- My 2cents contribution. I have worked on boat wiring for over three decades and while I use tinned marine wire on my customers' boats, I noticed that a solid wire survived just fine on some of the really ancient boats, the
insulation was more of a problem. I have used Romex on my own boat to do long straight runs for
shore power hook up and it is still in great shape when I need to reconnect it 30 +years later. Of course, it would be a bear to snake it through some tight quarters, but I suspect that, at least on sailboats, the vibration is unlikely to break solid wire, if it is reasonably supported. The next on my list of suspect typical
advice is the fine stranded wire. Not only I haven't seen the household multi-strand stuff
sold at the
hardware stores fail, but but when reconnecting, that is cutting off a terminal and replacing it, I see the copper brighter and less corroded on the household wire than marine wire. I use small rotary wire brush in a drill
motor to clean the end before crimping, and it is usually easier to clean up than marine wire, even the tinned kind. There are jobs where the household wire just wouldn't do, as around the
engine and in the above mentioned tight quarters - the flexibility of marine wire is essential in both cases.
I prefer to use un-insulated terminals, crimp, solder just enough to seal the end of the wire and add shrink tubing. Yes, I realize it is time consuming, therefore unpopular with professionals, but I often
work on the same boats I have wired up decades ago and I am glad I took my time.