Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

Piece715

Piece715

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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

bouttime007 said:
No Im not really looking for fluffy soft, just a little forgiving. (more than hard plastic basicly)

I think yours will be 13.8, so the description says anyway.
Click to expand...

If ya were closer ud be more than welcome to come take her for a spin but... all i can say is its pretty thick rubber... would have to grip hard to get a give but its no harder than a car/truck stock steering wheel.
 
bouttime007

bouttime007

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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

Piece715 said:
If ya were closer ud be more than welcome to come take her for a spin but... all i can say is its pretty thick rubber... would have to grip hard to get a give but its no harder than a car/truck stock steering wheel.
Click to expand...

10-4, sounds good enough to me.

Yeah Ark is a tad far to go for a look-see. LOL
 
bouttime007

bouttime007

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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

Hey Piece, without going back and fully checking myself (heh), what color reg #s are you running/going to run?

Gold?
 
Piece715

Piece715

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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

Todd4 said:
Piece,

How long have I been gone? You sure got a good list of questions, fast. :D
Since no one has answered you yet, I'll take a stab at it. Remember there's more than one way to do everything.

Wire Gauges - They all look good for 15A curcuits (check what that radio will pull). The wire gage from the switch (battery selector switch?) to the fuse block is calcualted by the sum of the total amp draw and the distance between the switch and bus bar - neither of which I knnow - TBD.

BUS BAR SIZE? Depends on the size of your bar. Assume each screw terminal (each wire run) is good for 15 - 20 amps (use 15 A). Then add up how many screw terminals you have on the bus bar. For example: If your bus bar has 10 screw terminals (can connect 10 wire runs) then your bus bar is rated for 15 X 10 = 150 amps. If you only have 5 screw terminals then it would be a 75A buss bar. Remember 20 A may be used to rate some buss bars, but you should be drawing well less than 15A per circuit, so your good either way (except for maybe that amp). Consequently, you should be buying a bus bar(s) that'll handle the number of wire runs you have and be less concerned with amperage as long as the overall amperage divides into 15A or more for each screw terminal (for each wire run). Buy quality marine stuff (ss screws) and you'll be good.

STARTER CABLE GAUGE: General rule of thumb - use 2/0 for your application (unless you have unusually long cable runs). Your starter amperage will vary considerably depending on your battery voltage - 13V (full charge) will pull one amperage, while 11.5V (half dead) will pull considerably more amps. The CCA of your battery will come into play also, as will the outside temp and the engine (starter) temp, etc. So sizing your cables from a simple published ampre draw would be difficult to do.

That should keep you going a little longer.

Todd
Click to expand...

As always sir, much much appreciated. The bus bars definitely makes sense now with that explanation. After a night of staring at the boat and trying to determine set up; I have a solution to my length issue... :facepalm: (that's what she said)... cable length. I can fit one of the 6 gal gas tanks in the bow seating on the starboard side as the port side will have the amp mounted inside and that doesn't allow a tank. So i will keep the one tank in the back with both batteries and have the spare tank up front and just switch when needed. Gallon of gas weighs roughly 7+ lbs soooo 40 pounds is pretty manageable. Soo with that change I can keep the switch and bus bar in the stern.

One thing I'm not understanding is 2/0 gauge wire for the motor starter. Not exactly sure what is on the motor now but 2/0 seems very large and now at the run only being 6 feet rather than 15 prob overly excessive or am i missing something. I was think 2 awg but i feel i missing something here. 2AWG can handle 120amps at 0-15ft @ 3% voltage drop and 2/0AWG can pull 200amps at same distance. Now I know u should only load wire to 80% of its capacity; so 2/0= 160 amps and 2 AWG = 96 amps..... hmmmm THIS WOULD GO MUCH EASIER IF I WOULD JUST REMEMBER TO LOOK THROUGH MY OUTBOARD MANUAL!! :eek: sorry i just keep forgetting to look.

The switch and the bus bar on the fuse block will be the longest run on the boat other than the amp to the bus bar for the stereo; both at 6-8 feet. So here goes my run down:

Stern light= 9 watts or 0.75 amps
Bow light= 7.5 watts or 0.625 amps
Bilge= 3 amps
LED interior rope lights (for near future)= 0.84 watts per foot @ 30ft just to be safe= 25.2 watts or 2.1 amps
Clarion Head unit= 50watts x 4 or 200 watts= 17 amps
12v accessory socket= im guessing draws whatever is plugged in sooo ??
Horn = 3 amps
TOTAL: 26.475 amps without whatever is plugged into 12v accessory socket

So with looking at the a chart.. the appropriate wire gauge would be 6-8AWG... this correct?

Here is the chart I went by: http://bluesea.com/files/resources/reference/20010_Rev.003-web.pdf
 
Piece715

Piece715

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Messages
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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

bouttime007 said:
Hey Piece, without going back and fully checking myself (heh), what color reg #s are you running/going to run?

