Mast wiring-cable type-?

[Jock89]

Hi all,
My mast has just been re-wired by the boatyard, prior to re-installation on the boat, & when I asked what type of cable they used they've just told me " to the usual industry standard", & "hardly anyone uses tinned marine cable now". How accurate a statement is that.? Upon my pressing them for more detail, turns out to be BS-6500. I've just looked at it on the Internet & it's plain old domestic wiring...''appliances & equipment intended for domestic, office or similiar environments."
Is this cable OK for the mast, with say...soldered or tinned connection & heat-shrink.? Any reason why it should be more expensive 'tinned marine cable', & how much would that be per metre anyway.?(+/- 40.ft mainmast) Yard said the same thing to me when they were re-wiring in the saloon, into the chart-table area.
I've also asked them if the conduit is still in the mast, they said yes, & that the remains of the old polystyrene came out with the old cable. How important is it to have the polystyrene in the conduit, & can I reasonably expect the yard to have put new polystyrene in before they re-wired the mast.?

All comments welcome & Thanks.

 

[johnalison]

Tinned is definitely what should have been used but boats have been using untinned for yonks and it should be good for 20 years or more.

 

[Anthony]

Personally I always specify tinned for in mast power wiring, and in fact use tinned wire for majority of wiring inside or out.

For a mast rewire for your size vessel I would use 2.5mm2 cable for standard naviagtion lighting etc, for which I charge £1.50 a metre for two core cable (but some say I am to cheap, so others may charge more?).

Have they actually tinned the ends of the non tinned wire (you mention that but I am not sure if you are stating they have, or asking if they should have)? I would not normally tin the end of non tinned wire as the part that is tinned is then solid, and tends to break at the point where it meets the non tinned area. In a mast thats normally a PITA because there then maynot be enough length left protruding to remake the connection, and even if there is that cable will get corroded over time and again is difficult to get a good new connection on.

The subject of tinned wire has come up here many times before, and there are plenty of people who think thats its an unecessary rip off full stop, so I am sure that some people will disagree with me here as indeed they are entitled to do. I just always try to do work as how I would want it on my own boat, all I can do is advise based on my experience and education.

Hope that helps,

Anthony

 

[Jock89]

Thanks for both replies fellas.
My yard implies that they already have or will, tin the ends of the cable, but yes I know what you mean about it breaking behind the tinning. They seem to be pleasing themselves how they do everything & don't keep me up-to-date unless I ask about something in particular, which is aggravating.
I had previously complained to them on numerous occasions about the escalating costs of this major refurbishment, & they probably are using this domestic cable to keep my costs down.
If one of you chaps had perhaps replied...'on NO account use ordinary domestic cable' or something similiar, I would have told the yard to rip it out, but if it's going to last that long anyway, then that's fine with me.

Any comments on the polystyrene query in my original post.?
Thanks again..

 

[exfinnsailor]

Had Domestic Wiring fitted in the mast of my last Beneteau. Fitted to supply the Tri Colour by the Original Supplier .. The copper cable was black for about 40mm when I took it apart .. Still worked but not a pretty sight .. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[narooma]

Used a run of domestic cable as a stop-gap a couple of years ago. It was not specificly sealed or treated and, on replacement after 17 months, was blackened at the ends but still worked. Difficult to say how long it would have lasted but whatever is used will last longer if the damp can be kept out so mabe get them to apply silicon? to the exposed cable. As Anthony has said, tinning untinned cable tends to give a break-point where the tinning ends as, so I believe, the heat applied to get the solder to run can cause the cable to become brittle.

 

[captainslarty]

our 1978 Seastream 34 was fitted with domestic cable to the mast units when built.. changed it at mast refurb in 2005, to same stuff !.. it had lasted 27 years with no problems.. so thats what went back.. All my high current is tinned marine grade, but the low current is not.
If the previous wiring had been in very poor condition I would certainly have used tinned, but it wasn't.

Joe.

 

[Malish]

I would be pretty p*ssed of if they had used untinned wire in this application - saves maybe £10 but that is a pretty small saving once you have added on labour etc.