So who has tinned battery and other equally fat cables all tinned?

[captain58sailin]

I found plenty of tinned wire on Ebay. I've found lots of the old wiring on my boat that was black with corrosion.

[smac999]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

hmmm... are you saying there is no voltage drop in a length of wire?

if there is no load, the voltage will be the same. even in the crapyist corroded wire.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

hmmm... are you saying there is no voltage drop in a length of wire?

Yes, in the case postulated (no load at all):

E (voltage drop in this case)=I (current) times R (resistance)

If I=zero then no matter how high R is, E also equals zero

Cheers,

Jim

[Cheechako]

well, i guess my point was, corrosion between the wire and the end terminal results in poor transfer, poor transfer usually ends up as heat, heat=energy. So in effect there is a "load". Obviously you need a ground. I guess what you are saying is measure the voltage at the battery terminal and at the other end with the appliance on and the voltage drop is the wire/terminal loss?

[Andina Marie]

Some are tempted to use "fat" welding cable due to the low cost, availability and flexibility. In a salt water environment, welding cable can rot away in less than 1 year. Without the protection from tinning, and due to the wicking effect and extreme surface area of the smaller strands they are useless on a boat.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

well, i guess my point was, corrosion between the wire and the end terminal results in poor transfer, poor transfer usually ends up as heat, heat=energy. So in effect there is a "load". Obviously you need a ground. I guess what you are saying is measure the voltage at the battery terminal and at the other end with the appliance on and the voltage drop is the wire/terminal loss?

Sorry cheeckho , what you recommended isnt a test. , its just wrong I'm afraid. Voltage drop can only be measured under expected operating loads , voltage drop in itself isn't a measure of bad terminals.

Or else just do resistance checks.

Dave

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Andina Marie

Some are tempted to use "fat" welding cable due to the low cost, availability and flexibility. In a salt water environment, welding cable can rot away in less than 1 year. Without the protection from tinning, and due to the wicking effect and extreme surface area of the smaller strands they are useless on a boat.

You may be right , but I've just done work on a friends 20 year old welding cable connected starter , wasnt anything wrong with the cable I could see.

I've never ever seen tinned starter cables this side of the pond , ever never

Dave

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Sorry cheeckho , what you recommended isnt a test. , its just wrong I'm afraid. Voltage drop can only be measured under expected operating loads , voltage drop in itself isn't a measure of bad terminals.

Or else just do resistance checks.

Dave

Yeah, I guess I got that wrong. The brain is thinking measuring resistance and mouth isnt! I stand corrected.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

You may be right , but I've just done work on a friends 20 year old welding cable connected starter , wasnt anything wrong with the cable I could see.

I've never ever seen tinned starter cables this side of the pond , ever never

Dave

Welding cable is great stuff. especially in areas like going to your engine or where flexibility is nice. Small strand, high quality. Seen it used many times on boats. It was on the old trawler I had in Fl and there were no apparant issues with it. Looked like it had been on there forever. Same precautions as other non tinned cable though, seal the ends!