Gold?
Click to expand...
Im guessing u were asking boat registration numbers? If that's the case im not entirely sure yet

Here is Arkansas Info:
The registration number and validation decals must be displayed as follows:

  • Number must be painted, decaled or otherwise affixed to the forward half of each side of the motorboat, placed to be clearly visible.
  • Number must read from left to right on both sides of the motorboat.
  • Number must be in at least 3 inches high, bold, BLOCK letters.
  • Number’s color must contrast with its background.
  • Letters must be separated from the numbers by a space or hyphen:
    “AR 3717 ZW”, “AR-3717-ZW”, “AR 123 ABC” or “AR-123-ABC”.
  • No other numbers may be displayed on either side of the bow.
  • Decals must be affixed on each side of the motorboat, toward the stern of the registration number, 3 inches from and in line with the number.
  • If your motorboat requires registration, it is illegal to operate or allow others to operate your motorboat unless it is registered and numbered as described above.
 
bouttime007

bouttime007

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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

Yeah the color you thinking of using.

The Ark reg laws sound exactly like Maines.
 
T

Todd4

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Messages
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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

Piece715 said:
As always sir, much much appreciated. The bus bars definitely makes sense now with that explanation. After a night of staring at the boat and trying to determine set up; I have a solution to my length issue... :facepalm: (that's what she said)... cable length. I can fit one of the 6 gal gas tanks in the bow seating on the starboard side as the port side will have the amp mounted inside and that doesn't allow a tank. So i will keep the one tank in the back with both batteries and have the spare tank up front and just switch when needed. Gallon of gas weighs roughly 7+ lbs soooo 40 pounds is pretty manageable. Soo with that change I can keep the switch and bus bar in the stern.

One thing I'm not understanding is 2/0 gauge wire for the motor starter. Not exactly sure what is on the motor now but 2/0 seems very large and now at the run only being 6 feet rather than 15 prob overly excessive or am i missing something. I was think 2 awg but i feel i missing something here. 2AWG can handle 120amps at 0-15ft @ 3% voltage drop and 2/0AWG can pull 200amps at same distance. Now I know u should only load wire to 80% of its capacity; so 2/0= 160 amps and 2 AWG = 96 amps..... hmmmm THIS WOULD GO MUCH EASIER IF I WOULD JUST REMEMBER TO LOOK THROUGH MY OUTBOARD MANUAL!! :eek: sorry i just keep forgetting to look.

The switch and the bus bar on the fuse block will be the longest run on the boat other than the amp to the bus bar for the stereo; both at 6-8 feet. So here goes my run down:

Stern light= 9 watts or 0.75 amps
Bow light= 7.5 watts or 0.625 amps
Bilge= 3 amps
LED interior rope lights (for near future)= 0.84 watts per foot @ 30ft just to be safe= 25.2 watts or 2.1 amps
Clarion Head unit= 50watts x 4 or 200 watts= 17 amps
12v accessory socket= im guessing draws whatever is plugged in sooo ??
Horn = 3 amps
TOTAL: 26.475 amps without whatever is plugged into 12v accessory socket

So with looking at the a chart.. the appropriate wire gauge would be 6-8AWG... this correct?

Here is the chart I went by: http://bluesea.com/files/resources/reference/20010_Rev.003-web.pdf
Click to expand...

ARRRG! Lost my response. Here's the condensed version.

I recommended 2/0 gage starter wire because that's a common automotive starter wire size. I know your outboard starter will not draw as many amps as a high compression V-8, but you're also more likely to be cranking over a hard-to-start outboard with a half dead battery. I tend to error on the conservative side with wiring, since I'm not a big fan of "majic smoke". :eek: Anyway, you have a short run between your battery and outboard so 2 AWG will start your outboard. Use the same size between batteries and to motor ground.

As for the fuse block wiring. I wouldn't go smaller than 6 AWG for the positive and 8 AWG for the negative (actually I'd prefer to go at least 6 for both, but this will work.) Also, don't forget that radio is pulling more than 15A (a standard connection rating) - wire accordingly.

OK - with that said - Let me clarify that using smaller wire gages will still operate your equipment, just with a greater voltage drop. You may never even notice a difference, but the marine environment is not kind to electrical circuits, so this is not a place to skimp to save a few bucks. There's more than one way of doing everything and still not be 'wrong'. So, you're on the right path, go with whatever you feel comfortable with.

Todd
 
Piece715

Piece715

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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

Todd4 said:
ARRRG! Lost my response. Here's the condensed version.
Click to expand...


I HATE THAT!!! I feel for ya... That happened to me on that novel i posted today but when i reclicked ur post to load the quote again in the bottom Left corner of the txt box it asked if i wanted to reload the autosaved txt... clicked and BAM it was back. Didn't realize iboats did that till today

Todd4 said:
I recommended 2/0 gage starter wire because that's a common automotive starter wire size. I know your outboard starter will not draw as many amps as a high compression V-8, but you're also more likely to be cranking over a hard-to-start outboard with a half dead battery. I tend to error on the conservative side with wiring, since I'm not a big fan of "majic smoke". :eek: Anyway, you have a short run between your battery and outboard so 2 AWG will start your outboard. Use the same size between batteries and to motor ground.

