Some wiring tips

dlochner · Oct 25, 2026

rgranger said:
I couldn’t find an electric system specific forum so I thought I’d post this here. Found a very good video for the DIY electric systems sailor and wanted to share.

503K views · 142K reactions | Truques com Fios Elétricos Que Todo Mundo Deveria Conhecer! . . . #Eletricidade #DicasDeEletricista #Curiosidades #AprendaEmCasa #DicasÚteis | Professor Fatos

Truques com Fios Elétricos Que Todo Mundo Deveria Conhecer! . . . #Eletricidade #DicasDeEletricista #Curiosidades #AprendaEmCasa #DicasÚteis

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Sorry Rob, I wouldn't use any of those tricks on my boat or in my house. On the boat I'll stick with properly crimped connections using heat shrink connectors or good quality ferrules.

dLj · Oct 26, 2026

dlochner said:
Sorry Rob, I wouldn't use any of those tricks on my boat or in my house. On the boat I'll stick with properly crimped connections using heat shrink connectors or good quality ferrules.

I wouldn't discard it all. If you are offshore and have to make a fix but don't have the correct bits, some of those tricks might come in handy. The solid core tricks wouldn't apply, I do not have any solid core on my boat.

To your point, doing a proper installation, yeah, do to right. But as a stop gap measure to get your boat home, there are some handy ideas in there.

dj

Charles13702 · Oct 27, 2026

What struck me is that if in a jam off-shore, how many of us have that much spare wire on the end of a failed connection, to strip and splice with?

dlochner · Oct 27, 2026

Charles13702 said:
What struck me is that if in a jam off-shore, how many of us have that much spare wire on the end of a failed connection, to strip and splice with?

Probably not many, but I do. I also carry crimpers, wire stripper, and a wide assortment of terminals. Most of which came in handy when anchored out in Hawk Channel in the Keys at night with a disabled engine and a main battery switch that just fell apart, leaving us in the dark with no lights, radio, or anything else. With some wire and fittings the main switch was bypassed and basic essential electrical functions were restored.

Scott NIelsen · Oct 27, 2026

I believe those are all good techniques for attaching terminals to wire. They appear to be strong and solid. I do agree using ABYC standards is the best practice. However, I do not discount other methods because they are not the ones I prefer.

dLj · Oct 27, 2026

dlochner said:
Probably not many, but I do. I also carry crimpers, wire stripper, and a wide assortment of terminals. Most of which came in handy when anchored out in Hawk Channel in the Keys at night with a disabled engine and a main battery switch that just fell apart, leaving us in the dark with no lights, radio, or anything else. With some wire and fittings the main switch was bypassed and basic essential electrical functions were restored.

I think any of us that head offshore or at least fairly long ocean legs will carry spares.

Dave's list above is very similar to mine. I'll add - which he probably overlooked, I'm sure he cares one - is a very good multimeter. Mine also has an incorporated AC/DC amp meter. Really handy for diagnosing charging systems.

But it's near impossible to carry every conceivable wire size and connection possibility. I also carry two soldering irons, one for small electronic connections and one for larger wire soldering. Basically, I can rube goldberg together just about any conceivable electrical issue that may happen if I don't have the proper bits and pieces.

dj