Bonding wire size?

[sunfishin]

I'm rewiring some old stuff on my Baba 35. The original bonding wire is a #10 or maybe #8. I'm wanting to replace this with at least the original size, but wondering if it would be better to go larger. Would this benefit me (or the boat) in any way? or just throwing money away?

[sailingdog]

Sunfishin-

Is this the lightning bonding or grounding bonding wiring that you're talking about. For lightning bonding, you'd want heavier wire... for grounding I don't think it makes much difference.

[sunfishin]

Thanks Sailingdog for the reply. It's just grounding bonding I'm wondering about. So, do you think I could go to a smaller size, like 12?

[badsanta]

I have a 31 foot island packet. The factory recomended #6 That was pricey but I did not need to much

[sailingdog]

I'd stick with 10 AWG... for purely mechanical reasons... it's a lot stronger than 12 AWG and less likely to break or tear if it gets stepped on, something dropped on it, etc. Going with 8 AWG generally requires a different crimp tool and crimp connectors.