What gauge of wire for fish finder.

[BassCat73]

I am going to rewire the depth finder on the bow, but I'm not sure what type of wire I need to get and what gauge will be okay. I'm wiring it directly to the starting battery to eliminate electrical interference that can happen when you wire it through a hub.

 

[crab bait]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

i never go any smaller then 14 ga for anything.. but 16 ga is ok.. <br /><br />type..?? marine tinted is the best.. but any ole' 'lamp cord/zip cord' will do..

 

[moondok]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

Just remember your application. You wouldn't use household electrical wire in the dashboard or under the hood of your car. I never use anything smaller than 18 ga even for speaker wire. Like Crab Bait, I'd say 16 or 14. Even though you are going straight to the battery, there is no major amp drain which would overheat and melt the wire.<br /><br />Bottom line: get a pack of red and a pack of black wire in the automotive department of your local dept. store. It's coated well and should last for a very long time.

 

[BassCat73]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

Okay, thanks. I'm assuming I can use 14 ga braided wire. I don't need the solid wire, correct?

 

[crab bait]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

corect..

 

[Moody Blue]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

What you NEED and what you can use are two different things. What you need is probably only about 22gauge because these units draw only about 1Amp or so. Check the manual for that unit. Its probably only fused at 2A. 14ga is huge for this application but its better to be too big than too small. Always use stranded wire because it will standup much better to flexing and bending. The solid wires will break with repeated flexing.

 

[BassCat73]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

Hmmm, conflicting reports. I'll doublecheck the manual to see if anything is listed in there, but I didn't see it the first time. Maybe I get something inbetween, like 20 ga...

 

[John McFarlane]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

What size wire comes out of the unit? Use the same or better.

 

[amirm]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

The average power usage on these devices is low. But their impluse usage a lot higher due to intermitten transducer pings which occur at high power. In addition, they are liable to generate fair amount of noise on their ground plane. Both of these call for thicker wires than one would normally think is needed. I would use 14 or 16 guage wire....<br /><br />BTW, do you have anything else wired to this unit besides its transducer (e.g. GPS?). If so, then you want to have a single ground for both. Otherwise you get a ground loop by going to the battery for one, and to the junction box for the other.<br /><br />Amir

 

[BassCat73]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

No GPS, just the transducer mounted on the trolling motor. I'm wiring directly to the battery from the depth finder.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

Use 16 gauge wire. Anything less is certainly capable of handling the small current but will not stand up to the physical abuse on a boat.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

Upinsmoke, that's actually a ABYC regulation, and a Small Vessel Construction Regs in Canada. No run wires under #16. 8.7.1.8 in Canadian Regs, somewhere else in the ABYC.<br /><br />It's not just a good idea, it's the law.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

Agreed -- but I suspect 9 out of 10 boats with aftermarket accessories installed that leave a boat dealers yard would not pass inspection if subjected to one. Wire routing, wire protection, wire color, and wire type requirements are simply not followed.

 

[Moody Blue]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

I can say with absolute certainty that the power wiring that was supplied with my Eagle finder was at most 22ga. WHen you talk about 16ga as the law are you refering to "permanently wired" applications ? How can the suppliers of aftermarket accy's get away with less ?

 

[Moody Blue]

Re: What gauge of wire for fish finder.

I can say with absolute certainty that the power wiring that was supplied with my Eagle finder was at most 22ga. WHen you talk about 16ga as the law are you refering to "permanently wired" applications ? How can the suppliers of aftermarket accy's get away with less ?