T&T: Marine wire myth?

[Peter Bennett]

Sunday, April 6, 2008, 6:55:11 AM, Bob wrote:

BC> On the subject of stranded, tinned wire for marine use.

<snippage>

BC> In boats, there are always many questions concerning what to use. Does ABYC
BC> "recommend" (I understand they do not mandate)  color coding as well as
BC> tinned, stranded wire?  Is there any color code system in place?

Yes, ABYC does recommend colour coding - most of their recommended
colours are for engine-related things, but they also recommend red for
DC positive, and yellow for DC negative/ground. (They used to
recommend black for DC negative, but with the increasing use of AC on
boats, there is too much chance of confusion with the black wires used
for the 120 VAC hot wire.)

In earlier times, black/white paired wire was apparently readily
available - much of my present boat is wired with it.  Unfortunately,
the original builder must have been a house electrician, as he used
the white wire as ground (corresponding to the AC neutral, I suppose),
but a later owner used the same cable, but with black as ground.  There
are also some black/red cables (always with black as ground, I think).
The whole thing is confusing, and somewhat hazardous when connecting
electronics.

BC> FYI  I always use marine wire.  Why: because I know if my boat is inspected
BC> or to be sold, I would have a problem.  My opinion is that as long as the
BC> wire is rated to carry the load, and is not submersed, you could use solid
BC> wire with no ill effect.  In most cases, the solid wire would be an upgrade
BC> due to the fact that the many gauges available in stranded wire are not
BC> available in solid wire.  Flexibility in solid wire only becomes an issue
BC> when the gauge gets larger as in #6 and up.  Then stranded wire is used on
BC> land.

BC> Bob Clinkenbeard
BC> 24' custom trailer trawler "Bobbin Along"
BC> Locust Grove, Georgia
BC> http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-aboardbobbinalong

-- 
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI    Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Ennos 31 "Honeycomb"
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter 
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca