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Why does my boat always sit lopsided ?
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thataway



Joined: 02 Nov 2003
Posts: 20779
City/Region: Pensacola
State or Province: FL
C-Dory Year: 2007
C-Dory Model: 25 Cruiser
Vessel Name: thataway
Photos: Thataway
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 12:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Several reasons why welding cable is not suggested:
!. not tinned
2. very thin wires (thinner than AWG, and much thinner than SAE)
3. Less corrosion resistance, more likely for small wires to break.
4. insulation is soft
5. Insulation susceptible to breakdown if exposed to oil.
6. should meet SAE standards J378 and J1127 or J1128. -- a couple of brands meet J1128, but are not tinned.

_________________
Bob Austin
Thataway
Thataway (Ex Seaweed) 2007 25 C Dory May 2018 to Oct. 2021
Thisaway 2006 22' CDory November 2011 to May 2018
Caracal 18 140 Suzuki 2007 to present
Thataway TomCat 255 150 Suzukis June 2006 thru August 2011
C Pelican; 1992, 22 Cruiser, 2002 thru 2006
Frequent Sea; 2003 C D 25, 2007 thru 2009
KA6PKB
Home port: Pensacola FL
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Kushtaka



Joined: 17 Dec 2013
Posts: 648
City/Region: Cordova
State or Province: AK
C-Dory Year: 1993
C-Dory Model: 22 Cruiser
Photos: Kushtaka
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 1:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a story like sunbeam's.

My boat sat lopsided with a 4 stroke 9.8hp kicker waaay to starboard and a single battery in the starboard lazarette. It actually was pretty nice when I had 3 passengers, but sat with a huge list. Like Sunbeam I could take care of this underway with trim tabs, but they needed constant attention any time someone moved, or I changed speed, turned, etc. It made driving the boat a 3-handed affair.

I moved the kicker to port, on a new swim step style bracket that put the motor more amidships, and I added a second battery (with add-a-battery system from Blue Seas) in the starboard lazarette and it actually still has a tiny list to starboard! The batteries outweigh the kicker!!

I don't love all the weight in the stern, and with a few passengers it makes it tougher to get on step, and I've toyed with the idea of moving batteries up front, however I see that as a tradeoff. Using fixed weight in the bow can help in light seas with performance, and give a little better ride through chop, but in really nasty sea states, I want my bow up up UP!!! Whether head seas or following seas, when they are big, I don't want my bow digging in. So I'm somewhat content with my stern being a little bit loaded. It's not that bad, and water sits in the forward sump unless I have two full tanks, then it sits at the transom sump when at the dock.

This was a major improvement for me. It made me like my boat a lot more, and I even got to the point where I could stand in the cockpit and run on step steering by shifting my weight side to side. It's nice to get that balance! Just be aware that you may be affecting aspects of the boat's performance you haven't considered.
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Marco Flamingo



Joined: 09 Jul 2015
Posts: 1154
City/Region: Seattle
State or Province: WA
C-Dory Year: 2004
C-Dory Model: 16 Cruiser
Vessel Name: Limpet
Photos: Limpet
PostPosted: Mon Nov 28, 2016 2:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thataway wrote:
Several reasons why welding cable is not suggested:
!. not tinned
6. should meet SAE standards J378 and J1127 or J1128. -- a couple of brands meet J1128, but are not tinned.


Agreed, but I can't help myself and used non-marine grade cable with some preparation. Tinned wire is required where the copper is exposed to a marine environment, so I make sure that it isn't exposed and doesn't corrode.

The problem with un-tinned wire is that the individual wires get a layer of corrosion such that the electricity basically has to stay in that wire strand the length of the run. If the wires don't have a layer of corrosion, the electrons can take the passage of least resistance. That can really improve the conductivity in a length of wire.

Using the appropriate size (or oversize) battery cable from Tractor Supply (grease and oil proof), I solder on the copper lugs. Those will be exposed and buying the tinned version might save you some problems down the road unless you clean the lugs regularly. If you pull/service your batteries once a year, you could probably get by without tinned lugs and just use regular copper. The lugs are soldered on by drilling a small hole in them so that the solder fills the lug and the double layer at the post hole. If you want, you can tin the points of contact while soldering on the cable. The commercially available tinned lugs are completely tinned, but it's only the contact points that matter. I make sure that the only raw copper wire that is exposed is the area between the lug and the start of the insulation. I keep that area as small as possible and sometimes the solder has gone down the strands and beyond the insulation.

On non-tinned wired that I've torn out, I have done some destructive testing. The corrosion travels in starting at the exposed wire and, depending on the length of time the wire has been in service, extends inches or feet under the insulation. I've had excellent results using T-9 on exposed wiring connectors at the fuse block for smaller wires. I spray T-9 on that area and let it wick into the wire. I found that it also stops corrosion from going down the insulation.

Using a belt and suspenders approach, after a shot of T-9 I then use a heat shrink sleeve over that area. Some heat shrink tubing has its own heat glue in it, but I use a heavy duty heat shrink and something like 3M 5200, most of which squirts out when the tube shrinks.

It might seem like some additional work, but I would use the same procedure even if using expensive tinned cable. So the only difference for my little battery relocation project was $120 less in material costs.

Mark

"Don't do what Mark does!" Ma Fleming
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