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double insulated 4mm twin ,tinned ,is what you want .bla sell it in 30m rolls ,i think bias boasting sell it by the meter.cable ties is the most common way to secure it.
hey all got my nav lights but i didnt get any electrical wire as my wife was with me and i didnt get a chance to get some.
what is the best wire to use and where is the best place to get it,and also how does everyone surcure it to there boat.
as ive never done this before i want do to do it properly.
cheers marty
double insulated 4mm twin ,tinned ,is what you want .bla sell it in 30m rolls ,i think bias boasting sell it by the meter.cable ties is the most common way to secure it.
Thanks for that
Thats how I did the boats I have owned. I have had my current rig for about 7 years and I did all the wiring with oversized tin coated copper wire. Never had a blown fuse (and the fuses are proper size for the gear and wire) and never had an electrical failure. Never had melted wiring. Attention to detail and tin coated wire and you are miles ahead. There are SAE guides you can look at (probably online too) that show wiring size amp ratings, so from there if you know your thing draws so many watts you can work out amps (just divide by the voltage of your boat - usually 12, but bigger ones have 24) and select your wire.
Cheers
Cheers
Boat: Seafarer Vagabond
Live: Great South East....love Moreton Bay fishing
So the type of wire is sorted how are you going to terminate the ends?
I intend on living for-ever....so far so good
heat shrink waterproof terminals i hope???
Yep. And how are the terminals going to be crimped?.Originally Posted by captain rednut
The reason I ask all these questions is so the person concerned thinks about how big a job it is to have to right gear to do a seemingly simple job as grab some lights from Bias, or who-ever, and bung them in
.
It's not just a matter of getting a couple of lights and wiring them up. There are a lot of things people need to know and to think about to be able to do the job.
Most of these little items, like terminals, mountings, conduit etc etc cost a fortune if you buy one or 10 at a time.
When you factor in the cost of a set of half decent crimpers and heat shrink etc etc etc and you want a good job done and haven't really got a clue on how to the job blah blah blah...... Are you really saving money by doing it yourself??
The job itself takes virtually no time. To set up to do the job takes time and a fair amount of expense in tooling plus supplies.
I reckon your better off, cost wise, just to get someone like Grand Marlin or Spaniard King to come and do it. At least then you'll know it's done properly.
You do want the navigational lights to fail when your on the water.
From personal experience for me to install a set of nav lights in a boat I would use, or grab things out of, at least $2,000-$3,000 worth of tooling and supplies. Crimpers alone are around the $100 for some half decent ones.
I intend on living for-ever....so far so good
sheeesh ..i;m all for using pro's, but u reckon he cant get a bit of hook up wire, a $20 brass 2 stage pull switch, a bit of solder or some red crimps, some $5 heatshrink from jaycar or some leccie tape, drill a few holes, attach lights, then join and support cables with a few old cable ties.
The LED navs draw what? 0.5A maybe ? LED white light maybe 0.6-0.7A tops ? Even 4mm wire is overkill for this job.
cmon..there must be somethings we can do ourselves
Learning new stuff is part of the fun yeah ?
Having said that...yepp if u want it done right first time use a pro.
I have looked around recently and failed to find any reasonable crimpers, I found a thousand 5-15 dollar ones, but nothing any good for "normal" spade terminals and "normal" sized wire (for lights and so on) found lots to do battery cable sized wire and terminals though. So, even though it will cause a 10 page fight, I just solder my connections, paint on some liquid tape stuff, then heat shrink.
Noelm, everyone is different...i bypass the liquid leccie and use that cheapo slow cure epoxy $6 from nubbings, stays workable for hours, solder then just paint it on then use some ordinary heatshrink which is cheap too and available in far more colours to colour code it. I can only get the glue lined stuff in a choice of black black or black. Sets like concrete supporting the connection and w/proof. I use crimps for tight spaces and the good glue heatshrink crimps plus welding tape for bilge/wet areas. Should be able to get half decent ratchet crimpers for maybe $40
Some good ratchet crimps from the likes of Jaycar or electrical wholesalers like,"Ideal Elec","Lawrence and Hanson" and/or Ebay these will do the red,blue or yellow crimps-TAKE CARE when using as there is a slight difference in size of the die from one side to the other,so you always use the crimps with one side always facing the wire and the other side always facing the lug-get it wrong and the wire just wont hold-I painted one side of mine so I dont get it wrong
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