Which wire to use for my DC rewiring

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patrickza

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I'm busy rewiring my Catalac 9M from scratch. The old wiring wasn't tinned and was almost universally corroded, so I'm looking to go for tinned. The boat is in Pula, Croatia, and I haven't been able to find a source of decent tinned wire there, so I'm looking for some tinned 2.5mm2 dual core re/black somewhere else in Europe that can ship to Croatia.

I've found a couple of options, but I'm not sure which standards need to be met for the cable. This is listed as solar cable, but it's tinned, finely stranded and rated for up to 100 degrees. Are there any other requirements that need to be met: LAPP ÖLFLEX® SOLAR XLS-R 0023982 PV cable 2 x 2.50 mm² Black Sold per metre | Conrad.com

The other option I've found is this: Philippi H05VV-VZ 2x2,5 mm2
But it's more expensive and only rated up to 100 degrees. It's also more bulky being a round cable rather than the flat Lapp Olflex cable.

Otherwise is there anything else that can be recommended? Thanks.
 
VicS said:
12volt Planet also ship worldwide a nd also supply the Oceanflex range.
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My recollection is that 12vPlanet are expensive to ship outside the UK - in the region of £20 or £30 postage?

I am presently in Portugal and imports from the UK now (since B-word) attract a card from the post office (CTT), requiring fees to be paid before they're delivered.

You will not experience this if you buy from Farnell, as they ship from their EU warehouses.

Farnell's localised websites are country-locked. Their UK website is in English and ships only to the UK, their French website is in French and ships only to France, etc - you need to create a new account if you wish to use a different Farnell site. Instead create an account with export.Farnell.com, which is in English and allows shipping worldwide. Don't give your UK address as invoice address, as EU orders now require an EU invoice address - just use the delivery address for both.

Farnell's shipping costs about £6, which covers as many deliveries as necessary. Don't be dissuaded from ordering something that's not in stock, as they'll ship it when it arrives and the rest immediately. Export's customer service email address is staffed by a single guy - in recent months this has been Lukas who is very responsive and reasonably helpful.

Farnell's website is a bit slow and bloated, but I guess this is a symptom of the massive product range they stock. It has sophisticated filters which allow you to drill down and find the exact specifications you need amongst thousands of similar ones. They're much cheaper than marine suppliers for waterproof speakers, by the way.
 
KompetentKrew said:
I am presently in Portugal and imports from the UK now (since B-word) attract a card from the post office (CTT), requiring fees to be paid before they're delivered.

You will not experience this if you buy from Farnell, as they ship from their EU warehouses.

Farnell's localised websites are country-locked. Their UK website is in English and ships only to the UK, their French website is in French and ships only to France, etc - you need to create a new account if you wish to use a different Farnell site. Instead create an account with export.Farnell.com, which is in English and allows shipping worldwide. Don't give your UK address as invoice address, as EU orders now require an EU invoice address - just use the delivery address for both.

Farnell's shipping costs about £6, which covers as many deliveries as necessary. Don't be dissuaded from ordering something that's not in stock, as they'll ship it when it arrives and the rest immediately. Export's customer service email address is staffed by a single guy - in recent months this has been Lukas who is very responsive and reasonably helpful.

Farnell's website is a bit slow and bloated, but I guess this is a symptom of the massive product range they stock. It has sophisticated filters which allow you to drill down and find the exact specifications you need amongst thousands of similar ones. They're much cheaper than marine suppliers for waterproof speakers, by the way.
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Thanks, they don't stock Oceanflex, is there another brand to recommend from there?

I was going to avoid buying from the UK. The last time I did I paid EUR206 duty on a toilet that cost me 380 pounds :(

Edit: Unbelievably Farnell don't have any multistrand tinned copper in the 2.5mm2 range. The search continues.
 
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Why not get a friend in the UK to buy what you need from F&R or whoever and post it to you as a "cough" gift? You could just send them the money. Or would that contravene some Brexit-related crap?
 
I have just rewired my boat using Oceanflex from 12VPlanet - as well as lots of other bits and pieces. 2.5 twin core is very bulky and for much of 12v wiring not necessary. I reduced the need for 2.5 by grouping items and creating mini distribution boards using Wago connectors and 1.5 and single wire rather than 2 core.. The first photo shows the back of my distribution switch panel and you can see one of the mini distribution boards top left which is for nav gear off one fused switch on the panel. There is another one elsewhere on the boat that links up to all the lighting circuits plus the VHF and some sockets. IMG_20220426_144226.jpgIMG_20220426_144042.jpg

The second shows the front of the panel. Might give you some ideas. Although shipping from UK might be hassle, if you can plan your system at sufficient level of detail you might be able to make just one order.
 
Graham376 said:
Agree with Tranona that 2.5mm is oversize for most circuits, particularly led light circuits which would be OK even on 1mm. For solar panels it seems well undersized, most use 4mm or 6mm depending on length of run.
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That would depend. My lights are LED but only because they have LED bulbs. It’s entirely possible someone could put halogen bulbs back in so I’d plan for that when wiring. Some LED lights don’t use bulbs so not an issue there although still possible the fitting could be changed in the future.
 
Tranona said:
I have just rewired my boat using Oceanflex from 12VPlanet - as well as lots of other bits and pieces. 2.5 twin core is very bulky and for much of 12v wiring not necessary. I reduced the need for 2.5 by grouping items and creating mini distribution boards using Wago connectors and 1.5 and single wire rather than 2 core..
Click to expand...

After going through the boat it looks like you might be right @Tranona .

I've checked the amp draw on all the equipment on the boat, and it looks like I may be able to do 1.5mm wiring for everything. Any comments on the table below? I will be running lifepo4 for the 12v as well, which means my nominal voltage is slightly higher at 12.8v which I think will be a help.
wirecalcs.JPG
 
Also worth considering where your wiring returns to. A few common negatives using larger cables can be helpful and reduce voltage drop further as the thinner cable isn't doing the full round trip. For instance my Eber and Autopilot ram are at the stern and don't need their negative going all the way back to the switch panel and then all the way back to the battery near the stern.
 
LoneHort said:
I used autoelectricial supplies for my wiring. Very good and I see they have a French Website so may ship from there to Portugal. See Bienvenue chez Auto Electric Supplies
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Thanks for posting this. Living in France I have been struggling to find a supplier of parts like these. I am rewiring a kit car and have been buying from UK. This has not been as expensive as others suggest: on £200 worth of kit I paid the VAT in France and only £17 duty.
 
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