Battery cable fuse protection and wiring colour codes

[Gin]

I am in the process of preparing to replace all my wiring as inappropriate cabling has been used in some circuits, others have blackened connection ends and all in all the installation is very untidy.

It is a small boat with only 8 or so circuits and I am having a new switch panel with contact breakers being built professionally . I would like to use something like the ABYC colour coding system but I cannot find a UK product with the wide choice of colours in marine grade tinned wire the Americans enjoy; I can source the colours in the appropriate sizes but only with plain copper multi strand which I think I shall have to accept- unless anyone has found a UK supplier of tinned wire with more than the common 6 colour choices most offer?

Secondly, I like the idea of having a cube fuse/clamp on the +ve battery post but the lowest value I can find for that type of fuse is 50amp which I think means it would have to surge to about 100amp before blowing. Since my boat with all of its circuits on and under full load simultaneously would probably peak at well below 20 amps (nearer 15A more likely) this seems too high a rating to my inexperienced eye; I would be happier with 30 amps to ensure a quicker 'blow' but am I worrying unnecessarily?

I suppose an alternative would be to fit some sort of fuse holder, between battery and isolator, with terminal posts large enough to take battery cable sizes and a blade fuse?

Advice from those who know about these things would be appreciated

 

[prv]

Personally I wouldn't worry about trying to wire the boat with a colour code. Even the American system doesn't unambiguously identify wires except on a small outboard-powered runabout with no nav kit, so you'd still need labels. Plus unless you're a boatbuilder going through huge amounts of every colour, it gets either very wasteful or very fiddly trying to buy the right amounts. And choosing pretty colours in preference to tinning is bonkers, frankly.

I've fully-rewired two boats now, and a 100m reel of 1.5mm² tinned flat twin is what you want, mounted on a stick or a taut line so that it will reel off easily. Plus a small stock of larger sizes, three-core, etc for specialist purposes, but it's the basic 1.5mm² twin you'll use loads of.

Then label everything properly - a reel of white PVC tape and a sharpie is handy for temporary markings during the process, but handheld labelmaker and clear heatshrink (or for maximum sparky points, a labelmaker that prints onto heatshrink) does a professional long-term job as you cut each cable to length and connect it.

EDIT: I said a 100m reel because that's about what I got through on my 34' boat. You might get away with a 30m reel if yours is small and simple, but you will use more than you expect

Pete

 

[VicS]

The international standard applicable to your 12 volt DC wiring is ISO 10133

It has this to say about colour coding

 

[Fendant]

Make it really simple + is red and - is black (preferred) or blue ( if you don't have an AC circuit ).
Try www.conrad.com and you can buy any length of tinned cable needed.
As above you will need more than you think.
Also invest in a quality crimper, not the cheap Tesco stuff.
Heat shrink is a must and clear labeling. You can buy heat shrink sleeves which you can label with a Brother Printer.
A project for long winter evenings is to learn a simple e-cad system and draw a professional circuit diagram.

 

[superheat6k]

Make it really simple + is red and - is black (preferred) or blue ( if you don't have an AC circuit ).
Try www.conrad.com and you can buy any length of tinned cable needed.
As above you will need more than you think.
Also invest in a quality crimper, not the cheap Tesco stuff.
Heat shrink is a must and clear labeling. You can buy heat shrink sleeves which you can label with a Brother Printer.
A project for long winter evenings is to learn a simple e-cad system and draw a professional circuit diagram.

If you use a Mac then an electrical CAD programme called 'Electric Design' costs ~£8 and is reasonably easy to use, and provides very satisfactory diagrams.

 

[VicS]

If you use a Mac then an electrical CAD programme called 'Electric Design' costs ~£8 and is reasonably easy to use, and provides very satisfactory diagrams.

I find that a pen and paper can also produce very satisfactory diagrams !

