OK My boat sank.....

[razzda]

True, many reasons why she went down dock side, no one factor seems to be obvious but now that shes back in my driveway rebuild begins....
I have heard that all wiring needs to be replaced, not sure why. Clearly some connectors immediately shorted out when they were emersed and are virtually gone or dishevelled. Otherwise a shielded wire is just that. Dont understand how the entire wire is knackered. Let me know. Have saved most motors with dismantle and clean reassembly. Thanks Russ

[AndyEss]

Unless someone took the trouble of sealing each end of any wire ( single, multi-conductor, or shielded) water will wick up between the stranded conductor and the insulation. Salt water will corrode everything in there.
The corrosion will increase resistance and cause hot spots - fire hazard. Corroded strands will break, causing circuit opens.

[rslifkin]

As AndyEss pointed out, unless you can guarantee that a wire was sealed perfectly and that no water could possibly have gotten into it, you have to assume water got in and that wire will fail. So replacing it all is the safer option.

[LittleWing77]

Maybe replace thru-hulls first...?

[garyfdl]

What Andy said.

In layman's terms: Replace all of it now - or replace it piece by piece, as it fails, all the while wondering:

• when (not if) something will fail at a critical time (running lights in a crowded seaway at night; power to the radio in an emergency).
  
• will a short occur, in a spot inaccessible to the fire extinguisher, and burn up my boat?

[Lepke]

Originally Posted by AndyEss

Unless someone took the trouble of sealing each end of any wire ( single, multi-conductor, or shielded) water will wick up between the stranded conductor and the insulation. Salt water will corrode everything in there.
The corrosion will increase resistance and cause hot spots - fire hazard. Corroded strands will break, causing circuit opens.

ditto
Unless it's tinned wire or sealed, fire is the big hazard. Wire, slowly getting hot, maybe hidden, eventually starts the insulation on fire. You can overcome many things at sea, but fire, if it gets out of control, can stop you from using a radio or epirb. You gotta go over the side and nobody knows you're there.

[jmschmidt]

If you have enough slack on some of the wires, do what the others have said and check for good sealing at the ends. If so then cut the terminal off along with a couple of inches of the wire, strip and check those strands for capillary moisture intrusion and/or corrosion. If it looks ok after a while, attach new terminals. When I bought my boat most of the wiring, fore and aft, was in a bundle in the bilge. I pulled it all out and relocated it higher up and was able to salvage about half of it this way. I don't really like the idea much but I had no money after buying the boat .

[barnakiel]

It is all shot. Replace.


b.

[jimbunyard]

What kind of boat? Salt water or fresh? How long was it submerged?

[KP44]

This is an opportunity to have new wire and do it right. Wire that has been in salt water is not reliable. This is a "one time" expense and is well-worth the extra money.

[smac999]

tined wire with proper glue heat shrink still will not survive a sinking.

had a clients boat sink a few years ago. anochor 2/0 battery cable with closed lugs and anchor HS. the wire was already tost over 5' up the line. was in the water a few days.

so no mater what it was. it likly needs to be changed. unless it was only under for a few mins.

[razzda]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. I knew the answer of course,just resisting!
All wire has been removed, the works , start again.

As for the smartass reply about seacocks...just that smartass.

[sailingchiro]

Wife on board, life is great, everything on boat is working. Then, the entire port hull shuts off all 12volt items. I am pretty fast at determining problems (previous electrical engineer-EET) but wife very unhappy. After many tense hours (2-3 at night) I found a wire that had a complete open in the middle of a 10 foot section due to living under a stanchion that was leaking. The boat is 25 years old and don't know previous problems.

Replacing wire is MUCH cheaper when replaced in bulk. Feel free to spend $1-1.25 per foot at West but when purchased in bulk, it can be as little as $0.35 per foot for the same product. Because in 100' sections. Zip tie in 10" increments.
Please, I beg of you, use only heatshrink connections with ox-ide grease in connections. I squirt oxide in connection, insert wire, crimp with proper tool. Heat and grease is squeezed out and wiped off with paper towel. Then zipped tie within 10". If a boat is sunk, it will eventually have electrical problems, guaranteed. My boat hadn't sunk.