The Essential Electrical Wiring Tool Kit

Bad Obsession

Bad Obsession

.
May 23, 2004
3,319
I'm in the market as were . Colonial Beach
I have a ton of wiring to do this spring. I am planning to rewire 90% of my boat this spring.

Because of this I am putting together a tool kit for this. I have tons of marine crimp fittings (numerous pieces of each kind and most of them are the heat shrink kind), a lot of duplex 12V pre-tinned wire, pre-tinned wire, and all of the wiring components.

Tool wise I have, so far:

Nice wire cutters
Wire Stripper (the good kind)
Ratchet Crimper
Heat Gun
mini butane torch
Tester
50' fish tape (to run wires)
Few other random tools

What other tools would be useful for re-wring a boat?
 
uncledom

uncledom

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Jun 11, 2011
1,243
Hunter 41 Lewes
I like to coat all my crimps with liquid electrical tape. If you do it right it's water proof.
 
Bad Obsession

Bad Obsession

.
May 23, 2004
3,319
I'm in the market as were . Colonial Beach
If I am using heat shrinking adhesive terminals wouldn't the liquid electrical tape be overkill?
 
JVB

JVB

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Jan 26, 2006
270
Schock Wavelength 24 Lake Murray, SC
You have not said anything about your wiring plan or wire tagging, switches, circuit breakers, terminal blocks, or using the appropriate gauge wires. What batteries and charging provisions will you have ?
 
Bad Obsession

Bad Obsession

.
May 23, 2004
3,319
I'm in the market as were . Colonial Beach
Good Grief....My plans are quite detailed. I was just asking about tools because there are also a lot of opinions in some aspects of wiring.

As far as wiring, I am going by the marine standards for the wiring. Re-wiring is an expensive project but it should be a once in my lifetime job if I do it right. This means very good terminals, wire, etc.
 
centerline

centerline

.
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
Bad Obsession said:
I have a ton of wiring to do this spring. I am planning to rewire 90% of my boat this spring.

Because of this I am putting together a tool kit for this. I have tons of marine crimp fittings (numerous pieces of each kind and most of them are the heat shrink kind), a lot of duplex 12V pre-tinned wire, pre-tinned wire, and all of the wiring components.

Tool wise I have, so far:

Nice wire cutters
Wire Stripper (the good kind)
Ratchet Crimper
Heat Gun
mini butane torch
Tester
50' fish tape (to run wires)
Few other random tools

What other tools would be useful for re-wring a boat?
Click to expand
assuming you have all the basic boat tools already, about the only things you are missing from your list is nylon ties for bundling the wires and loom clips and screws for holding the bundle of wires to the bulkheads.
you may also need a hole saw for making better access thru the bulkheads, or at the very least, some radiator/heater hose to pad the pass-thrus so the wire wont chafe, as per ABYC recommendations.... and dont forget the large hammers and big prybars 'cuz some of that old wiring can be difficult to access. and a pillow.

use the pillow to pad the bulkhead for when you feel like beating your head against the wall.... cuz you dont want to mar the finish on the bulkhead:D
 
Bad Obsession

Bad Obsession

.
May 23, 2004
3,319
I'm in the market as were . Colonial Beach
I have wire tires and loom clips.

Speaking of a hole saw, I need to widen out some of the holes my wires run through. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to widen out the holes with wire present?

Perhaps a bit for a Dremel or something like that?
 
centerline

centerline

.
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
Bad Obsession said:
I have wire tires and loom clips.

Speaking of a hole saw, I need to widen out some of the holes my wires run through. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to widen out the holes with wire present?

Perhaps a bit for a Dremel or something like that?
Click to expand
a rotory cutout tool may work well but there are only two ways that i have ever used... use a drill with a small bit and drill a series of small holes in a line drawn where the hole needs to be enlaged to... then use a hammer to knock it the "cutout" free... then use a rasp to smooth it out....

this way is better... use a small recip saw to cut it out... like a mini sawsall.
the one i have is very small and air operated. i run it off of a scuba tank when i need it on the boat.
 
Ralph Johnstone

Ralph Johnstone

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Jan 4, 2006
7,264
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
Bad Obsession said:
Because of this I am putting together a tool kit for this. I have tons of marine crimp fittings (numerous pieces of each kind and most of them are the heat shrink kind), a lot of duplex 12V pre-tinned wire, pre-tinned wire, and all of the wiring components.
Click to expand
Another nice touch for gathering wires together before running them through holes and zap tying to members is electrical split loom. Comes in sizes 1/4" to 1".
 

