Wiring Supplies - Marine vs. Automotive

R

Rob & Karen

New member
I will soon be installing an automatic charging relay along with the optional control switch. I will need various sizes and lengths of wire ranging from 16 awg to 10 awg. I will also need several terminals.

Is it necessary to obtain these supplies from a marine supply house such as Defender of West Marine, or will the supplies available from local auto parts stores work? The Marine supplies (particularly the wire) are more than double the price of the automotive supplies.

I am assuming that the answer will probably be that Marine supplies are required, but I thought I would ask before spending the extra money.

Thanks for any input.

Rob
 
You want tinned, fine stranded wire, plus tinned marine grade connectors. There are places which are cheaper to buy than West Marine. There are some on the internet, and occasinally they are present in local towns. For example National Standard Parts is only a few miles from my house and I drive by their warehouse almost daily.
Jamestown Distributors is another supplier--there are some which are less expensive.

I often buy the spools of wire and crimps by the 25 or 50 pack, because it is so much cheaper, and you always have the stock available when you need it.
 
T.R. Bauer":2twjqjqm said:
It may be just up here, but Napa a lot of this type of stuff too.
Click to expand...

Generally they don't have the "tinned, fine stranded wire, plus tinned marine grade connectors" to which Bob refers. This wiring is different than what is used in cars and it holds up better (in particular in a salt water environment).
 
rogerbum":2nui5wgy said:
T.R. Bauer":2nui5wgy said:
It may be just up here, but Napa a lot of this type of stuff too.
Click to expand...

Generally they don't have the "tinned, fine stranded wire, plus tinned marine grade connectors" to which Bob refers. This wiring is different than what is used in cars and it holds up better (in particular in a salt water environment).
Click to expand...


Napa in Soldotna has Marine grade electrical supplies. Nickle plated fine stranded copper wire in different AWG & terminal connectors.They also have Impellers & Float switches & Bilgepumps & stainless screws & fittings & hinges etc etc! And Marine starters & alternators & (Kenai) a hydraulic shop for the real boats :lol::lol:
Maybe its an Alaska thing? :mrgreen: :beer
Have a good one!!
 
The hardware/general store/universal emporium/U-Name-It-U-Got-It-Joint type of stores featured in Alaskan communities that are not exactly metropolitan megaloposies often have a lot of marine stuff intermixed with all the other survival gear necessary for rural living and boating.

The best selection of boat heater types on display I've ever seen was in a Ketchikan hardware store down on the waterfront. Noting like this in California!

Joe. :thup :lol:
 
Definitely go with the marine grade. When Valkyrie was less than a year old we had a number of electrical problems and a local repair outfit with a recommended electrical guru traced the problem to the use of automotive grade wiring and fuse boxes. And except for two weeks in the Chesapeake for our shakedown cruise, Valkyrie had not been in salt water at that time. Since they were replaced with marine grade - no problems.

Pay for the good stuff!

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
most NAPA stores can have the marine grade next day if they don't have it in stock. when I rewired Sensei I bought
all the electrical suplies there.
 
Interesting that this thread came up. I was on amazon.com and saw a very complete selection of ancor marine grade wire and connectors. Very suprised to see that on amazon.
 
Our local Home Depot carried Ancor marine grade terminals and wire for quite a while. I guess they decided to no longer carry Ancor and put all their Ancor stuff on sale to get rid of it. They had some great deals on small spools of wire typically at 1/4 the price of West Marine. May be worth checking your local Home Depot.
 
Just a comment on NAPA. This summer we were up in Wisconsen, at Lake Superior. The bow roller gave up on the trailer, and I went to a boat deler to get a new roller. No soap. Finally went to a NAPA store in Munising, Michigan, desperate. When I asked for the bow roller, 7 1/2", the answer was "black or yellow?" When the town is too small to support a boat supply, NAPA takes up the slack. And does a good job.

Local knowledge.

Boris
 
Napa has a full marine catalog that you can get on request. I actually picked one up for finding parts for my old 27'. Most of the items in that catalog can be gotten within a few days if they don't have them at their distributor.

After having to rewire my sled's lights and dashboard due to the use of it in the salt, there is no way I would ever use non-marine grade electrical parts on a boat.
 
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