What Gauge Wire?

[pafisher1234]

I am going to re wire my lights and bildge and a few other odds and ends. What gauge do I need for example i have found 16-8 Awg. What would I need?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: What Gauge Wire?

16 gauge wire can be used for virtually everything on the boat except for some very high current draw loads like trolling motors and very high power stereo amps. Wire bigger than that will certainly work but it becomes very difficult to deal with where multiple connections need to be made such as on gauges and switches. Bigger than 16 is overkill.

 

[Hanr3]

Re: What Gauge Wire?

Wire is rated to amp loads. Every electrical device draws X number of amps. There will be resistance in the wire, the longer the run the higher the resistance. MAtch the run length and amp draw to get the correct wire gauge.

In general, 16 gauge will work for most circuits, lights, bilge pump, nav lights, fish finder, etc. When I rebuilt my boat I used trailer wiring. It's 4 color coded wires attached to one another, generally 25' long, about $12, and 16 gauge. It may not be tinned, but if you seal teh connections with Di-electric grease you wont have any problems. Think of it this way, there are billions of cars/trucks in the Us and none of them use tinned wire. Ever have trouble in the rain?

 

[Rocky_Road]

Re: What Gauge Wire?

Here are the ABYC standards:

http://www.marinco.com/page/abyc-standards

 

[pafisher1234]

Re: What Gauge Wire?

Thanks for the help. I ordered 200' of 16 AWG for 40 bucks.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: What Gauge Wire?

So everything on the boat will be wired with the same color wire - including the grounds? I feel sorry for anyone having to troubleshoot the wiring in the future -- including yourself.

 

[pwfish1]

Re: ?? for HANR3

Re: ?? for HANR3

so you took the trailer package wire and split it to use what you wanted?

i suppose throwing out the connect at the end is no biggie.

if it was only 4 wires, how many instruments were you able to wire?

2 sets of pos/neg 25ft??

trying to pic what you got, cause i got trailer wire out the gazo.

thanks