1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

[InMotion]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

OK, so I spent a big hunk of time looking at charts, calculating, emailing pros/companies, and I have come up with a variety of answers for proper gauge batt cables.

2, 1, 1/0, 2/0

:facepalm:

I know it's better to go bigger but the difference between 2 and 2/0 is quite a bit (especially $$ wise).

Ah well, I'll get it figgured.

GT - Yah, my quick/rough measurement says 15' run (15 of black and 15 of red).

Jas --- I feel your bottom feeder $$ pain man... when I was working on Jupiter I, I spoke to an electrician regarding moving the batteries to front of the boat for better weight distribution --- and boy was I shocked at the price. It was goina be north of $200 --- and that was just a simple setup for starting an outboard. No doubt you will figure out the best and safest option for your rig --- especially with great advice being offered.

IM

 

[mr300z87]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

Let me first say the boat is looking great, but I wanted to share my concerns regarding your wiring. I have been in the telecom wiring business for over 20 years and have fished many cables through walls, floors and other pathways and you would be surprised as to what they can snag on causing lots of frustration. The concern I have is the area under the deck where the fuel line got stuck while pulling the pull rope and fuel line back to the bilge, you are planning to pull 2 large wires past some type of aluminum structure that has already proven to be tight. You may find it to be impossible to pull these 2 large gauge wires past it or worse if you do get them past it could cut into the coating and short to the aluminum. Or even worse have the cables/fuel line chaffing and causing a fuel leak or short in the future. I am not saying it can not be done this way, just sharing my wiring experiences. Keep up the great work

Mike

 

[Grandad]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

Jas - I just got a chance to view your video on cable routing that I should have viewed prior to my last post above. Are these metal gas tanks? You may be literally jumping from the frying pan into the fire if you fish the cables through the structure with the gas tanks. Don't do it. If this is the best route, do whatevere it takes to fish a raceway such as a PVC pipe or rugged flexible plastic electrical raceway through first, then pull the cables through that. Putting cables capable of providing hundreds (perhaps thousands) of amps in an unprotected manner in direct contact with a gas tank is unwise. Even if you get the cables installed without injuring them, just vibration over time can wear a hole through the insulation. A short between a positive battery cable and a grounded gas tank will instantly blow a hole in the tank and set fire to the boat. - Grandad

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

mr300, grandad, thanks for stopping by guys and I appreciate ya looking out for me, a lot!

Well poop, you fellas have me thinking now.

Check out the run...

See here is how my fuel lines are laid out...

The batt lines would basically be laying right next to them

There isn't an "edge" anywhere in this whole system. Anything even close to an edge was totally covered by thick rubber gasket (you can see up towards the midships).

This is the spot where I just needed to get the fuel line to slide through. I just had to get the line to start sliding, then it was fine...

I didn't want any edges touching that fuel line so I actually ran them through one of the rungs of the ladder (don't worry, the rung fitting through the ladder frame was smooth/rounded).

All right so....

I cannot see anywhere any kind of fuel line or batt wire could potentially get cut.

But, I don't know about fitting in two fat batt cables through that ladder rung. Stink.

Carp, I think I may have to go the long way round...

 

[talltx]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

Jas, I really like what the guys are saying about avoiding danger by routing the wires away from any fuel.

Why not run them through pvc under the gunwales or behind your future side panel?

Just sayin. Safety first. There's already enough stuff that could go wrong out there on the water. You'll be glad you did and so will we. Cherrio

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

Just want to get an idea out... this is how I am picturing you could route the main battery cables, and keep from creating the situation Grandad and others have mentioned...route the engine power along the gunwhale, and the house power along the bulkhead, or even a raceway along the floor...

I don't know, just tryin to keep ya from goin BOOM!

 

[GLG fishing]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

Don't know much about welding cable but ebay might be a place to look.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=welding+cable
GLG

 

[TitanTn]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

I think if you go through the calculations with real data as jbcurt00 recommends above, you'll not end up with the more expensive sizes. I went through the calculations for my new cable run and didn't believe the results, so I went back and increased the load and length in order to "over build" the cable I needed. I still wasn't remotely close to needing 2AWG. My run was 12'.

