Rewiring advice

[earringboy]

I am going to rewire my 18ft aluminum fishing boat, side console. I plan on using a 12 circut fuse block with ground, and placing that under the console approximatly 12 feet from the battery by the stern, my starting battery. I plan on using 8 or 6 ga marine tinned wire to feed the fuse block and 14 ga tinned from the fuse block to the loads. I will have nav lights, bilge pump on a switch, livewell pump, locator, horn, fuel gauge, and 2 cig outlets on the dash. Can I stack the grounds for loads that are near by on the battery (bilge pump, white nav, and fuel gauge) or should I take everything from the fuse block? The ruound trip length would be alot shorter for those loads. I am not really worried about the extra wire needed to run from the fuse block, I just want to do it once and do it right, altough I may not go so far as using a different color for each load. I think I will also use a disconnect Perko switch on the feed to the fuse block, where should I locate this?

I also have a Minnkota Deckhand electric anchor winch that is wired direct to the starting battery, and I think I will leave it like that.

Bow trolling motor has it's own completly seperate batteries under the bow casting deck. No other trolling motors

Thanks for the help

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Rewiring advice

For the loads you mention you are in "overkill mode" but bigger is not bad. 10 gauge would be very adequate from the battery to the fuse panel and ground buss. 16 gauge is very adequate for each load.

 

[earringboy]

Re: Rewiring advice

Silvertip, the 14ga is only $4.00 more per 100 ft spool so I thought "why not?" I am only needing one spool of black and one of red, so for $8 what do ya think? Can using to heavy of wire cause poor performance? Fact is most of the stuff will be off 99% of the time, but when I want it to work, I want it to work. I thought using 6 or 8 to feed the buss so if I add more stuff I wouldn't need to beef it up later. Besides, according to my wife I will NOT be getting a different boat. What about running grounds to the battery instead of the buss for the suff that is closeer to the battery?

 

[seabob4]

Re: Rewiring advice

Quite the opposite from poor performance. Heavier gauge equals better current flow, hence better performance. Silvertip has a point about "overkill", but using 6-8GA certainly won't hurt anything. I'd go with 8. And 16GA to feed your branch circuits will be fine, although, once again, 14 won't hurt.

About your grounds. What I would do is this. Run an 8GA from your batt to a bus bar in the bilge. Ground your bilge equipment to this bus. Then run another 8GA from the bilge bus to feed a ground bus at the helm. Ground all your forward equipment to the helm ground bus. This keeps your batt terminal nice and clean, with just 2 grounds coming off it...

 

[earringboy]

Re: Rewiring advice

I like the idea of keeping everthing neat and tidy. Now the is stuff everywere, and I think it is all stuff to wire a house not a boat. Could be why most of it works only some of the time, fuel gauge bounces all around, sure am glad I can see through the tank.

 

[earringboy]

Re: Rewiring advice

okay, so one more thing, Ancor brand or what is avalible here:
http://shop.genuinedealz.com/Marine Grade Wire/

 

[seabob4]

Re: Rewiring advice

genuinedealz...

 

[earringboy]

Re: Rewiring advice

AHH, I like the animation, you have used his products before?

 

[earringboy]

Re: Rewiring advice

Got a great deal on some Ancor 10ga to feed the fuse block and an even better deal on Ancor 14ga. The 10ga is black and the 14ga is brown, 100ft of 10ga and 200ft of 14ga. Colors are not ideal but I have red heat shrink I will use at the ends to keep it all straight. Plus I plan on keeping this boat for quite a while. I have less than $60.00 into all the wire and shipping.