Wiring

[Guest]

Hi there,

I'd like to replace my masthead lights.

Someone told me that I would be wise to use a fat cable.

Is this true? Is bigger always better (wirewise of course)

Thanks in advance
Jim

 

[JeremyF]

There's a formula according to the wattage and distance. If you give me this info, I'll look it up. Whats the highest wattage device up there.

No point in exceding this as it will make it more difficult to get the wire up there.

Make sure the wire is multistrand, and that you tin the ends before connecting to slow down the corrosion.

<font color=blue>Jeremy Flynn/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif
Dawn Chorus</font color=blue>

 

[Guest]

That's very good of you!

The highest wattage is 25, and the distance 25ft.

Would you post the formula for future referance?

Cheers
Jim

 

[oldsaltoz]

<pre>G’day Jim,

You should fine the answer to cable size, connectors and a but more here, I’m sure other readers will provide you with more links, this one is not too heavy on the tech side, easy reading.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.outbackmarine.com.au/choosing.htm>http://www.outbackmarine.com.au/choosing.htm</A>


Andavagoodweekend Old Salt Oz……/forums/images/icons/cool.gif……</pre>

 

[jfkal]

Please don't be stingy. Use full tinned wire. Just tinning the ends speeds up the corrosion process.

 

[drawp]

Look up www.power-store.com in their FAQ section. They have some good information on wire types and sizes.

 

[Guest]

What your trying to do (idealy) is to reduce the 'voltage drop' by using a cable of cross sectional area of sufficient size to reduce this volt drop to a minimum. There is an optimum size, any bigger and the small gain is not worth the extra expense or difficulty in running excessively thick cable.
Previous posts have eluded to the correct formula which depends on length of run from power source to load and how big that load is (its wattage or current draw).
It is surprising how much voltage appears at the load if the cable size is below optimum. !2V supply can end up more like 8v at the end of a cable run if youre not careful about using thick enough cable!
I quote from notes taken many years ago, If the voltage drop is 10% then efficiency of the equipment is severely decreased, the light output of a lamp will be decreased by over 30%.





An Ron Beag

 

[vyv_cox]

Format of this post

Why is the width of this post uniquely twice as wide as my monitor screen? I have to scroll L-R to read all responses. But not in this "reply" view.

 

[Rowana]

Re: Format of this post

Must be your set-up. Mine's normal

Jim

 

[Strathglass]

Re: Format of this post

Viv this has happened before and Kim answered it. Nothing to do with your setup. It is because someone (RON i think) has put in a long sentence without any punctuation marks or periods. Just recently Kim edited someones posting to bring it back to normal.
Iain