[Public-List] Re-wiring

[Robert Kirk]

At 11:23 PM 10/3/2010, gregr at nethere.com wrote:
>...
>1. Ancor has charts for figuring out what size of wire to use for each run.
>DO NOT guess how long the run is; you will be wrong. Run a fish tape or
>test wire and measure it. A run is measured from the battery, to the
>breaker panel, out to the device, back to the panel, and finally, back to
>the battery...

I wouldn't worry about sizing the wire. When you do the measuring & 
calculations, you'll usually come up with answers of #14, 16, or 18 wire. 
In which case, you can simplify the logistics & possible confusion by 
wiring everything in #14 and by bypassing the possibly wrong calculations. 
The extra weight of wire will not sink your boat and you'll wind up with a 
good conservative wiring job.

I once took a wiring class from a master electrician. He said he used only 
4" deep boxes with appropriate plaster covers for every fixture when he 
wired a new house -  no special switch boxes, junctions, etc. It cost him a 
little more, but he made it up in inventory simplicity & time savings. I 
should think the same thought applies to boat wiring.

Bob Kirk
Isobar #181



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