Marine Wiring for Complete Idiots?

[Concordia...41]

Best reference / how-to book(s) ?

This is an area where I have zero experience.

But I do have all of Dave's tools, a four-level Plano tackle box full of every size and color fittings, a second box full of heat shrink stuff and dedicated marine connections, multiple Multimeters, gauges, etc. I even have some of his heavy stuff from when he was a lineman with Florida Power and Light. I don't see me going up a pole, but I bet if I needed to change an end on a shore power cable or put a new subpanel on the house, the tools and fittings are in the garage. :)

I have planned all along to do Sarah's wiring myself as I don't want to be offshore on a boat full of stuff I don't understand and don't know what was run where.

Hiring a shipwright to do the structural work seemed like a good investment to get the project back on track, and because I don't think my time would have been well spent on the learning curve needed to finish rebuilding the stem, frames, floors, deadwood, etc.

But for some reason, while I am obviously ok with someone doing major structural work and trust that the keel isn't going to drop off, I've never liked the idea of turning over the electrical work.

FWIW, I plan to tackle the plumbing myself too :D

In the short term, the 22'er in the garage is coming together nicely (thanks for your help today Claudia!) and I can practice on short runs - bow and stern lights, VHF, and the bundle of stuff running up the mast :( :eek:

I'd appreacate your recommendations - something that will give me a basic understanding plus enough instruction to design, implement, and maintain the wiring necessary for a 41' sailboat.

Again, this is something that has always been done for me. Image, if you will, your wife or daughter faced with finishing something where you were the knowledge person, and her job (if any) was handing you tools. Seriously my previous involvement in the upkeep of our systems has been the occasional, "Honey, the knot meter is blinking again...yes, I rapped it with my knuckes but it didn't come back on."

Thanks in advance!

- M

[Stiletto]

Nigel Calder's book: Boatowner's Mechanical and Electical Manual seems to cover most of it. Reading University in the UK has a downloadable 12V bible that is quite good too.

[Donn]

I'll second the Calder book. I'm an electrical idiot, and I understood it.

[kc8pql]

Caulder's Cruising Handbook has additional information on designing electrical systems that complements what's covered in his M&E Manual. The Boatowener's Illistrated Handbook of Wiring by Charlie Wing is also very good and has all the ABYC electrical standards reprinted as well. I used all three to design and install my electrical and charging system. Good books.

[Bruce Hooke]

A book I found useful is The 12-Volt Bible for Boats. It is worth keeping in mind that the amount of wiring that goes onto a 41' boat can vary VERY widely depending on your needs and desires. I'm imagining you will be keeping things relatively simple. In that case books like this should get you well on your way. On the other hand, if you are going to have a generator and 120 volt circuits and the like then you will need to do a lot more studying and reading.

[Concordia...41]

Bruce - my theory is a variation of Forrest Gump's

"Simple is as simple does." ;)

Emphasized by a Forum post a while back that said, "If you don't have it, it can't break." (I really like that.)

[JimConlin]

Ditto the Calder book.

There's another 12V wiring book i'll think of.

Get the http://www.bluesea.com/ catalog.

[Bruce Hooke]

"If you don't have it, it can't break."

Right on. My experience with marine electronics is that lots of fancy stuff just means more things to go wrong.

One of the best prinicples to keep in mind when doing wiring is ORGANIZATION. I've seen boats where the wiring was a rats nest. Repairing such systems is a real pain because you have to spend huge amounts of time just trying to figure out what is going on. Organized wiring often means using more wire but the long term payoff is huge.

Another thing I learned when doing wiring on my father's boat was the cheap fixtures were almost universally junk and would cause more trouble than they were worth. Spend money for the good stuff up front and you will have many fewer problems down the road. This rule applies to everything from really minor stuff like plugs and connectors to the big stuff like depth sounders, VHF's and the like.

[John B]

all of the above plus these comments for particular attention and research.

Buzz bar for multiple linking.
Tinned wire.
Choose a nice junction fuse box and make sure you get it with about double the connections/fuses you think you'll need.

