Do you really need tinned wire and lugs?

[David M]

Not having tinned is a false economy. Having tinned can save you so much trouble down the road.

[BlackHeron]

Originally Posted by Olddan1943

West Marine has been selling non-tinned copper wire for many many years. I doubt if the floor personnel are away of the ABYC requirement for tinned wire. They just keep selling the non-tinned wire.
I will agrees, provided the environment is reasonable on the boat, the wire will outlive me, at least.
I have been using non-waterproof crimp fitting for years, but like the non-tinned wire, the environment is not in a humid area.

It is not requirement. It is only a recommendation. Look it up.

[Olddan1943]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Prior to the late seventies I don't recall seeing tinned wire on boats. We got by fine with plain copper. To me the important thing in marine wire is to have lots of fine strands instead of fewer large strands. The wire is more flexible with fine strands and less likely to break.

That said I do use tinned wire but also make sure it is fine strands like Ancor uses.

Originally Posted by BlackHeron

It is not requirement. It is only a recommendation. Look it up.

I shall take your word for it. SMILE Thank you.

[skipgundlach]

Or this:

[Olddan1943]

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

Or this:

Ah bus bars.... brings back more memories of submarines.... Non-sparking wrenches and too short to reach between battery posts. Empty your pockets and remove your belt. And this was on a nuclear powered submarine too. Everyone was cross-trained, passed an oral test and a practical test prior to being awarded the prize of the Qualification Dolphins.

[David M]

With batteries you just put on the red terminal spray and that takes care of that. That won't work on the rest of your electrical systems terminations.

[ZULU40]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Considering the cost difference vs the hassle of rewiring in a few years, it amazes me that any would choose not to use tinned wire.

Freshwater isnt as corrosive, but I agree the longer you can put off the next rewire is going to be worth it. Tinned all the way

Just a few more points,

1/ Heat shrink primary connections with like coloured heatshrink.
2/ Circuit breakers to protect wires, fuses to protect devices, blade fuses are ok
3/ Usually codes allow yellow and black for 12v, red and black for 120/240 volt to identify potentially lethal sources. 120/240 should be further protected at distribution points with hard covers denoting ///DANGER///
4/ Off distribution to devices use colours for connectors, 10 and 12g yellow, 15 and 16g blue, 18 and 20g red.
5/ Always calculate your gauge wire for the entire run from distribution point to device and the return to the block. See diagram
6/ If for some reason you are stacking connectors then go from large at the bottom to lightest at the top. For many connections use distribution blocks
7/ Match the size of connector to the gauge of wire, in smaller gauges they can come with preinstalled heatshrink
8/ Fine strand wire should be used because it has resistance to vibration, house wire is not suitable

explanation for use. Your bilge pump is a critical circuit, you measure the length of run to be 20ft, the whole run is therefore 40ft. The load written on the device is 5 amp. See the 3% voltage drop for critical circuits, follow down to 40ft, go across to 5 amp draw, read off the gauge wire you should be using.

[ZULU40]

Originally Posted by Olddan1943

Ah bus bars.... brings back more memories of submarines.... Non-sparking wrenches and too short to reach between battery posts. Empty your pockets and remove your belt. And this was on a nuclear powered submarine too. Everyone was cross-trained, passed an oral test and a practical test prior to being awarded the prize of the Qualification Dolphins.

Lets not forget blade switches while we are at it
But bus bars do tend to transmit vibration and shocks to cells that wiring wont. Research has shown that wire wont conduct damage to cells or cell posts, and cracking casements. Is hence better suited to submersibles subject to combat damage. Battery acid in the bilges of submarines is life threatening presenting chlorine gas. Sure sailboats less so, all the same...

Going back to blade switches, these days these systems are likewise better automated to reduce crewing and likewise extend combat range or duration, more especially in diesel electric boats though.

ie. **** changes, change with it

[Pegu Club]

We have been doing some wiring work on our 1977 Bristol 29.9, I was pleasantly surprised that the majority of the forty year old wires show little or no corrosion as is talked about so frequently on forums. The new wire we have put in is tinned. We have removed the wire nuts and used proper butt splices with heat shrink. It would appear in our case the corrosion thing is not such an issue. Being a salt water boat its whole life I was surprised.

Fair winds all,

[double u]

"...overheat, the number one cause of wires going all black inside..."
our SSB-receiver antennawire taped to the backstay? was all black inside..!

[Martkimwat]

Not sure what A64 Pilot has against vinyl covered wire and quoting aircraft grade wire as a better wire needs some qualification. Don't know if they still use it but aircraft grade wire used a product called Kaptan as an insulation and it caused a lot of wiring fires some years ago. Aircraft insulation has a prime requirement of being lightweight and thin but that does not necessarily equate to being a good insulator for boats. For boats use the insulation primarily needs to be tough and moisture proof.

[a64pilot]

No, Kapton wiring has been gone for decades. It was very light weight, original AH-64’s were full of it, but we got rid of it in the 90’s I think. It broke done and caused shorts, Kapton wiring and Ray Chem connectors have given me, many late nights I didn’t need.
I believe it also gave off cyanide gas when it burned too.
All wire I have seen and used on aircraft is tinned, but Teflon, or some form of Teflon. I don’t think it’s actually teflon, teflon May in fact even be a brand name, but it’s very tough, doesn’t tear easily and is a much better covering. Good to 260 C, but much more expensive than PVC or Vinyl

However if we are stating you need only tinned wire on a Boat, that non tinned wire is doomed, why not go ahead and spec the best and use Aerospace wire?

[hellosailor]

Given that aircraft generally go up and down, and the resulting change in ambient pressure is guaranteed to pump moist air in and out of the insulating sleeve on wires, it would seem very likely that any length of insulated wire on an aircraft is going to have moisture, and therefore rot, all the way through the wire, totally unseen but causing damage along the entire length.

So tinned wire would have a special value on aircraft. Boats suffer from the same problem, even if it is much less intense since the lesser daily thermal cycling on a boat is the primary "water pump" through insulated wires.

You can get away with many things, and in a commodity market where cutting a hundred bucks off a hundred grand price can make or break your sales...I can appreciate why mass market boat builders still use plain copper wire.

Personally, I just hate finding that someone has used zip cord and something has failed because the perfectly good zip cord has turned to green crap under the insulation. Life's too short to waste time on that stuff, I'll take the tinned wire, please.

Anyone who has played Sparky for a decade or two and had a chance to see wiring age out, probably is in the "tinned" line.

[Cheechako]

Yep, it's far better and wiring work is heavy on labor. Do it right. I have seen copper wire discolored for a few feet from the end of the wire. Getting a good contact installing new fittings on that is not readily done.

[Terra Nova]

Use tinned wire. Period.