Marine wiring.

[Allan]

I have a few wiring jobs to do on my boat and am thinking of buying some reels of cable. If possible I would like the correct marine wire (Tinned copper). I can't find a table of size/current, does anyone know where I could find one? I would also like to know a good supplier.
Allan

 

[Poignard]

I have an idea that Index Marine Equipment Ltd have a table in their free catalogue.

web page

 

[lw395]

Vehicle wiring products is a well thought of supplier.
www.rswww.com tends to be expensive, but they have all the data on their website.
Current ratings may be spurious, for sometypes of wire ratings are driven by allowable temperature rise, at 12V we often worry more about voltage drop.
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=getProduct&R=3694901 should take you to a pricey product, but there is a link to some useful data.

 

[Alcyone]

I bought all my elctrical gear from wehicle wiring products when I built our camper - I'd recommend them, and they will talk to you.

 

[gerry99]

Hi Allan,

Aquafax, and Merlin are good sources, I got a lot of my marine grade cable from Merlin and their catalogue has a table to work out sizes and current loading (it is in their lifetime product catalogue)

In practise I tended to go one size up from the table but thats just a personal preference /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[DJE]

Furneaux Riddall.

 

[2nd_apprentice]

Get out your slide rule and try this:

D = I x L x 0,018/Delta U

Your required wire size D in mm can be calculated from the current I im amps, length L in metre (remember it's got to get there AND back so double it!) and Delta U being the acceptable voltage drop.


For converting the SI units to obscure American Wire Gauge check google. Tres simple really!