Bus bar / terminal block suggestions

[kellerqx]

I would like to combine my bilge pump / live well and outboard motor wires onto a bus bar/terminal block. Then I could have two wires running from the bus bar / terminal block to my battery, for quicker connect / disconnect.

Any suggestions on what gauge wire I should use from the battery to the bus bar / terminal block? Also, I was thinking about using the squeeze type clamps for connecting to the battery, currently they are the circle terminals requiring me to use the wing nuts.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Bus bar / terminal block suggestions

don't use wing nuts, they can blow your ignition, use stainless locknuts and ring connectors.

I use 16 guage marine (tinned) wiring for bilge pumps, direct to battery.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Bus bar / terminal block suggestions

You are not very clear on what you are trying to accomplish. Why is it necessary to disconnect the motor cables and why is it necessary to disconnect the bilge pump and any other accessories? Wiring in any ciruit must be at least as large or larger than the highest current draw device. In your example, the engine will draw huge amounts of current during the start process. That means you cannot feed a bus bar from the battery with 16 gauge wire as it will melt in a heartbeat. You would need cable the same size or larger than the engine battery cables. But all of this seems very unnecessary when a simple ON/OFF battery switch would accomplish the same thing with far less bother.