Zip Tie Recommendations

[Mal Reynolds]

Did a search & didn't come up with much...

I'm starting a big electrical refit & thinking about cable ties. Some questions for the Community:

- Black, White or color scheme (AC v DC, N2K/Signal v Power?) During ripout, I've noticed white is much easier to find in dark corners to cut.
- Good quality brand or source?
- Container to attempt to stay organized?
- ABYC says support every 18" plus strain relief at connections. What is best practice?

What about zip ties for other uses?
- Marking anchor chain - what color scheme, 4" OK?
- Locking shackles & antenna ties- Black does best in UV?
- OK for jib furler shackles?

[boatpoker]

Strongly suggest you use ABYC Standards for colour coding, wire type, circuit protection, grounding, bonding, installation, termination and wire gauge. That way when you need a qualified electrician he won't have to reinvent the wheel to figure out what you have done.

[Philkoury]

Check out these rubber lined reusable zip ties.
https://griplockties.com/

[sailorboy1]

I have lots or different size and colors or zip ties,. They are right up there in usefulness.

I wish when I went to add a circuit I could find the right colored wire to use :-(

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I have lots or different size and colors or zip ties,. They are right up there in usefulness.

I wish when I went to add a circuit I could find the right colored wire to use :-(

A small part of my wire inventory

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by Mal Reynolds

Good quality brand or source?

I've not found any brand that makes a better product than Thomas & Betts, the original inventor of the "Ty-Rap".
https://www.cabletiesunlimited.com/t...e-ties-70.html

[Mal Reynolds]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

Strongly suggest you use ABYC Standards for colour coding, wire type, circuit protection, grounding, bonding, installation, termination and wire gauge. That way when you need a qualified electrician he won't have to reinvent the wheel to figure out what you have done.

Thanks, but other than the need to support cable runs, ABYC E-11 is silent on zip ties. Looking for best practice suggestions.

[thinwater]

ABYC has lots of fun colors. But the rest of the world thinks they are wrong anyway, and many of the accessories on my boat (many newer boats) follow IEC or Chinese code. And whoever built the boat used whatever color they had, I guess. So I stick to red and black and label the ends. No reason to stay away from black because I do not have a 120 V system.

Is there is European color code table for boats? I know the most basic IEC and Chinese 12 V standards, but I don't know of a whole table. I know that outboards differ from all 3, except in the battery feeds.


(Please correct if this is wrong, though some manufacturers vary.)

[mvweebles]

For zip ties, I buy ar Harbor Freight. They have several sizes, though only black and white. They also carry very large/long ones. Price is a fraction of other sources. I buy many bags of 100 at a time. Very handy.

[skipperpete]

I just bought the mega pack of Zipties at Costco..... all sizes, all colours in a big plastic cylinder. I use a lot of them for simple stuff like keeping shim packs together cup and cone bearings too . Sometimes jabsco impellers need a bit of help to squeeze into the pump body, especially the big Detroit and Cat ones and one or 2 zipties solves that problem nicely.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

I've not found any brand that makes a better product than Thomas & Betts, the original inventor of the "Ty-Rap".
https://www.cabletiesunlimited.com/t...e-ties-70.html

100% agree. I would be very surprised to find a better cable tie than the Thomas & Betts range.

Do everyone a big favour, cut the tails carefully and very close to the body of the tie with very sharp flush cutters (side cutters / dikes / diagonal pliers etc).

FWIW, I have used thousands and thousands of cable ties and could buy whatever we wanted; 90% would have been Thomas & Betts.

As for colour codes, it will be wrong somewhere. The aviation world gets around this problem by using white wires for everything!

[s/v Jedi]

Black ties are most durable to UV exposure. Use real flush cutting side cutters so there is no sharp edge to cut you later.

[capt jgw]

When buying with no particular use in mind I always buy the black ones. White degrades pretty quickly with UV exposure where the black ones will last outdoors for years. But putting them behind the electrical panel where the sun don't shine, I can see a real advantage to color coding them.

[wholybee]

I try to always use black because they are UV resistant. Even if not exposed to UV, if you only have black you won't get stuck with only having white on hand when you need black.

I have a tool that tightens them and cuts them flush. I think it is easier than flush cutters in some tight spaces. I have had too many cuts from when they are not cut properly, so cut them flush.

Use them as needed, but don't go crazy. When you need to add or remove a wire and there is a tie every 4 inches, ugg. I am moving toward velco wrap in areas I am likely to make changes, and where a velcro wrap will be durable enough. You can also use velcro for keeping everything together during the install before zip ties are installed.

[wsmurdoch]

For use outside where the sun can get to them easier than you, there are stainless steel zip ties. They are absolutely immune to UV.

To mark your anchor chain, the order is red, yellow, blue, white, green. You just choose the spacing to suit your needs.