Re: Restoring 1986 Sea Nymph SS155 (pics)
Alright guys and gals the 14 awg primary wire (red and black), heat shrink terminal connectors, and heat shrink butt connectors have been ordered! Got that accomplished last night and just got an email from Greg's marine wiring stating my order has shipped! As soon as that comes in I'll wire the switches and accessories back to the fuse block.
Now with the power wire I am still confused. I understand that the wire should be able to support the amps of the circuit. The length of the conductor should be from the source of current to the battery switch and then back to the source. In my set up it is the length of the wire from the motor to the battery swtich and from the negative terminal bus bar to the motor. Now what i need to determine is the amp drawer from my starter. I also understand that the running amp draw is much different from the amount needed during starting. I am going to check the motor's manual when I get home to see if it states the amp draw during start. From there I will be able to input all my variables into a wire gauge calculator to determine proper gauge or just refer to a chart.
What I don't understand is how to determine the gauge wire needed to run the batteries in parallel or the run of wire from the switch to the fuse block?
Now back to what I do understand or actually a clarification of what I think I understand. The fuses/breakers in any wire are used to protect the wire not the load. In my set up the 60 amp breaker is used in line from the positive bus bar to the fuse block due to the fact that the run is 10' or less with 6 awg. To explain: the 6 awg at a run of 10' or less at 3% voltage drop in a 12v system can support up to about 80 amps but you only want to run a wire at 80% capacity which is why a 60 amp breaker is being used..... Does this sound correct?
Now when shopping for terminal bus bars last night I noticed that like everything else they come in different shapes and sizes. What size (amps) bus bar would I need? To determine this do i just find a bar that will support my biggest amp load or will it need to support a summation of all amp loads run to it. I.E. the positive bus bar that has the power wire from the switch, the power for the fuse block, and the amplifier power wire attached.
If you can help with any of these areas it would be greatly appreciated. I want to learn this stuff so I can troubleshoot if needed down the road. Any threads, hints, advice, in depth explanations, websites, etc would help. Like I stated I am trying to understand the basics. I am attaching the wiring schematic to this post for further scrutiny
(if iboats opens image too small to see detail either save image and open in MS Paint or click on image after opened by iboats which puts image on own page, then click again to zoom) I will be more than happy to PM this to anyone just give me a shout. As always thanks!
Yup, that'll work exactly as you have described the way you wanted it to work. BTW - Your getting good at this!