[gary porter]

Boatowners Handbook of Electrical Wiring by Charlie Wing
is another good one. The book mentioned above, Calder, covers other good things such as your plumbing. Wing's book is strickly wiring.
After looking at the books or book, Make a plan with even a simple schematic, follow the ABYC standards as far as wire size and color, document all that you do, you'll need it later or someone will.
Gary

[Figment]

A complete rewiring job was the first thing I did once I got my boat home. It's a pleasant enough way to pass the time.
Ditto the Calder book. the 12-volt bible isn't so bad either.
Ditto the preference for soldering, quality wiring, etc.

My only additional suggestion would be to invest in a good ratcheting crimper. Unless you have forearms like Popeye, it's tough to get a truly proper crimp with the standard plier-type crimper. If you've done 20 crimps in the past hour, it's completely impossible.

[paladin]

If you can tell me what the equipment is, and or how much current it uses (should be a data plate) and how far away from the control panel I will draw up everything, and maybe supply you with some connectors...etc...and if you need radio cables and tell me how long the run is I can put connectors on one end, you run the wire, and I can supply mil-spec tools to attach the fittings..no soldering.....I am available all day by phone if you like and can ship the tools etc for you to use.....Tell me..list ...all the available breakers and how far the wire run etc is I can figure out the rest...need to know how many amps the circuit breaker or fuse is....send me an email to my hotmail address...

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Calder Book. I am also an electrical simpleton, and his book helped a lot.

[Tom Lathrop]

In the boat wiring department, I think Charlie Wing's book is better than all the rest, including Calder. None offer much in the way of designing a wiring system, that is, how to lay out a wiring diagram. That seems to be a major hurdle for a non electrical person, including a lot of commercial builders. There is not enough concern for the poor guy who has to work on the rat's nest of inacessible wiring found on many boats.

Chuck sounds like he can offer that along with the other help.

[BrianW]

When wiring a strictly 12v boat, is it recommended to use the ABYC standard of using green for the ground wire?

[paladin]

try thiswww.islandnet.com/robb/marine.html


and yes...green is ground......but remember that it is not the a.c. return......the black and white are the a.c. power wiries and the green is strictly for ground connections and when the entire job is finished a leakage measurement showing less than 5 ma (that's 5 one thousands of an amp) will be shown as leakage....

[gary porter]

Green is ground or bonded ground, that is not always the same as negative in dc circuits on boats. Yellow is used often for the dc negative line and red as the positive. If you do see green it should relate to ground or actually being grounded. Don't mean to confuse things but there is a slight difference. Anyway if one follows the ABYC standard they should be in good shape. Not a bad idea to let Paladin do up a drawing for you and perhaps make up one of your own to compare or make your own and then let Paladin refine it.
Gary

[BrianW]

That's why I was asking, because my skiff needs to be rewired too, but it's all 12volt. I'm debating what color coding to use, the norm (black and red :)), or the ABYC standard.

[gary porter]

Brian, I wouldn't use black. You can use green and nobody will complain but if it were me and this is how I do it, I'd use yellow as my negative run. You can buy #12 marine wire sheathed together with a red (pos) and yellow (neg) wire. This makes for a good run from your battery to a switch panel or console. Its also good to put either a 20amp fuse and on-off switch to the main panel for protection of that wire or even better is an aircraft switch breaker which I think you can find. Using the ABYC standards should eliminate any future confusion in case someone else owns the boat someday... Also mark and document all that you do.
Gary

[mmd]

Hi, Margo. The replies above pretty much sum everything up. I'd just like to add my voice to the advice that you plan the installation before you install it. This gives you chance to logically organize circuits (should I put the running lights on the same circuit breaker as the house lights?) and calculate the amperage needed for each circuit. My pet peeve is people who use the lightest guage wiring possible to save money; splurge a few extra bucks and get robust wire - it will pay for itself in the long run.

