wire is available in Europe through industrial specialist wire & cable suppliers. It is not common in yachts therefore generally not available in chandleries etc
Dave
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Interested in smart boat technology, networking and all things tech
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12-05-2013, 17:42
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#13
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Moderator
Join Date: May 2008
Location: cruising SW Pacific
Boat: Jon Sayer 1-off 46 ft fract rig sloop strip plank in W Red Cedar
Posts: 21,184
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Re: So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
Hmmm...tinned wire not common in yachts in Europe. On last inspection there were a hell of a lot of yachts in Europe. Most of their electrics seem to work.
Is it just possible that tinned wire isn't really all that important?
I've always used tinned wire when it was available, but I've never worried about it if it was not. Haven't had many failures due to corrosion of the wire... terminals and connectors, yes, but the wire generally seems to survive.
Maybe I've been lucky. For a long time. Who knows?
Cheers,
Jim
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Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II, lying Port Cygnet Tasmania once again.
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12-05-2013, 17:45
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: U.S., Northeast
Boat: Currently boatless
Posts: 1,643
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Re: So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Cate
Hmmm...tinned wire not common in yachts in Europe. On last inspection there were a hell of a lot of yachts in Europe. Most of their electrics seem to work.
Is it just possible that tinned wire isn't really all that important?
I've always used tinned wire when it was available, but I've never worried about it if it was not. Haven't had many failures due to corrosion of the wire... terminals and connectors, yes, but the wire generally seems to survive.
Maybe I've been lucky. For a long time. Who knows?
Cheers,
Jim
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I agree. Tinned is preferable, but I don't think it makes a big difference.
__________________
... He knows the chart is not the sea.
-- Philip Booth, Chart 1203
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12-05-2013, 17:49
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#15
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Thailand
Boat: Herreshoff Caribbean 50
Posts: 1,096
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Re: So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?
Quote:
Originally Posted by rwidman
I'm still wondering what "fat" cabling is.
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Guessing 50mm2 to 70mm2
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