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uncledom

uncledom

.
Jun 11, 2011
1,243
Hunter 41 Lewes
Ralph Johnstone said:
Another nice touch for gathering wires together before running them through holes and zap tying to members is electrical split loom. Comes in sizes 1/4" to 1".
Click to expand
I like to cover the wires also. Dremel multi tool with the vibrating head and blade attachments is a must have. Other manufacturers make them also. It can do wonderful things in all kinds of projects. Boat, home, I always have one.
 
P

PGIJon

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Mar 3, 2012
856
Hunter 34 Punta Gorda
I've found that an oscillating tool has perfectly fit the bill many times.
 
centerline

centerline

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Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
Ralph Johnstone said:
Another nice touch for gathering wires together before running them through holes and zap tying to members is electrical split loom. Comes in sizes 1/4" to 1".
Click to expand
this is one of those things that is user preference.... i personally dont like the loom for a number of reasons...

-if any moisture gets into it, it stays there against the wires for a long time...
-when trying to run a new wire its a PITA....
-when trying to trace a wire it can be a PITA....
- if there is a severe amp load in a wire that is running thru it, it will hold the heat in and can take the insulation off of other wires if a meltdown occurs. (almost always if there is no loom the excess heat can escape and only the faulty wire will be affected in an event like this)....
-its a PITA to install and remove and install if you need to work on the wire run.....
-its needless (although when running wires thru a bulkhead, or long runs that are not secured and laying on the surface DO NEED some sort of protection, such as a loom. or a softener thru a bulkhead)...

BUT the wires do need to be secured and a nice neatly bundled run of wires without a loom and secured with ny-ties every few inches is just better for servicing when needed....

AND.... where the wires run thru places that are readily visible within the living space of the boat, it should be covered with a loom, conduit or raceway....
 
G

gettinthere

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Nov 26, 2008
1,970
Endeavour 42 Cruisin
One way to enlarge a hole is to get a hole saw the size of the existing hole and install it inside the hole saw the size you want the new hole. The mandrel should hold both. The smaller hole saw should stick out from the larger hole saw creating a guide.

I found a hydraulic crimper worked very well for large battery cable lugs or anything larger than no 10.
 
centerline

centerline

.
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
gettinthere said:
One way to enlarge a hole is to get a hole saw the size of the existing hole and install it inside the hole saw the size you want the new hole. The mandrel should hold both. The smaller hole saw should stick out from the larger hole saw creating a guide.

I found a hydraulic crimper worked very well for large battery cable lugs or anything larger than no 10.
Click to expand
take a piece of wood and cut a hole in it with the size of hole saw you want.... use the piece of wood as a template to hold in place where you want to cut the new hole... it will allow you to start a new hole of a different size on the edge of a board or another hole...
 
Bad Obsession

Bad Obsession

.
May 23, 2004
3,319
I'm in the market as were . Colonial Beach
I believe that I agree with Centerline about loom. I even think that I read somewhere that you should never use loom in the marine environment because of some of the points that Centerline made.

I agree with binding the wires together and having them hanging up and out of the path of any water.

If you use the liquid electrical tape it may make it harder to see the status of any crimp. Also, I know that it would be an issue if a boat was being surveyed because they couldn't see the crimp. They may assume solder was used and that has no place on a boat.

The new crimps with the adhesive shrink wrap may be more expensive, but it is the best and right way to do it. Why worry about doing it again, buy the right stuff, do it right, and do it once.
 
Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
I was going to mention a snake. Who knows when you have to run wires and you have run out of wires to pull with.
 
Bad Obsession

Bad Obsession

.
May 23, 2004
3,319
I'm in the market as were . Colonial Beach
Harbor Freight....50' fish tape....around $5. Success on that one.

I just added a small set of screw drivers. The type you use for computers, etc. I remember using them a lot on my other boat, especially when I was working on the autopilot.
 
Brian D

Brian D

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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
Ah yes, jewelers screwdrivers. I also just ordered a tube of Circuit Writer. It is silver based and used for circuit trace repair. Not saying you will ever use it, but something to keep in the tool box for one of those days that your radio fails because of a burnt trace.
 
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