good pair of crimpers

JustJason

Vice Admiral
Joined
Aug 27, 2007
Messages
5,321
Re: good pair of crimpers

Per ABYC standards (E-8.15.19) and (E-9.17.12.8), ?Solder
shall not be the sole means of mechanical connection in any circuit?.


the American Boat & Yacht Council demands a specific method of attachment

Meh.... And just who does the ABYC and old Skip think he is.

ABYC is nothing more that 1 guy (skip burdon) and a couple of buddies that sat down and started writing essentially a NEC (national electric code) for boats. After Skip wrote his book/standards. He sold the NMMA (national marine manufactorers association) on the idea of using his standards instead of NMMA's.

It is nothing more than a selling point for boat builders to follow NMMA and now ABYC rules. When selling their product they will say that their boat is NMMA/ABYC compliant, in hopes that a competitors product is not. That doesn't necessarilly mean anything.

Now there is nothing wrong with NMMA/ABYC standards by themselves, there's a lot of good ideas in there. But keep this in mind, NMMA/ABYC standards is in no way a state or federal law that must be followed, unlike the NEC (nat elec code) which is law. NMMA/ABYC is more like a guidline of suggestions.

That being said. In my own boat I have made both solder and crimp repairs over the years.... depending on the repair, and depending on my mood.
When ever I do customers boats, they all get crimps. It's more cost effective. I can lay 10 crimps with shrinkwrap in the same amount of time it takes me to fire up the soldering iron and do 1 solder joint. The other thing to think of is this also... What would happen to the cost of a new boat if the ABYC said solder on all joints... So i'm sure there was some policiting that happened when they were contemplating that rule.

As far as what you should do.... Either 1 is fine if you know how to solder and/or have a decent crimper.

What I do is load up the end of a crimp with dielectric grease. Double crimp the wire in place. Wipe of any extra grease that came out during the crimp. Put liquid electric tape on the crimp and about an inch beyond the crimp up the wire, then the repair gets heatshrinked. Make for a watertight, and plenty strong enough repair for me.
 

bruceb58

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 5, 2006
Messages
30,588
Re: good pair of crimpers

Actually, NEC is also a standard that gets adopted by states and locallities but is not the law as Jason states. Many states or agencies modify or don't adopt all that is in the NEC. The NEC gets put out by the National Fire Protection Association. The ABYC is not a "let's get together with the boat manufacturers" to see what makes life easier and cheaper.
 

JustJason

Vice Admiral
Joined
Aug 27, 2007
Messages
5,321
Re: good pair of crimpers

Actually, NEC is also a standard that gets adopted by states and locallities but is not the law as Jason states.

wikipedia said:
While the NEC is not itself a U.S. law, NEC use is commonly mandated by state or local law, as well as in many jurisdictions outside of the United States

wikipedia said:
In the U.S., anyone, including the city issuing building permits, may face a civil liability lawsuit (be sued) for negligently creating a situation that results in loss of life or property. Those who fail to adhere to well known best practices for safety have been held negligent. This means that the city should adopt and enforce building codes that specify standards and practices for electrical systems (as well as other departments such as water and fuel-gas systems). This creates a system whereby a city can best avoid lawsuits by adopting a single, standard set of building code laws. This has led to the NEC becoming the de facto standard set of electrical requirements. A licensed electrician will have spent years of apprenticeship studying and practicing the NEC requirements prior to obtaining his or her license.

I live in Cow Town USA, where there's more cows than people.... The electricians here, the town building codes, town electrical inspt, all follow the NEC to the letter.

You may have mis-interpreteded what I wrote, But I never said NEC was a US/Federal law, but it sure looks like law to me, my city, my county, my state, all have strict NEC code laws.
With NMMA/ABYC there's no such thing. No local laws or codes. It's really all just suggestive. For boats to be sold in the US they must be built to meet or exceed USCG specifications, but that's about it. I wouldn't recommend it, but nobodys going to twist your arm if you don't follow NMMA/ABYC standards when making your own repairs.
 
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