 

[Hghvoltage]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

Just some ideas of places to talk to about wire you need. Try industrial electrical contractor and ask if they have any scrap pieces you could buy, you might get it for scrap copper prices. Is there a Solar panel supplier in the area, they would have the type of wire you need. Welding supply house would have welding lead you can buy by the foot. Industrial rental supply house would have some old welding leads you could buy at scrap prices. Copper around here is going for about 3.50 a pound and 50 ft of 1/0 is about 22 pounds, but check the scrap copper prices in your area and keep in mind it changes almost daily.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

I don't know where you are now w/ AWG, load & run, but this Amazon site states that it is tinned marine-grade 1/0 AWG wire & is available in both red & black. I guess you could ask for $$ for 15' & the shipping. Their Amazon store also has 20' blk or red <$40 +<$9 shipping......

Flipped over to where you posted some Q's in Electrical, strange that someone else recommended the same calc site, and got it to output results when you & I couldn't.

You'll get there, never had a problem so far that didn't get solved on the Islander..... Good luck wire hunting......

 

[TruckDrivingFool]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

Disclaimer: I'm a truck driver with fool in his name NOT a sparky.

Remember you need to use the full length of the circuit when figuring. So basically double your length.

That said I don't remember how your floor is secured. It may be advantageous to pop it up, run your wires securely for piece of mind, and save some wire.

Using the calculator jb linked

12v
200 amp draw
10% drop (guessing)
Variable load
no temp rating or 125 made no diff

A 30' run AWG2 for load and 3 for volt drop
A 50' run AWG2 for load(still) and 0 for volt drop

So as I see it which way you go could make a big difference.

Glad I could muddy the water just a touch more.

 

[TundraRocks]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

Hey JAS, for my SS I got my tinned cable here. They were by far the cheapest I had found, and they offer free shipping. Keep up the good work.

Tundra

 

[rrumba]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

Hey JO, i think you are safe with the 1 awg for your runs, but if you go under deck do put it in some type of housing. Even at 2 awg you would still be good. the calculations for the boating world is the distance from load to source, then double that, then distance times max sustained amps, subtract ( i figured a 10% acceptable drop) which puts you at 5820 Famps, if your starting amps draw is 200, which puts you in the range of 210 amps max draw for 2 awg. see this link:

https://myeporia.eporia.com/resources/company_57/9786.pdf

another one

http://circuitwizard.bluesea.com/#




no offense to the others out there meant........



for your epoxy, are you just rolling it on, using a chip brush, or spreader like an autobody type?

 

[Grandad]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

Jas - I had a thought about an alternate route for your cables and spent a couple of hours looking back through this thread looking for a good picture (below). The hard chine where the side of the hull meets the bottom is enclosed on the inside by a stiffener. This forms a triangular raceway from your planned battery location back to the transom. Would routing the cables through it save you any length? It should be pretty smooth and unlikely to damage the cables. (On the other hand, a short to the hull would blow a hole in it instead of your gas tank, but you're still going down;-)) - Grandad

 

[mark1961]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

I think its best to keep those ones above deck, any clear runs to the stern above that could be used as well, gunwhale is a great option if it doesnt eat up too much cable.....couple of decent lengths of PVC conduit to protect the cables on the run would solve the short circuit issue.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

OK Gentlemen...

This morning I sat in the Islander and stared, and thought...

Then I made a decision...

So, ya...

I'm done talking about batt placement.

Now, I know that many of you have been doing a lot of :facepalm::facepalm: along the way...

...while others have joined in the fun...

Guys, please accept my apologies for dragging this on unnecessarily. We are now done with that

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

As a consolation here's some Chili Peppers for ya.....

Just wanted to rock out a little bit there.

 

[timfives]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

Hey,

I almost did the exact same thing, but opted to put in my live well there instead. Boat is looking great!!

T

 

[dozerII]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

Morning Jason, amazing how all these minds work together, and then you come back to the origional design. Looks good and should be totaly trouble free.
Glen

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1976 22' Starcraft Islander Rebuild

Now, I know that many of you have been doing a lot of :facepalm::facepalm: along the way...

...while others have joined in the fun...

We are now done with that

For the record, I love that movie ^^^....... BTW have you seen my red stapler?

Nice job on adding the horse!

Good to hear the batteries have a home.