reminder: do it once, do it right

[HoffaLives]

found the bilges half filled with water this morning, with a dead bilge pump. some po used a standard auto butt connector, and the pump wire of course corroded out.

everyone already knows this, but a reminder that when wiring in the bilge, or anywhere else exposed to moisture, always use waterproof heat shrink connectors.

[sailboy21]

What you really meant to say was wire nuts and electrical tape with zipcord.

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by sailboy21

What you really meant to say was wire nuts and electrical tape with zipcord.

??? That statement makes absolutely no sense to me.

FWIW, I agree with Hoffa completely. Waterproofing electrical connections to critical items of gear like bilge pumps and gas detectors with heatshrink or similar should not be optional - preferably after tinning and soldering them first.

[Omatako]

And is it not amazing even today how much marine wiring is done in even expensive vessels with un-tinned wire. Yes tinned wire is expensive but as Hoffa says, do it once, do it right.

[sailingdog]

The trick is to use adhesive-lined heat shrink tubing... using the regular heat shrink tubing is worthless...it'll just trap water in the join. BTW, you shouldn't have to tin and solder a properly crimped butt connection.

[Freesail99]

Where is the water coming from is another issue ?

[sailboy21]

Originally Posted by Hartley18

??? That statement makes absolutely no sense to me.
first.

Come on, Am I the only one to ever find this:
on a boat??? I bet some of you have even done that. Zipcord is that cheap duplex lampcord stuff. I have found that used for boat wiring too.
Don't do it!

[HoffaLives]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

The trick is to use adhesive-lined heat shrink tubing... using the regular heat shrink tubing is worthless...it'll just trap water in the join. BTW, you shouldn't have to tin and solder a properly crimped butt connection.

waterproof crimp connectors are adhesive-lined, though you're correct that simply using heat shrink tubing over a standard connector achieves little.

but using proper tinned marine wire is also important. they only used cheap copper wire, (lamp cord?) and even after cutting it back a foot from the old end, it was still heavily oxidized. i'm going to have to replace that wire or else it will fail at some point.

it is surprising how some folks think wiring crucial components like this is the same as wiring a car stereo. I suspect it might have something to do with the do it yourself emphasis on boat ownership, when not everyone has the skills, or worse, has just enough.


the water coming in is rain water. from the anchor locker. the hatch has an opening to allow the chain through, and it funnels a lot of water down into the bilges, especially when we get the torrents like we've had recently. i think i want to find a way of blocking that up.

[sailingdog]

Yeah, marine-grade tinned wiring is kind of important... BTW, a properly designed chain pipe doesn't let much water in at all. The one on my boat barely gets the chain wet most times.

[HoffaLives]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Yeah, marine-grade tinned wiring is kind of important... BTW, a properly designed chain pipe doesn't let much water in at all. The one on my boat barely gets the chain wet most times.

this isn't a chain pipe, it's a funneled groove on the locker hatch that's just perfect for scooping in tons of water. i wonder if they sell white duct tape. i suppose it could stuff a white sock in there and nobody would notice