 

[MikeCC]

Secondly, I like the idea of having a cube fuse/clamp on the +ve battery post but the lowest value I can find for that type of fuse is 50amp which I think means it would have to surge to about 100amp before blowing. Since my boat with all of its circuits on and under full load simultaneously would probably peak at well below 20 amps (nearer 15A more likely) this seems too high a rating to my inexperienced eye; I would be happier with 30 amps to ensure a quicker 'blow' but am I worrying unnecessarily?

You want that fuse to protect the cable coming from the battery in the case of a catastrophic short at full battery ampage. The rating should be just less than the cable spec ampage. The rating has nothing to do with the overall expected current draw. The individual circuit/devices will be protected by their own fuses. Don't forget the cube fuses add a lot of height to the post if battery compartment is snug.

You don't say if you have separate house and starter batteries but if only one, consider engine cranking amps for fuse rating.

 

[Gin]

Thank you everyone who contributed, all of which helps.

I agree that tinned or not tinned is not an option- it has to be the former for me but I was hoping to do the colour thing as reading labels is a bind now having to squint through specs; however, a labeller would make a better reproduction than my spidery handiwork- these machines are very pricey so maybe I can find a used one on E-Bay.

As to a crimper, I do have a ratchet type purchased from Maplin a few years back but it seems temperemental but a club member has offered to loan me another. Maybe more than one type will be needed for the one I have is colour coded for insulated terminals, and some connections ,e.g. battery heavy gauge would not be possible with the tool I have. So a little more research before I start, so too with the added height of the cube fuse/clamp which I hadn't expected to be an issue in my low headroom battery compartment (another check needs to be made).

I had already rewired the mast electrics, so I still have about 20 metres of tinned 1.5mm two core flex which clearly I can utilise where appropriate, which will reduce the expense a tad.

I don't use a Mac but perhaps if I Google a bit there may another design drawing programme- I plan to print out and laminate a key card to be kept for future owners' (and my) reference, to be left fastened behind the panel.

I have only one 12V battery, which will in due course be topped up by a custom built 45W monocrystalline semi flexible solar panel- no inboard engine, only an outboard with no charging coil

 

[pmagowan]

Thank you everyone who contributed, all of which helps.

I agree that tinned or not tinned is not an option- it has to be the former for me but I was hoping to do the colour thing as reading labels is a bind now having to squint through specs; however, a labeller would make a better reproduction than my spidery handiwork- these machines are very pricey so maybe I can find a used one on E-Bay.

As to a crimper, I do have a ratchet type purchased from Maplin a few years back but it seems temperemental but a club member has offered to loan me another. Maybe more than one type will be needed for the one I have is colour coded for insulated terminals, and some connections ,e.g. battery heavy gauge would not be possible with the tool I have. So a little more research before I start, so too with the added height of the cube fuse/clamp which I hadn't expected to be an issue in my low headroom battery compartment (another check needs to be made).

I had already rewired the mast electrics, so I still have about 20 metres of tinned 1.5mm two core flex which clearly I can utilise where appropriate, which will reduce the expense a tad.

I don't use a Mac but perhaps if I Google a bit there may another design drawing programme- I plan to print out and laminate a key card to be kept for future owners' (and my) reference, to be left fastened behind the panel.

I have only one 12V battery, which will in due course be topped up by a custom built 45W monocrystalline semi flexible solar panel- no inboard engine, only an outboard with no charging coil

There is a special crimping tool for heavy gauge wiring at battery terminals and it is a hefty and expensive bit of kit. The hand held rachet crimper will do all the normal crimpling. You can use a hammer and a cold chisel to crimp battery cables but it obviously won't be as good. I got all my cable from merlin I think and it was twin core, 3 core and some single cores. Black and red, white as the last one. The cable is anti-fire, oil and other stuff. I used glued heat shrink and and crimps. It is important to have a plan as it can get untidy very easily unless you know which cables are going to end up where. I used a common negative buzz bar for things that were going to be clustered together forward. Get loads of cable ties as these make everything much neater.

