How do I wire cabin lights in one circuit?

[Sailorman Ed]

here is the pic. I have seen them listed as Euro style.

[Ebtvision]

@rwidman

That makes a lot of sense, twisting each pigtail with the 16ga wire into a butt connector that connects to the next lead rather than a 3 way connector.

@sailorman Ed

They're cheap led dome lights and have thin pigtails (they do however have switches). I think they pull like .04A each. I think I'm still going to wire it with 16ga because it's cheap and available (genuinedealz.com) and I'll definitely put it to a 5A breaker. Should that be enough to protect the devices without having to fuse them as well?

[MarkSF]

The aim of the breaker is mainly to protect the wiring, not the device. In the case of a short it should trip before the wiring is damaged. That means it should be rated less than the finest gauge wiring in the circuit.

[MarkSF]

I've used these before :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Sea-Sy...kgo-ipad-uk-21

Includes negative bus, and you can individually fuse the outputs.

I used it when running several instruments on one breaker.

[wooden head]

Originally Posted by MarkSF

I've used these before :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Sea-Sy...kgo-ipad-uk-21

Includes negative bus, and you can individually fuse the outputs.

I used it when running several instruments on one breaker.

I like this. might have to go back and swap out some buss bars. Perfect to run larger wire to a forward point and split out smaller mini circuts. With smaller wire and fuses.

[MarkSF]

Exactly, and if one device has an issue, it shouldn't prevent the others from working.

[Ebtvision]

Originally Posted by wooden head

I like this. might have to go back and swap out some buss bars. Perfect to run larger wire to a forward point and split out smaller mini circuts. With smaller wire and fuses.

These look pretty cool. Can someone verify Id be running both the positive feed and a negative feed from the panel to this unit?When I hear things like "run a larger wire ..." It sounds like just running the positive feed.

[wooden head]

Absolutely. Both wires need to be of suficient gauge to handle the full load of the wire both directions. While combining the negative can be done it is prone to extra problems so generally don't. With the fuse block part way however you could run heavy wire to the general area and the fuse block. and lighter wire out to multiple fixtures.

AND check a reliable book. they should have the abyc charts for sizing and materials.

[Golden Echo]

I rewired my boat 5 yrs ago. So far no issues. You should consider splitting your circuits into port and starboard. This way if you have a problem at night with one side chances are the other side will be OK.

I ran one continuous duplex line (10 AWG) down both sides of my boat. Then near amidship I install a fused BlueSea circuit hub. This way I could add or subtract devices at will and have them be fused. This works well if your lights are switched at the device. The reason I used 10 AWG is so I could add fans or maybe 12 volt taps at will without worrying about voltage drop.

Make sure you use stranded tinned wire, also get yourself a good pair of rachet crimpers for insulated terminals. West Marine sells a very nice kit that have interchangeable jaws for different connectors. It's not cheap but you will make good crimps with no worries. The only thing I don't like about them is they are only a single crimp. Double crimp crimpers are better because they crimp the wire and insulation. Also before you crimp the connectors make sure you coat the wire with dielectric grease. It will protect the connection. When you are done with the crimp give it a good tug to make sure it's secure. I did not use heat shrink on any connections inside the cabin. I know it's recommended, but I think with the grease at the connection it does the same thing. If I was wiring anything running through the bilge I would definitely use heat shrink tape.

When connecting my lights I had trouble connecting the #10 wire to the #18 or 20 GA wire on the light. You should use quick connects with male and female connectors. This way you can keep track of polarity. A 10 AWG female connector will work with an #18-20 male connector, the blades are all the same width so it makes it easy to connect larger wires to smaller ones plus if you have to remove the fixture they are easy to disconnect.

Try to leave a service loop where ever you can so if you do have to fix a bad connection, you have extra wire.

You should run your wire in some kind of conduit such as flexible bilge hose. It protects the wire beyond the sheathing, allows you to add wire in the future and reduces vibration which is the enemy of your connections. I cut it lengthwise and then screw it to a bulkhead.

I heard this quote from a retired NASA engineer I met in Florida "If a job is worth doing, it's worth overdoing".

Good luck!

Ron

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Golden Echo

Try to leave a service loop where ever you can so if you do have to fix a bad connection, you have extra wire.

Great post! I'm singling out the above because too many leave that out, even some pros. A snug, well-dressed harness looks lovely... until you find a mistake, or have to temporarily bypass a piece of gear. Then you're cutting it apart and splicing on bits of wire

Wire ends with splices and ring terminals should have enough slack that you can pull them out at least 6", so that you have enough room to crimp properly, and enough wire that if necessary you can cut and replace a bad terminal without having to wrestle with a 2" wire end in a cramped space. Makes labelling and tracing easier too.

If the slack offends you or it seems in the way, you can always add one more clamp or tie-wrap to neaten things up.

[Ebtvision]

@ron this morning I was thinking exactly the same, run a larger gauge wire to one of those blue sea blade fuse blocks so I can tap into it if needed.

When you say you have trouble connecting 10AWG to the smaller wires, it shouldn't matter though if I'm using 10AWG to the fuseblock, then 16AWG from the block to the lights right?

I wouldn't mind splitting the lights to two circuits but I bought a 6 circuit panel and it'll take up too much room. I have questions on that but I'm making a separate thread on it.