Marine grade wire ?

[Lunker777]

Hey everyone

 

Im looking for some 6 gauge wire to complete the install of the trolling motor.

 

Im looking for something with a nice rubberized jacket and that is flexible. The stuff I have now was bought at the local electrical supply store. Not the best stuff, but it was cheap and easy to use for a "rough in" wiring job.

[SlowPoke]

Don't bother with marine grade wire; it's not an issue on fresh water boats.

Princess Auto has 6awg booster cables on sale right now.

[DRIFTER_016]

Don't bother with marine grade wire; it's not an issue on fresh water boats.

Princess Auto has 6awg booster cables on sale right now.

 

 

Even in a freshwater enviroment marine grade wire is much better than un-coated wire.

The un-coated copper wire will oxidize much faster than a tinned/ marine grade wire will.

After a couple of years the un-coated wire will start to turn black on the ends. With time it travels down the length of wire causing poor conductivity.

 

You doubt me, just have a look at the wiring of your trailer connector next time you replace it.

Strip back the outer coating and you will see that you have a black mess in there instead of that nice shiny copper of new wire.

 

If your boat is stored indoors this corrosion will be somewhat limited due to the drier enviroment.

 

OH, almost forgot.

West Marine carries tinned marine wire in 6ga.

Edited June 11, 2012 by DRIFTER_016

[SlowPoke]

You doubt me, just have a look at the wiring of your trailer connector next time you replace it.

Strip back the outer coating and you will see that you have a black mess in there instead of that nice shiny copper of new wire.

 

I won't argue against the merits of marine grade cable but I will say the battery cables on my '99 Suburban have never given me issues and they're not coated. If he wants to hunt down marine grade and pay the premium, that's fine too.

[Lunker777]

I only need about 20ft of cable , so I'm willing to pay the premium to go with something that's durable. I'm sure the stuff I have on there now will work but I don't like it haha and like I said , it was just to get an idea of how much cable I would need so I wasn't buying more of the premium stuff than I needed !

 

Thanks for the replies so far guys

[ctered]

West Marine carries 6 awg marine wire at a cost of $59.99US for 25 feet times 2 will be well over $125. Buying it by the foot will only save you about $20.00. As was suggested above, you really do not need marine grade wire. I myself would also stay away from using booster cables. However Princes Auto does carry welding cable which is very flexible and has a thick casing. I would suggest you solder the ends to prevent the corrosion from travelling inside the wire. Another source for good quality wire would be a car stereo shop. I used this on my first boat and had no problems for over 10 years. My current boat with welding cable is at 5 years with no problems.

[tschirk]

Speaking from experience and for the sake of saving a few bucks do not compromise quality and risk having to redo the job in a couple of years.

Marine grade cable:

- has more impermeable & wear resistant insulation

- has more strands per AWG for better protection against vibration fatigue and

- may have better DC current capacity do to more strands per AWG

- uses Tinned coating on each strand for corrosion resistance

 

Even in fresh water the dissolved minerals in our water will corrode wire and creep up from the connections. Make sure you seal connections with liquid tape and shrink wrap. For high current use crimp or clamp connections, as high current can melt a solder only connection.

 

If possible go one size larger to 4 AWG to reduce voltage drop @ the trolling motor.

 

Do it right, do it once.

 

Ted

 

Hey everyone

 

Im looking for some 6 gauge wire to complete the install of the trolling motor.

 

Im looking for something with a nice rubberized jacket and that is flexible. The stuff I have now was bought at the local electrical supply store. Not the best stuff, but it was cheap and easy to use for a "rough in" wiring job.