I'll add another book to the list, too: The Marine Electrical and Electronics Bible - A practical Handbook for Cruising Sailors by John C. Payne

[gary porter]

Ah yes , thats a good book...
Just a note on the above example,,,,put them on seperate breakers/fuses.. Think this way, do you want a dissruption in your house system to take out your nav lights? seperate everything you can within reason but for sure seperate vital functions so they are not dependent on other devices. Each radio or navigatin device should have its own fuse or breaker,,, like that.
Gary

[paladin]

... if you still use light bulbs to power masthead lights you can put two bulbs in the housing with a diode to reverse the power flow so that when one lamp burns out you don't have to climb the mast.....also use led's to lower consumption and prolong battery life and bulb life....use ring terminals exclusively.....heat shrink seal all connections......

[Concordia...41]

Thanks all. Just got back to the computer, but ordered Calder and Wing's books from our host's store early this am.

And Chuck if you don't take off first, I'll take you up on your offer(s) - especially as a sounding board.

Something I so wanted Dave to do was draw out the schematic, but he never got to it, and things have changed in the last two years - led lights becoming mainstream, etc. But even if he'd done a basic one that I could adapt as I decided I was going to use led lights, couldn't live without an integrated chartplotter system, etc., it would have been helpful.

But life is about learning and meeting challenges, and this just gives me more to learn (and be proud of when I'm done - if, of course, the boat doesn't burn to the waterline the first time I turn on a light :eek: ) :D

At this stage, I've still got a lot of decisions to make about what all I'm going to need. House lights, running lights, etc. are a given. Chartplotter and autopilot are definite goals. Refrigeration (not if, what type) has to be decided. She had a Lectra-San system, but Dave was undecided whether to keep it, and that definitely factors into the electrical plan.

So I'll study the books, practice simple connections on the little boat, follow the threads on the topic for the next couple of months, ask questions when I'm aboard other boats, etc.

I'd consider this a success if I could just master enough theory so as to be able to ask good questions and learn from the vendors and displays at the WBS in August.

It'd be nice to come back to St. Augustine and spend September working on electrical and plumbing systems :)

Thanks all!

[BrianW]

I went cheap, and checked out Wings book and Caulder book (2nd edition) from the library. I'll buy one or both in the future, and of course support the WB.

[Tom Lathrop]

One thing that is great about LED's is that they last long enough that you can hard wire them in and encapsulate connections. Main problems I've had with running lights has been the lamp socket connections which depend on a pressure contact. In a marine environment these are very trouble prone. I plan to redo mine with LED's and soldered connections that are encapsulated with RTV or some other flexible sealant.

LED's are great but not nearly so efficient as many think. Great for directional lighting and always more efficient than small incandescent bulbs but well short of fluorescents for general space lighting.

[paladin]

do not use rtv...the acetic acid curing agent will really corrode wires....I'll get you a name product that is readily available to you....I use Glyptol sealants...

[BrianW]

Yep, RTV (room temperature vulcanizing) that smells like vinegar is usually corrosive. I'm trying to recall what we used on the helos.

There are some folks, and the ABYC, which do not recommend soldering connections. I know that's true in aviation also. Has to do with creating stress risers and vibration. This according to the experts from another forum (but a good one too.)

[mmd]

A good point, Brian, regarding the soldering of connectors. However, I think that one has to look at the type of application and consider other modes of failure as well as work-hardening of the metal.

In aviation and go-faster speedboat applications the vibration frequencies are high, so the number of cycles-to-failure build up quickly. However, in cruising sailboats, the movements are lower frequency so the length of time to reach critical work-hardening of the soldered joint is much longer, possibly decades rather than months or years. In this time frame, one has to look as well at failure due to loss of contact between the wire and the terminal from oxidization and/or corrosion of the components. In this scenario, soldering would eliminate the cause of failure.

Just like everything else in boat construction, I guess that this too is an exercise in compromise between competing demands.

