My God--looka that !!!

[29cascadefixer]

As I was comtemplating the new wiring circuits I wish to install on Warchant, my 29 cascade, I thought of a subject for a thread that might be informative. Years ago as I was tearing out the old wiring, I was struck by an oddity. The compass was mounted on the aft port bulkhead of the cabin. The bulkhead is made of 1 inch thick Mahogany. On the other side of the bulkhead in that area is the fuse box ! I sat and contemplated this with some wonder. I could not believe that this particular act of stupidity existed. What was the installer thinking, if he/she WAS thinking ? The images of a quiet night sail with running lights blazing and steering a compass course sent shivers down my spine.
The whole discovery still has me shaking my head. Anyway, this led to thoughts of seeing if any of you folks have ever come across any blatant acts of STUPIDITY in your years of gawking at boats? Someday my discovery will probably be funny to me, but I still wonder !

[delmarrey]

I have a 23 year old boat with three previous owners and I don't think any of them knew anything about boats except to how race them.

To start with, how about a wetlift made of steel mounted to the back of the motor and sitting and leaking on the transmission.

Or the set screws that go in the coupler of the prop shaft were just grade 3 hex bolts.

Or 9 holes drilled thru the deck in a space of 3" X 3" with a padeye sitting on top. The unused holes were filled with silicone. No wonder the deck was collapsing.

Or a 50 HP Diesel going thru an 1 1/2" seacock.

Or around 60' of several differant wires that went from the fuse panel to no where, just cut off and left in place.

And on and on and on!

I am really surprised that there aren't more boating fatallities with the knowledge of the average boater out there.
The biggest thing I see out there is thru hull/deck fittings installed without the core being sealed. Any boat with a wood core needs that extra little procedure.

Time to quit......................_/)

[29cascadefixer]

Ahhhhhhhh, wiring. As I contemplated the old wiring in Warchant, I , as a 30 year veteran in the Automotive wiring world, mentally gagged. Most of the wiring was not color coded. Twist and tape junctions were the norm. The running lights on the bow and stern pulpits were connected with table lamp cord ( zip cord). I will rip out this spaggetti plate of bad wiring techniques, and , in rightous indignation, will set it right. Ancor wiring two gauges larger than needed to allow for future upgrades. All soldered joints. State of the Present art running lamps. The only thing brighter than the resulting wiring triumph will be the gleam from my teeth as I smile in knowing it is RIGHT !
I sometimes feel guilty about the nasty names I call the previous owner as I deal with another head shaking discovery. Then I think-----NAHHHH, I don't feel guilty !

[GordMay]

"Fixer"
Sounds like you are on the right track - except I wouldn't bother soldering all connections. Properly crimped and sealed connections will suffice, and (in fact) ABYC doesn't recommend solder-only connections.
Regards,
Gord

[Jeff H]

Actually soldering is discouraged for marine connections. The heat required to obtain a a proper alters the ductility of the wire and the solder stiffens the wire creating a stress point. Soldered wires are thought to be more prone to fatigue failures.

I had a boat fail survey on this issue back when I used to solder all of my connections. It cost me a bunch of time and money to redo them over but I had to do it because the Buyer had a contingency that he had to be able to insure the boat and two insurance companies had turned him down unless this (and a bad swage fitting) were corrected.

Jeff

[29cascadefixer]

Okay ! I'm convinced ! No solder, just crimp. Can do! Must use the heat to seal crimp fittings , right. Hmmm. I was going to use a #6 AWG as a common ground from one end to the other and just solder the smaller wires from various loads to it. Have to do a little re-thinking here.