 

[nickd]

Try these guys they do 6 colours in tinned
http://www.furneauxriddall.com/acatalog/Single_Core_Tinned_Copper-p1.html

Re battery cables I would have these professionally crimped

 

[prv]

There is a special crimping tool for heavy gauge wiring at battery terminals and it is a hefty and expensive bit of kit.

Hefty, yes, but not necessarily hugely expensive. I think mine was about £25 for a hydraulic one and a set of dies.

I would not contemplate using a hammer and chisel on connections that will carry heavy current.

Pete

 

[prv]

Re battery cables I would have these professionally crimped

The problem then is that you need to pre-measure all the lengths, which is a pain when you're in the middle of wiring things up. Depends on your personal circumstances, I suppose, but in my case that could turn an afternoon's job into something spanning two weekends.

Much more convenient to have your own hydraulic crimper on site.

Pete

 

[nickd]

The problem then is that you need to pre-measure all the lengths, which is a pain when you're in the middle of wiring things up. Depends on your personal circumstances, I suppose, but in my case that could turn an afternoon's job into something spanning two weekends.

Much more convenient to have your own hydraulic crimper on site.
Pete

Agreed however it is easy enough to cut a few lengths of string to the right size and then take to a local supplier, I had 7 of 25mm cables of various lengths made for not much more than the price of your crimper - and I cannot imagine me needing to make any more in the the near future.

 

[xeitosaphil]

" I don't use a Mac but perhaps if I Google a bit there may another design drawing programme "

When I did my electric diagrams I used Microsoft Office Paint which was already on the computer - worked ok but maybe took a little longer than specific software. Probably be ok for you with not a lot of circuits anyway.

This was one of the ones I produced along the way.

Example below:

 

[Gin]

When I did my electric diagrams I used Microsoft Office Paint which was already on the computer - worked ok but maybe took a little longer than specific software. Probably be ok for you with not a lot of circuits anyway.

This was one of the ones I produced along the way.

A neatly presented diagram which I may try as I downloaded a programme which really tested me and would take too long for me to apply to my simple layout

Example below:

 

[Gin]

Hefty, yes, but not necessarily hugely expensive. I think mine was about £25 for a hydraulic one and a set of dies.

I would not contemplate using a hammer and chisel on connections that will carry heavy current.

Just in case I cannot borrow the right tool, can you give me a link please for where and what you acquired for the job?

Pete

 

[xeitosaphil]

Just in case I cannot borrow the right tool, can you give me a link please for where and what you acquired for the job?

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...and-wiring-colour-codes&p=5509051#post5509051


Just in case Pete can't find it?

Here is a link to the one I purchased, although it was only £48 when I purchased it. I did have a lot of Battery cables to crimp and was brilliant, but you maybe able to find a smaller one cheaper for your needs, maybe even from the same seller.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300651707466?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT


Philip

 

[Gin]

Many thanks

Gordon



Just in case I cannot borrow the right tool, can you give me a link please for where and what you acquired for the job?

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...and-wiring-colour-codes&p=5509051#post5509051


Just in case Pete can't find it?

Here is a link to the one I purchased, although it was only £48 when I purchased it. I did have a lot of Battery cables to crimp and was brilliant, but you maybe able to find a smaller one cheaper for your needs, maybe even from the same seller.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300651707466?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT


Philip

 

[prv]

I'm a bit puzzled by the mangled quoting as to who's asking for what.

The specific tool I bought five years ago is unlikely to still be listed, but this one looks very similar:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hydraulic...601814?hash=item4880814916:g:3B8AAOSwHnFVk5Od

Pete

 

[Aurai]

Gin

Slightly odd to communicate with fellow club member, but same goes for anyone local to Medway area! I have about my boat/club at Hoo, a seriously capable hydraulic crimper and various dies. Plus our local Agabridge lot sell lugs to match and for marine use. As in no hole at the front to allow moisture in. With correct heatshrink you get a very professional finish.

Plus hand ratchet crimper if you need it. Plus label machine!

Cheers