Its more questions time!

Athene V30

Athene V30

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 Sep 2001
Messages
5,451
Location
Playa del Ingles, Gran Canaria in Winter, the boat
Visit site
Thank you in advance for your patience!

1. When I fit the new masthead light (which with my current budget is likely to be an aqua singnal type combined tri / anchor but with LED bulbs rather than normal 25W) I think it would be sensible to replace the wiring in the mast (and from switch to deck plug). I have done a search on the forum and seen the formula I need to work out the size of wire but haven't got Stephen Hawkins here to assist in the interpretation & calculation (I gave up physics before O level as it never made any sense) so what type & size wire do I need to get and where can I get it fairly cheaply.

2. I am doing a bit of internal reorganisation and need to build a better sea bunk (currently if I manage to get into the quarter berth it takes at least 5 minutes to get out again!) and lee board. Would 3/4" external grade ply be adequate for internal use on the boat rather than marine grade?

3. Has anyone seen a supplier for netting. Want to make some shock cord and net retainers for bunk shelf and a couple of ready use lockers so the contents do not rearrage themselves in the bilge every time I open the door.

I got the windows out yesterday and hope to get the new perspex sorted today and refitted straight away. Getting them out was straight forward enough so fingers crossed for the reassembly.
 
Glad to see I am not the only one having to work today!!

I would have thought the external grade would be fine, I built a worktop with some about 4 years ago and that is absolutely fine. Probably stronger if the first coat was epoxy resin, then some varnish.

As regards neting, I got some from pound land a while back which was for the boot of a car. May be worth a try if passing.
If not this may be of use (never used the company etc etc)

http://www.spares2you.co.uk/Caravan+and+...TORAGE+NET.html

All the best
 
1.5m/m2 wire would be ok,
why an allround white, i prefer the anchor light in the fore triangle. this will save you cash as well
i would favor sail cloth lee cloths as the are permentally fixed & stow under the bunk cushion. when in use simply attatch to the bulkheads through eyes with chord
doubled back to the cringles in the lee cloth.
 
My little black book has the formula

E = (0.0164 x l x L)/S

E= volt drop in volts
S= the wire cross section in sq mm
l= Load current in amps
L=Total length of the wire.

|Or to cheat from Nigel Calder's book and his table there.

Assume ampherage of 2 amps (25W divided by 12 volts but your going to better that with LED) and a total length of wire of say 80ft, you need a conductor size of 8AWG. If its a 60ft run its 10AWG. That gives you a 3% drop in voltage.

The other table in my little black book says that 10AWG is 5 sq mm cross section and 8AWG is 8 sq mm.

Get multi strand tinned wire.
 
Second Roger's points about the Lee Cloths, they are much more comfortable.... but for the wiring, i'd be tempted to just go very slightly larger than that.... perhaps 2.0mm.... its a long run to the masthead, and while you are planning on using an LED (for which 1.5mm would be plenty big enough, you could possibly even go smaller), you may at some point want to revert to a normal incandescant bulb, which at 25W would benefit from a slightly larger wire to avoid too much loss in the long cable run.
 
Just for clarity

8 AWG = 3.26mm diameter = 8.35 sq mm
10 AWG = 2.59mm diameter = 5.27 sq mm

According to Nigel's table 8 AWG is good for 3% losses at up to 100ft and 10 AWG at up to 60ft. If you are prepared to accept 10% drop (which seems too much) its 12 and 14 AWG respectively.

Cross with SWMBO today. She's just forced me to throw away 18 years of 'TG' painting sweatshirts! What next?
 
plus 10 to 20ft of wiring from power, via switches, and to mast base.....

I stand by my comment, which TG seems to bear out, that 2mm-ish is needed.... or in correct terminolgy (thanks TG /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif), 10 AWG.

Especially relevant if an LED is being used, due to their greater need for the correct voltages....
 
Peter,
I too would go for 2.0mm. Provided the ply is varnished sufficiently, cant see why it wouldnt work out. The netting I have no idea, but back to the bunks, the only thing I would say is that I used either the floor (really bad idea) or the quarter berth (better but awkward) on port tack on the Jester (to do with Centaur "B" layout). If you can arrange an easy access bunk on both tacks, it will be a lot more comfortable.
 
Difficult to get easy access bunk on both tacks so was planning only to sleep on starboard. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Actually I kept the old plastic covered matress from the starboard pilot berth so might be an idea to have it onboard for the 'rougher' days when resting on the cabin sole might be the better option!

Got a clockwork hour timer with a very loud ring for christmas so alarm clock is sorted. Might put it in metal tin too
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

Rascal Joe
Real Time Conditions and more for Apple users
Replies
0
Views
1K
Rascal Joe
Rascal Joe

Share this page

Top