As for the fuse block wiring. I wouldn't go smaller than 6 AWG for the positive and 8 AWG for the negative (actually I'd prefer to go at least 6 for both, but this will work.) Also, don't forget that radio is pulling more than 15A (a standard connection rating) - wire accordingly.

OK - with that said - Let me clarify that using smaller wire gages will still operate your equipment, just with a greater voltage drop. You may never even notice a difference, but the marine environment is not kind to electrical circuits, so this is not a place to skimp to save a few bucks. There's more than one way of doing everything and still not be 'wrong'. So, you're on the right path, go with whatever you feel comfortable with.
Click to expand...

Thank you Todd for your explanation. I hope u realize im a explanation hussy! I like to learn the in's and out's of things before proceeding... causes much less headache later down the road. So thank you for bearing with me!

Seems we are on the same path with the wiring... I was going 2 AWG with the motor starter and 6 for the run from bus bar to fuse block, also 6 for the parallel battery wiring and 6 AWG from switch to positive bus bar; 14 AWG for all loads at fuse block except the headunit which hopefully the manual will expand
 
T

Todd4

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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

Piece715 said:
I was going 2 AWG with the motor starter and 6 for the run from bus bar to fuse block, also 6 for the parallel battery wiring and 6 AWG from switch to positive bus bar; 14 AWG for all loads at fuse block except the headunit which hopefully the manual will expand
Click to expand...

No problem on the questions - if you ask, I will give an opinion. :D Then it's up to you to design the system that best fits your needs.

I'm not sure if I understand you correctly, see red text above. Are you planning on 6AWG from the battery switch to the house battery? If so, I would recommend you go with the same gage wire as between the battery switch and the start battery. This could be advantageous for you in a couple of instances: 1) if you FORGET that you are switched to you house battery and you try to start your motor (I'll bet ya this will happen) , or 2) your start battery craps on you (gettting old, etc) and you WANT to start your motor with your house battery. I would keep your options open to go either way (you can always run your electronics off your start battery - in a pinch, but you'll likely burn up a 6 AWG wire trying to start your motor, if you ever have to). Just one more thing to consider.

Todd
 
Piece715

Piece715

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Messages
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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

Todd4 said:
No problem on the questions - if you ask, I will give an opinion. :D Then it's up to you to design the system that best fits your needs.

I'm not sure if I understand you correctly, see red text above. Are you planning on 6AWG from the battery switch to the house battery? If so, I would recommend you go with the same gage wire as between the battery switch and the start battery. This could be advantageous for you in a couple of instances: 1) if you FORGET that you are switched to you house battery and you try to start your motor (I'll bet ya this will happen) , or 2) your start battery craps on you (gettting old, etc) and you WANT to start your motor with your house battery. I would keep your options open to go either way (you can always run your electronics off your start battery - in a pinch, but you'll likely burn up a 6 AWG wire trying to start your motor, if you ever have to). Just one more thing to consider.

Todd
Click to expand...

The quote in red was for the wire that puts the house and starter battery in parallel. So you recommend keeping that 2 AWG like the motor to Com post on switch? That would make sense
 
bouttime007

bouttime007

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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

Piece715 said:
Now thats a nifty find there sir! Thanks! Can't pull it up on the work comp so an iphone view is all i got but will play with it when i get home.
Click to expand...

Yeah Ive been watching them for a year on my "boat stuff" watch list. Some day I'll actually buy them. LOL Other more pressing stuff I want first though....

There are other sellers offering similar reg number packages too, so you can do a search for boat registration stickers and sift through till you find some that you like.
 
Piece715

Piece715

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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

jbcurt00 said:
Today I saw some SC lettering on Ebay that were the reverse, white w/ gold outline. They looked great.
Click to expand...

I was doing some searching last night on ebay and there are tons of different styles. Now the question is when they say BLOCK lettering do they mean just the plain ugly letters for can it be a funky font BLOCK... that make sense?
 
GT1000000

GT1000000

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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

Considering we are talking about a Government entity...

In my State of Florida, the DMV clearly states "PLAIN BLOCK LETTERS, no less than 3" high that contrast with the hull color...":facepalm:...the color contrast ought to be fun in your case...

Hopefully it is different in your State and you can attach some "funky block letters"...:rolleyes:...but I wouldn't hold my breath...:)











 
Piece715

Piece715

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Messages
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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

GT1000000 said:
Considering we are talking about a Government entity...

In my State of Florida, the DMV clearly states "PLAIN BLOCK LETTERS, no less than 3" high that contrast with the hull color...":facepalm:...the color contrast ought to be fun in your case...

Hopefully it is different in your State and you can attach some "funky block letters"...:rolleyes:...but I wouldn't hold my breath...:)[/QUOTE]

Ya i know i know... cant be a rebel cuz i dont want that ticket.... maybe when i get it registered ill ask how funky i can go.... What's ur opinion on lettering color... i was leaning towards red with black outline or black with red outline but very open to suggestions

Post #405 gives AR rules
Click to expand...
 
GT1000000

GT1000000

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Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)

I suppose since it has to be located up near the bow, and that area is gold colored, I would be leaning towards red letters with black out line...I think it would provide a nice contrast and work with the boats custom paint...
 
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