Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating - View Single Post

Linesider82 · 09-27-2021, 01:43 PM

Ross asked me to add this in the thread:
Originally Posted by nightfighter
"Looking at wire crimp connectors and a company called solderstick, for waterproof connections. Do I need many connectors? What gauge wire did you find you most used? What connections would you recommend for ends? Just spending a few minutes on the winter plan....and wondering what you most recommend now that you have been there... Fuel tank on my list too.
Thanks"

Hey Ross,

I actually did test out those low heat solder connectors and had some failures even doing it in an ideal test scenario. I also noticed the blue glue rings would sometimes melt first and fill-in the bare wire before the solder portion locked them together with the conductivity needed. In my opinion it is likely that the connection you want to make between two wires won’t be 100% especially if you are joining a wire while on your back reaching into a tight area to do so.

I like the BSP heat shrink crimp connectors over the Ancor brand, I think they offer better quality, a longer heatshrink tube length at a better price than the Ancor.

I used 5 tools for all my wiring needs, a razor knife, a wire cutter, Klein tools 11063W wire stripper 8-20g $30, Klein tools 3005CR ratcheting crimper $27, and the Wagner HT400 heatgun which has two temps $22. I had zero pull test failures with the Klein tools crimper so I was happy with that.

I used 14 gauge Ancor wire for all my accessories, in most cases it was more than enough but it is also more robust than using 16g which is fairly thin wire. I don't have a bilge pump on my boat so I am unsure of how those get wired but my guess is it would have both wiring so it is always "on" via a float switch and a separate wiring to activate it manually, my point in bringing up the bilge pump is that it likely requires larger gauge wire because pumps require more amps.

Standardizing the wire size at 14g made it easier to come up with a part list. It was easy to purchase all 14g connectors as opposed to running minimum wire sizes to each accessory. Some challenges might occur with LED lights particularly different brands of light fixtures. For example wiring any lumitec light was fairly easy because they use larger wire size, the fixtures don’t require it but the company utilizes 18-14g wire because they know it’s going to be connected to 16-14g wire in almost every instance, however Lumitec did not have the NAV light design I wanted and I used some European brand that used a 22g wire that I had to strip, double over the copper, crimp to a 16 connector, then step up to 14g. I did that for the sole purpose of a strong connection.

End connections: Every accessory running through a switch on your console’s dash will require (4) ring connectors, you could do it in two (by skipping a terminal strip) but it makes more sense to utilize a terminal strip after the switch wiring. My wiring setup is a 2 battery system, on the House battery positive terminal I have a 40A ignition protected fuse (the 40A fuse is rated slightly over the total amperage rating if I ran everything at the same time) to a positive wire that runs to my main kill switch, then runs to a 40A thermal fuse, to my circuit breaker (I could have used a fuse panel interchangeably here) . Each breaker provides surge protection for each accessory, the breakers are rated to the accessory or multiple accessories connected to one switch. At the breaker (or fuse panel) the first ring connector is needed, this positive wire then runs to the on/off switch (lights) or momentary switch (horn), then switch positive runs to a terminal strip which is the second ring connector, opposite that terminal strip ring connector is the third ring connector positive wire that runs to the accessory you wish to power. The reason for the terminal strip is if you need to replace a run of wire, bundle accessory connections, upgrade etc in the future it provides a breakout point & labeling of accessory opportunity. Also since it is a breakout point if an accessory fails to work, it provides isolated sections to test for voltage. The positive wire runs to the load (light, horn, etc) and the negative from the accessory runs back to a negative common bus bar terminating at the fourth ring connector which runs to the common main negative bus, the battery negative & ultimately a single boat ground.

This wiring provides 1. Ignition surge protection at the battery (in my case the 40A battery fuse) 2. Protection after the switch of every accessory (in my case the 40A thermal-resettable fuse non-ignition protected). 3. Individual circuit protection (individual breakers or fuses in the panel). Each fuse and/or breaker provides protection at the source of power in case of a short or amperage surge condition.

Since the ring connectors I bought were non-heat shrink, nylon insulated I also bought white and black 3:1 heat shrink tubing which just has to be slightly wider than the nylon end jackets on the ring terminals to make them water tight, and hit each ring end connector with dielectric grease before screwing them into place. After all are in place, I used a small paint brush to once-over all the ring connectors on the circuit breaker, the terminal strips, and negative bus bars because this provides corrosion protection and should be done annually.

I didn’t label my negatives at the bus bar but wish I had so if I were to do it again I’d have only purchased white H/S tubing and labeled them with a fine tip sharpie marker then shrunk it.

This next bit of info is for anyone with a T top or hardtop:
I could have saved a ton of 14g wire length by separating the accessories installed in the T top VS. the accessories anywhere else in the boat by installing a small switch panel in the overhead glove box and ran larger (8gauge) positive and negative cables to a separate circuit breaker in the overhead compartment. If I did that I’d have only 2 cables running up there instead of 14. I realized this option after reading Nigel Calder's book a second time, but I had also already designed my switch panel and that opportunity had passed.
Had I done that I would have had an easily accessible area now to install a stereo, speakers and permanant VHF without pulling any more wires up to the overhead glove box. Hindsight is 20/20.

Overall I have had no issues and have made a ton of trips this year, the radar and spotlight have been my favorite additions. One thing I have noticed while on the water running at night is that my small boat "looks bigger" to anyone else on the water because my nav lights are 7 or 8 feet off the water and my anchor 360 light is about 11 feet off the water.

I'm pumped for tog season opening soon here in CT.