[Tom Lathrop]

Back when GE first came out with RTV, it was specifically recommended for coating circuit boards and was available in liquid and gel form. I did coat many boards with it (not the plug-in connectors of course) and don't remember any problems. Vinegar will indeed corrode metal. maybe somethig has changed in the interim 30 years. I've used no RTV in many moons so can't say. Anyway, I'l take your advice and stay away from it. Glyptal I remember from over 50 years ago in the Navy.

On the soldering connections thing, the experts do not agree. If a connection is in or near the bilge or anyplace where it can be exposed to moisture, soldering will maintain a good connection much longer than a crimp connection. If strain relief is provided in the form of heat shrink tubing, the problems of vibration breaking the wire at the juncture of solder and stranded wire are minimized. Heat shrink strain relief is good although I don't usually use it IF the wire bundle is solidly tied down close to the terminal strip.

In a damp environment, heat shrink may be worse than not using it UNLESS it has the adhesive/sealant inside. Corrosion can be accelerated by the trapped moisture inside.

Tinned marine rated stranded wire is a must. Everybody says this but if you check the boats in the marina, many if not most will not be using tinned wire.

Use ring terminals.
Use strain relief of some kind.
Use tinned wire.
Minimize the number of connections in a wire run.
Size the wire adequately for the amperage. Don't economize here.
Fuse circuits properly.
Put critical items on their own fused circuits. Bilge pump, radio, nav equipment, etc.
Keep all wiring out of the bilge unless absolutely necessary.
Use solid bus bars for multiple connection junctions.
Put wiring in acessible channels, not hidden under permanent stuff.
Make the main power panel hinged for later access.
Make the backside of instruments accessible. Hinged panels are great.
Never, ever allow the white AC neutral to become grounded.
Make a single common ground for the green wire and the DC ground.
Use a GFCI on AC circuits. One GFCI on the first outlet will protect all others further from the source.
Tie the metal cases of any AC device to the green wire.

Some of these can be argued with but I think they are pretty sound general rules. The books can probably add to this list.

[paladin]

a correct solder joint is a must...only the very end of the wire where it is visible at the terminal end should be soldered....only with 60/40 rosin cored solder, and only just enough to color the wire and part of the terminal...it should not wick back through the terminal and wire to the input side....then...coat the wire.....then the adhesive heat shrink...note that the heat shrink should be slipped on the wire before attaching the terminal....and yes...you solder wires on aircraft...but only those in amphibious service....

[jlapratt]

No to hijack the thread, because there are so many electrically challenged owners out there, does anyone know the availability of distributed power systems to the general public?

These systems integrate data and power distribution through a central trunk with branches to/from the devices. Might make sense a boat of Margo's size; much less wiring and significantly easier (well, speaking as an engineer, sorry).

The Airpax E-Plex system would be a sweet, clean installation that even the non-electrically-gifted.

Jeff

[gary porter]

Hmm, there was an article I think this past winter in Professional Boatbuilder that probably had sources. I could look it up or you might find an index here on the host main page. Well you can look up topics on back issues so that might work.
Gary

[Dan McCosh]

Re: Calder. That is a dangerous book, as it leaves you with a feeling of omnipotence. You can fix anything. Electronics, alternators, choker valves. The book and spare parts can sink you, or at least affect your trim.

[Invader]

Personaly I love John C Paynes book so I second or third the votes.

Tom Lathrop posted a great quick look into electrical. Great post.

Couple of things I would add.

Solder is a no no guys. If you must just do not let a surveyor know. Hide under the shrink wrap. Connections should be able to handle a good 16 lb plus tug with a twist

I do not belive Led lights are approved for Nav lights yet. You can build your own but be carefull they meet the regs for visiblity.

Bonding can be a very confusing issue. Personaly bonding skin fittings on a wood boat makes little sents. Meaning any through hull fitting that is isolated currently via the wood hull and say rubber hose. Or bracket bolts to a swim grid etc.


Dedicate some time to laying out a plan.
Base your plan on consumption. How much power and were it will be needed.
How are you going to supply that power.
Place items for shorter runs.
Allow space and size up a bit for additions down the road.
Etc Etc.

