10-29-2007
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: my mother's basement
Posts: 531
Rep Power: 6
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Getting rid of deadheads
Should really be done when obsolete equipment is removed. Unfortunately, many folks often just cut the wire and coil it up. The result is that after almost 30 years the wiring harnesses aboard a boat get very messy, and it's hard to tell what the hell everything is for. I kept running into these deadheaded wires and my harnesses looked like crap so I decide to go through everything and find out what so many of those unidentified wires were for. (well, pretty much everything; I left the #2 cable leading to the now removed electrosan unit. twenty feet of this cable is worth some dough and potentially useful but I would have to rip off the sole to get at it). Of course, many lead nowhere and so I pulled them out. there were over thirty individual lines that once had a purpose but now were just cluttering and confusing things.
I wrapped the harnesses with electrical tape and it all looks so much more professional. This is a pic of the junk I pulled out.
Couldn't get the image uploader to work.
Although it might seem anal, taking care of your wiring is probably the best thing you can do vis-a-vis reliability. most equipment/systems failures result from poor electrical connections. I even found the two bolted connectors from my battery bank to my power bus were loose! good chance for a fire or something to melt. It's good practice to check over all accessible connections and replace any that seem loose/corroded. And get a good professional crimper; the cheap jobs are disasters waiting to happen. I'll be writing a detailed article on 12 volt systems maintenance/design/repair for a sailing mag soon, so I'll keep everyone posted.
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