09-27-2021, 01:43 PM	#115
Linesider82 Registered User iTrader: (0) Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: CT Posts: 2,289	Wiring and Connectors Ross asked me to add this in the thread: Originally Posted by nightfighter "Looking at wire crimp connectors and a company called solderstick, for waterproof connections. Do I need many connectors? What gauge wire did you find you most used? What connections would you recommend for ends? Just spending a few minutes on the winter plan....and wondering what you most recommend now that you have been there... Fuel tank on my list too. Thanks" Hey Ross, I actually did test out those low heat solder connectors and had some failures even doing it in an ideal test scenario. I also noticed the blue glue rings would sometimes melt first and fill-in the bare wire before the solder portion locked them together with the conductivity needed. In my opinion it is likely that the connection you want to make between two wires won’t be 100% especially if you are joining a wire while on your back reaching into a tight area to do so. I like the BSP heat shrink crimp connectors over the Ancor brand, I think they offer better quality, a longer heatshrink tube length at a better price than the Ancor. I used 5 tools for all my wiring needs, a razor knife, a wire cutter, Klein tools 11063W wire stripper 8-20g $30, Klein tools 3005CR ratcheting crimper $27, and the Wagner HT400 heatgun which has two temps $22. I had zero pull test failures with the Klein tools crimper so I was happy with that. I used 14 gauge Ancor wire for all my accessories, in most cases it was more than enough but it is also more robust than using 16g which is fairly thin wire. I don't have a bilge pump on my boat so I am unsure of how those get wired but my guess is it would have both wiring so it is always "on" via a float switch and a separate wiring to activate it manually, my point in bringing up the bilge pump is that it likely requires larger gauge wire because pumps require more amps. Standardizing the wire size at 14g made it easier to come up with a part list. It was easy to purchase all 14g connectors as opposed to running minimum wire sizes to each accessory. Some challenges might occur with LED lights particularly different brands of light fixtures. For example wiring any lumitec light was fairly easy because they use larger wire size, the fixtures don’t require it but the company utilizes 18-14g wire because they know it’s going to be connected to 16-14g wire in almost every instance, however Lumitec did not have the NAV light design I wanted and I used some European brand that used a 22g wire that I had to strip, double over the copper, crimp to a 16 connector, then step up to 14g. I did that for the sole purpose of a strong connection. End connections: Every accessory running through a switch on your console’s dash will require (4) ring connectors, you could do it in two (by skipping a terminal strip) but it makes more sense to utilize a terminal strip after the switch wiring. My wiring setup is a 2 battery system, on the House battery positive terminal I have a 40A ignition protected fuse (the 40A fuse is rated slightly over the total amperage rating if I ran everything at the same time) to a positive wire that runs to my main kill switch, then runs to a 40A thermal fuse, to my circuit breaker (I could have used a fuse panel interchangeably here) . Each breaker provides surge protection for each accessory, the breakers are rated to the accessory or multiple accessories connected to one switch. At the breaker (or fuse panel) the first ring connector is needed, this positive wire then runs to the on/off switch (lights) or momentary switch (horn), then switch positive runs to a terminal strip which is the second ring connector, opposite that terminal strip ring connector is the third ring connector positive wire that runs to the accessory you wish to power. The reason for the terminal strip is if you need to replace a run of wire, bundle accessory connections, upgrade etc in the future it provides a breakout point & labeling of accessory opportunity. Also since it is a breakout point if an accessory fails to work, it provides isolated sections to test for voltage. The positive wire runs to the load (light, horn, etc) and the negative from the accessory runs back to a negative common bus bar terminating at the fourth ring connector which runs to the common main negative bus, the battery negative & ultimately a single boat ground. This wiring provides 1. Ignition surge protection at the battery (in my case the 40A battery fuse) 2. Protection after the switch of every accessory (in my case the 40A thermal-resettable fuse non-ignition protected). 3. Individual circuit protection (individual breakers or fuses in the panel). Each fuse and/or breaker provides protection at the source of power in case of a short or amperage surge condition. Since the ring connectors I bought were non-heat shrink, nylon insulated I also bought white and black 3:1 heat shrink tubing which just has to be slightly wider than the nylon end jackets on the ring terminals to make them water tight, and hit each ring end connector with dielectric grease before screwing them into place. After all are in place, I used a small paint brush to once-over all the ring connectors on the circuit breaker, the terminal strips, and negative bus bars because this provides corrosion protection and should be done annually. I didn’t label my negatives at the bus bar but wish I had so if I were to do it again I’d have only purchased white H/S tubing and labeled them with a fine tip sharpie marker then shrunk it. This next bit of info is for anyone with a T top or hardtop: I could have saved a ton of 14g wire length by separating the accessories installed in the T top VS. the accessories anywhere else in the boat by installing a small switch panel in the overhead glove box and ran larger (8gauge) positive and negative cables to a separate circuit breaker in the overhead compartment. If I did that I’d have only 2 cables running up there instead of 14. I realized this option after reading Nigel Calder's book a second time, but I had also already designed my switch panel and that opportunity had passed. Had I done that I would have had an easily accessible area now to install a stereo, speakers and permanant VHF without pulling any more wires up to the overhead glove box. Hindsight is 20/20. Overall I have had no issues and have made a ton of trips this year, the radar and spotlight have been my favorite additions. One thing I have noticed while on the water running at night is that my small boat "looks bigger" to anyone else on the water because my nav lights are 7 or 8 feet off the water and my anchor 360 light is about 11 feet off the water. I'm pumped for tog season opening soon here in CT.