electrickery help needed

[ranmar850]

Ranmar do you twist then like a coat hanger and fold them down or twist them along their length which I find is sort of half baked and not very secure.
Having the wires mechanically secure while working upside down hanging by your balls while soldering is the key in my books.
I don't know if it's been previously mentioned blacklab but some of the new solders don't solder very well.
I think it's something to do with lead free or tin free or whatever, last time I went looking at Bunnings I was hit with a multitude of choices and walked out scratching my head.
I think I use 60/40 lead/tin and one I got from bunnings was like soldering slag.

Not quite exactly sure what you mean, but I'd say I probably twist them like a coathanger, ie, both wires get an equal amount of twist rather than just twisting one around the other left straight? Done the way I do it means you have to pull pretty hard to get them to come apart, pre-soldering? You can certainly leave them unsupported while you are soldering them.
I've actually been doing a heap of it, last four days. I had a few wiring jobs needed fixing on my boat, and a mate had done all the physical installation of the hardware for his new instal, and got me to connect it. He bought a new Raymarine Axiom Pro 9, with TM 265, and an EV-150 Autopilot networked in. All this has gone on a 30(?) yo 6m plate hull-- he fished with me for a week last winter on the Reefrunner with gear like this, everything from trolling for sails and mackerel to deep dropping in 300m , and was utterly sold. And this bloke likes to hang onto his money. So apart from just plugging the NMEA 2000 leads into the right places, I did all the power connections. On my boat, I'd had ongoing issues like the Travel Buddy oven burning out the cigarette lighter, needed permanent electrical connections installed for the electric reels, and fitting mini battery isolators so i can leave the fridge and oven plugged in and just run them on and off. I installed a concealed Andersen plug for the oven, switched from the mini-isolator, and changed out all the non-genuine Andersen plugs I had fitted after I ran out of the real thing. While they might look the same, the fakes are just rubbish. One brand, Fit-IN, has no stoppers behind the contacts , so that when you plug in, the contacts just push backwards And the plastic is brittle. The SCA ones have the contacts anchored properly, but the plastic is incredibly brittle. If you think genuine Andersen plugs are expensive, look here https://andersonconnect.com.au/store...index&cPath=36 you can get a bag of 25 for something like $95 delivered. I've just fitted a total of 10 new ones replacing the rubbish, adding new outlets, and putting them on the electric reels.

[blacklab]

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[scottar]

Different sized wires - depends on the difference and the flexibility of the strands in the bigger wire. One thing that will help with a neater job is to taper the thicker wire. Bigger the difference - bigger the taper. If it is a massive difference, you can end up in a situation where the small wire is twisted around the larger wire only. It will still work ok like that and your station will make it heaps easier to stop it sliding apart.

[blacklab]

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[gazza2006au]

Col just dont sit on the battery with your feet in a bucket and tin foil hat on lol

Sent from my SM-G900I using Ausfish mobile app

[Dignity]

Thanks, "again" Scott, The station made a huge difference, especially for the fanned method. ( for me anyhows)
Yeah, I'm using the thickness wire as shown, but the likes of the nav light wires are much thinner. I've kept the same wire for everything I've wired so far, it's way over kill I know, but it's all the same, easier than getting all different wire thicknesses, I think it's 21 amp.
Still a whole heap to do, getting the right cable to run from the Pos buzz bar, after it comes from the batteries, to the fuse box and switches to power them up, but I'll cross that bridge and ask the questions when I get up to that. Small steps first

Cheers

Col

Col, use a piece of the thinner wire from the nav lights to tie your fanned joints.and they will be neater.

[blacklab]

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[blacklab]

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[scottar]

It certainly can't hurt. Leaving one side as clear as possible for transducer cables would be the most likely scenario.

[blacklab]

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[blacklab]

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[Dignity]

For a deckwash I personally prefer the switch down the rear of the cockpit so that it can be quickly and easily reached. Also whwn mounting your deckwash make sure you have a stopcock mounted where it enters the transom, nothing like flooding a boat if something fails, also 2 good quality hose clamps (T Bar type preferred) for every connection inside the boat. Many will say that 1 is sufficient and lasted a lifetime but there's many an incident where it would have saved a drowned boat. Also with hose clamps do put some grease on the thread as they can bind before fully tight, also care with plastic fittings that you don't over tighten.

[EdBerg]

Just be aware that wire sizes are a can of worms, as an example: some wires are listed as 6mm but in actual fact the wire cross section in square mm may be only 2.5mm. I would tend to go much thicker than stated especially if there will be a reasonable power drain (18A) and also a bit of length involved, although short distances aren't that much of an issue. If it was me doing the job on my boat I would use 4mm square per wire tinned, twin core and and insulated together, but that might be just me! . The cost of the thicker wire is probably less than $20-$30 over the thinner stuff.

[blacklab]

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[scottar]

If you want to use your blue seas switch, use a relay down the back and a waterproof fuse direct off the battery switch. Keeps the cable run that is actually doing the work at a minimum. If you wish it can go in a small project box. Also make sure any fittings above the pump (rod holders etc) are sealed in and have drains. The pumps have a steel body. water exposure eventually ends badly. The cable clips can be mounted directly onto the inside of the transom assuming it's thick enough for the screws (some areas may not have an internal core) - just seal the holes or use the alloy strip if you wish.