But I get carried away sorry.

Now I am going to get myself in trouble on the wood boat forum <grin>

Personaly I do not bond any thing on Invader no 1. I also will not connect the green AC ground to the DC neg return on my wood boat. I choose an isolation transformer instead.

Just something to think about for your project.

Willy
Invader no 1
39 Kishi Conversion

[kc8pql]

I do not belive Led lights are approved for Nav lights yet. You can build your own but be carefull they meet the regs for visiblity.
OMG, Aqua Signal and Hella all have USCG approved LED nav. lights for boats to 65' (2 mi. visibility). There are others as well.

[htom]

Don't know anything about the books, but I do know that every minute you spend documenting what you plan to do, and what you have done, will save you at least an hour later. Might save you days.

[Tom Lathrop]

You always lay yourself wide open to objections when you make statements about boat wiring and protection.

I'd certainly second the idea of isolation transformers but they ain't cheap or lightweight and very - very few boats have them.

I don't think the CG has anything to say about LED's, at least I hope they don't. Their requirements are only about visibility, I think.

I don't think its too easy or maybe even possible to make a good soldered terminal without some solder wicking into the ajacent wire.

I know of at least two local surveyers who approve of properly done soldered connections although like most of the other stuff here, its open to controversy.

Bonding and lightning protection is probably #1 on the controversy list.

Finally, I designed and build my own wiring layout so if it fails, I know who to blame. Oh yeah, I carry a wiring diagram just inside the hinged instrument panel. Can't remember what I did without it.

[Tom Robb]

Document everything and keep the document waterproof and handy.
Solder joints should look as if the solder was painted on - no globs.
Strain relief and fasten all wire to the structure.
Neatness counts.
Label everything. LABEL EVERYTHING... don't count on memory.
Color code all wires by whatever standard the books recomend.
Home-run all devices to the voltage source - fewer places for open circuits - **** happens.
40 years with Ma Bell informs my opinions and yes, I know it isn't marine work, but it was a 100% reliability/repairability standard.

[gary porter]

On soldering,,, I do like to solder battery cables. I crimp them first with a hammer style crimper, then solder them, then apply a long, probably 3", piece of adhesive lined heavy walled tubing heat shrinked.
This seals the connection and provides a damper or strain relief on the cable.
For terminal connectors on the distribution panel etc. ,, no soldering but they are crimped with a very good crimper.. Note that many so called crimpers are just smashers ... A good crimping tool curls the connector with an indentation in the center and then has a second crimp for the insulation. An aircraft type crimper is probably the best. As Paladin said, ring terminals only.
Gary

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Just an aside... forget the electric head. A waste of money and extra complication on something that breaks too much anyway.:D

[Concordia...41]

Peter - intentional or not, your post and your tag line are great :D

Seriously, after reading Tom's first post, I thought, "Hell, I'll just send the books back." :D

However, I have volumes to learn and miles to go, but as the song says, "I get by with a little help from my friends." :)

[Don Z.]

I don't think the CG has anything to say about LED's, at least I hope they don't. Their requirements are only about visibility, I think.

They don't really "say anything" about LEDs. Aquasignal, Lopolight, et al certify that their lights meet the COLREGS requirements...

What it really comes down to is that it doesn't matter if the bulb is incandescent, LED, Whale Oil, or powered by alien spacecraft, it's either visible at one mile (boats < 12m) or visible at two miles (boats > 12m).

[Thorne]

I found Bob Smalser's "web article" on marine wiring to be very helpful -

http://boatdesign.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4151

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/4639129/58453540.jpg

[Concordia...41]

Thanks! Smalser does it again!

[Gary E]

40 years with Ma Bell

Tom,
A fellow that also worked for Ma Bell in the Phila area gave me a squeeze bottle of a substance with the consistancy of vasoline for use with electrical connections, it had a Ma Bell label on it. Do you have any idea what it is?

[paladin]

dielectric grease......

[Tom Robb]

Yah, Gary, what Paladin said. It's used to keep oxygen out of crimped connections and doesn't insulate electrically. The supply liberated for me by a Western Electric installer was in a can, but probably the same stuff. Those installers were a great source. Their leftovers were useless to them when thay moved on to another job, but were handy sizes for us mere mortals uses.

[Uncle Duke]

I am, as usual, last in the chain of advice/communications. And (as usual) I cannot improve much on the stuff above. And (as is unusual!) I will admit to not having read everything above, so perhaps my advice has already been covered....
But... my simple advice would be that when you run a DC line from <some thing> back to <the breaker/fuse panel> that you make a label on some small piece of paper indicating what the line "is" and what amperage it needs (e.g., what fuse/breaker is needed).
"Shower Drain, Rule 1000, 15 amps"
Wrap it around the line, shuck down some transparent shrink wrap stuff, and shrink it. You will, yourself, probably always remember that Rule pump needs 15 amps, but you cannot guarantee that the next person will understand that, or that (personal experience) that you will remember it 5 years later. It is just polite to include that information. Personally, I wish I had done it on everything. But maybe I'm slightly nerdly...
Have fun!
Neil

[Ken Hutchins]

The books mentioned are a must read.
Another source of information about all boat systems is the West Marine advisors, both in the catalog and on line click the link and scroll down to the electrical section.
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/WestAdvisorListView?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001

[Theodora]

My own research is showing that this method of getting DC power to electrical loads is catching on fast, with a number of manufacturers developing their own systems.
Nigel Calder wrote three articles in the recent Dec/Jan, Feb/March, April/May editions of Professional Boatbuilder. They can be accessed on line.
He gives a good description of how it works and mentions several manufacturers. One he did not mention is Capi2 in The Netherlands. They have sent me a sample electronic circuit breaker/connector (also known as a node) and I see something simple, effective and able to be put together easily. The Dutch are good at electrics (Victron and Mastervolt are two examples).
With one heavy positive cable running out and a heavy negative cable running back to the house bank, all you need is a node for each load positioned local to that load and then some lighter drop cables that come off the node to the load. There is also a light control cable that runs to each node in turn and sends the control signals.
I've yet to try it but I understand from Capi2 that configuring the system is not difficult. The whole thing works off a small control panel and would save a great deal of wiring and manhours for installation. No more enormous looms and large switch panels.
This type of distributed control has been around for years in the process plant industries by companies such as Fisher and Siemens so the technology is well-understood.
Capi2 can be found on www.capi2.com (http://www.capi2.com)

[paladin]

Theodora....we've been doing just that for 25-30 years....it's the PLASTICs that ain't figgered it out yet....:D

[mwybo]

I just completed the complete re-wiring of a Cabot 36 (fibreglass sloop built in 1977) including the engine controls. This was my first attempt at this. I have no electrical experience. Here is what I learned for what it is worth.

1. Draw out your circuits well before beginning. I used a drawing program and in my spare moments over several months changed things around many times. I did discover some errors so it was well worth doing a paper prototype and staring at it for a while until I was sure that everything would work the way it should. By the time I got to doing the work the diagram was ingrained in my memory which made me much more confident that I was doing a proper job.

2. I used flat "boat cable" rather than single strand wire. I find multiple single strands difficult to work with in that they tend to not be stiff enough to stay straight. The boat cable provides an extra layer of insulation for where the wire passes through bulkheads and was easier for me to hang in relatively straight runs. I used a permanent marker to label the casing. I did not attempt to adhere to color codes. I figured I would forget the color codes anyway but I probably will not forget how to read. Might make it more apparent for the next owner as well.

3. I had bad luck with Anchor brand heat shrink. I ended up using some generic black brand that comes on a roll instead of in little pieces. I just buy it by the foot at the marina and it works great.

4. I bought a 35$ long handled swaging tool to crimp battery lugs. This works great and is a lot cheaper than the hammer on brand sold by the marine wire manufacturer.

