Snakes' Wedding and Electrical Cable marking.

[Blue Seas]

Thanks to this forum I have now got the 24v battery bank charging issue sorted (Thanks Paul Rainbow & Geem in particular )

I've now started to sort (untangle) all the wiring and would appreciate comments on what kit to buy to permanently mark the wiring at each end.

The good news is that all the negative cables (about 150 of them) are black and all return to one small locker adjacent to the fuse/switch panels. The rather less good news is that the positive cables are also black (another 150 or so) and not a single cable is marked. It's as if Medusa had invited all of her worldwide family to a marriage celebration resulting in a snakes wedding of biblical proportions in a small dark locker near me. I have spent two full days stripping out so far and I've hardly scratched the surface.

So, two questions if I may,

1. What is a decent, readily available and reliable cable marking tool / system? (mostly 1.5 - 6mm)
and,
2. Any thoughts on me fitting separate negative busbar blocks (perhaps one in each of the seven bulkhead zones) and then returning just a few heavy negative cables rather than 150 individual ones?
The existing wiring is top quality, marine, tinned, flexible etc. and is totally corrosion free after decades of use so I'll try to re-use where I can.

Cheers.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Thanks to this forum I have now got the 24v battery bank charging issue sorted (Thanks Paul Rainbow & Geem in particular )

I've now started to sort (untangle) all the wiring and would appreciate comments on what kit to buy to permanently mark the wiring at each end.

The good news is that all the negative cables (about 150 of them) are black and all return to one small locker adjacent to the fuse/switch panels. The rather less good news is that the positive cables are also black (another 150 or so) and not a single cable is marked. It's as if Medusa had invited all of her worldwide family to a marriage celebration resulting in a snakes wedding of biblical proportions in a small dark locker near me. I have spent two full days stripping out so far and I've hardly scratched the surface.

So, two questions if I may,

1. What is a decent, readily available and reliable cable marking tool / system? (mostly 1.5 - 6mm)
and,
2. Any thoughts on me fitting separate negative busbar blocks (perhaps one in each of the seven bulkhead zones) and then returning just a few heavy negative cables rather than 150 individual ones?
The existing wiring is top quality, marine, tinned, flexible etc. and is totally corrosion free after decades of use so I'll try to re-use where I can.

Cheers.

1. A few options. A label printer ? Or some clip on cable markers. For instance 561-01002 WIC1-B,C,U,V,W,P,D,F,I,M-PA66-YE | HellermannTyton WIC1 Snap On Cable Markers, Yellow, Pre-printed "B; C; D; F; I; M; P; U; V; W", 2 → 2.8mm Cable | RS Available with letters or numbers, in various sizes.

2. Good idea.

 

[Dellquay13]

+1 for a label maker or clip on letters and numbers

I find tone probes really useful in tracing cables that aren’t labelled. Put the tone generator on the remote end and ‘sniff out’ the end in the rats nest with the probe

Here’s a cheap and cheerful example, but widely available elsewhere
https://www.amazon.co.uk/RUANI-Find...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583451682354813&psc=1

I use lengths of coloured heat shrink slipped over cables to help ID them, in various colour code’s depending on complexity and what colours I have in my tool bag on the day. I don’t bother heating it. You can get coloured sleeving for electrical work too. Insulation tape is only fine if someone else has to sort it later, if you will be keeping the boat, don’t try it, it ends up sticking to everything but where it was intended.

 

[PetiteFleur]

I've used a Brother label printer, but one that uses 'tze' tapes which are UV resistant. Also used in the cockpit for various labels. Still looking fine after over 15 years. I use Black on White background - other colour combinations available.

 

[rogerthebodger]

10000PCS For 1.5-3mm2 wire EC-0 Cable Markers Number 0-9 soft PVC 10 Rolls | eBay

This is these cable marking I used when wiring up my sailboat

 

[cpedw]

I use white insulating tape and a black biro. Write on the tape twice then attach like a flag round the wire. That way you can read it from almost any angle. Very cheap, simple and can be added with the wire in situ.

 

[Blue Seas]

Thanks again guys - all ordered, snakes on the retreat now.

 

[Boater Sam]

Putting remote negative busbars each fed by a single heavier cable looks at first glance to be a good idea.
BUT
You will get volt drop when switching on a remote item which is annoying if the fridge say, flashes the lights everytime it comes on or the lights pulse when the water pump is on.
Separate negatives were put in for good reason.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Putting remote negative busbars each fed by a single heavier cable looks at first glance to be a good idea.
BUT
You will get volt drop when switching on a remote item which is annoying if the fridge say, flashes the lights everytime it comes on or the lights pulse when the water pump is on.
Separate negatives were put in for good reason.

Nonsense, as usual.

All of those negatives end up being supplied with a single wire or two anyway, such as the main battery negative, that feeds the busbar where the 150 wires currently connect. The answer is to fit suitably sized cables, then everything works fine.

 

[justanothersailboat]

I'd add one further recommendation for the kind of label printer that can print on heatshrink tube. I did that and it really helped. It felt like a big outlay up front but I think it has paid for itself in saved time and frustration.

Black for both + and - wires seems like someone in the past was in a really unhelpful frame of mind! You could start by getting a bit of red shrink on every black wire end that is really a positive.

 

[Boater Sam]

I use car touch up pens in various colours for retrospectively marking installed cables.
Nail varnish is good too.
Both avoid having to disconnect the cables to mark them and you can number them by using the colour code common to resistors, i.e. Black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, grey, & white, corresponding to 0 to 9.

 

[Aurai]

Only one thought, for any cable the “wrong” colour, just mark them up with the right colour. About the only time red insulation tape is useful!! Your 150 ends only need to be red to show they are red

 

[wonkywinch]

I remember as an apprentice fitting Hellerman letters/numbers to cables using three legged pliers and a spot of Hellerine. Some of my colleagues found other uses for Hellerine on those lonely nights in the dorm.