Bottom line is that having no electrical experience one can do a fine job, much better than the expensive boat yard junk that I replaced. I think the real key though is drawing out the circuit diagram and continuing to look at it and improve it until you cannot get it any better. You also learn a lot about circuits this way.

Mike

[Theodora]

Paladin,
That's good news. Let me have the name of the manufacturer of the local electronic circuit breakers you use and I'll get on to them.

[paladin]

There was no local manufacturer.....and the breakers as a commercial product did not exist...we designed the basic system in house. a single diode and transistor acting as a precision reference measuring current loss across an accurate resistor, controlling two more transistors which in turn controlled a FET/MOSFET as the primary switch. Each unit was individually programmed as to current trip.....and was about the size of a business card...
Today theres a gazillion manufacturers of these devices, and a bit expensive relatively speaking.....after the design it would take about an hour to build and calibrate one....for 30-40 bucks...today, depending on current rating they can go for 3-6 times that amount...

[Bob Smalser]

What Tom L. has touched on and few books say is how important dielectric grease is and what it is....a grease that does not conduct electricity. I insist on it under all my shrinkwrap connections and all terminals to delay the eventual corrosion that cause electical resistance to skyrocket, even in work done to ABYC standards.

Substitute automotive grease at your peril.

The soldered versus crimped argument will probably continue forever, as it wasn't too long ago that solder, not crimps, was the gold standard. One argument is that properly crimped joints have less resistance than properly soldered joints. I won't argue with that, but my experience has been that crimped, paneled and terminaled wiring works just dandy until it is neglected like shown below...

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/4639129/58453688.jpg

...then all the arguments against soldering fall by the wayside, as a properly soldered, greased and heatshrunk connection will demonstrate far less electrical resistance than the corroded block shown.

Another big part of the national standard evolving from solder to crimps since WWII is botched solder jobs done by those who don't know how. More is not better here....just a drop of solder as opposed to allowing it to run far enough down the wire to cause a brittle point.

[paladin]

I did a bunch of military wiring...and for a whole buncha years owned Facilities in P.I., Thailand for 6 years in Vietnam and for some years in Alaska....we did contract work on military aircraft and everything from Paper cubs to the turbine powered Grumman Gooseys used by the flying fuzz in Alaska....my shops were all FAA/FCC certified for all categories including wiring through pressure bulkheads.....and I still have a complete set of military spec crimp tools...
all that said...I also solder the tips of the connections as Smalser has pointed out.......and we have NEVER lost a bird (or a boat) due to electrical/electronic problems...and Amihan, Neper and Tana Mari were all wired the same way and the jobs have all circumnavigated....take your time, do it right....'cause you may not have the time to do it again....

[Bob Smalser]

I did a bunch of military wiring...and for a whole buncha years owned Facilities in P.I., Thailand for 6 years in Vietnam and for some years in Alaska....we did contract work on military aircraft and everything from Paper cubs to the turbine powered Grumman Gooseys ....

Military wiring is high-standard work. Where else would you find solid silver terminals in a simple starter motor? I maintained military ground vehicles for over 3 decades, culminating with managing the prepositioned fleets in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman between the wars...over 5000 tracked and wheeled vehicles, to include both turbine and piston engine rebuild facilities.

[tony morales]

Excuse me Margo a quick question about the warehouse you rent, size and cost ? I have a 44' Lawley to restore and the travel time is not as important as the ablity to work what ever hours I want. I'm in the process of moving it in New England now to a temporary space but utimaltely need it in Fl. On this site or moralest@hotmail .com will work for a response. Thanks Tony!

[Fritz Koschmann]

All the Books mentioned previously are very good and I have used them. One book not mentioned is "Sailboat Electrics Simplified" by Don Casey. It is a straight forward book with excellent illustrations, easy to understand text and geared toward a basic system. In wiring my new boat it was the book I usually referred to for basic design and simple installation. The other books were usefull for more detail when needed.
fritz