Skip to main content

What Makes Marine Battery Cables and Terminals So Special?

Owning a boat requires a lot of work if you want to keep it in top shape for the next outing. Washing and waxing the fiberglass hull, cleaning up the bilge so you can spot leaking fluids, lubricating where needed, flushing your engine…

However, one of the most important things to be concerned about is making sure your electrical system works properly. You really don't want to have a power outage when you're away from the shore. Your electrical system not only keeps the lights on in your boat but also pumps life into your engines and powers vital instruments like your navigation and comms equipment.

These systems are relatively easy to maintain on land. However, the marine environment puts tremendous amounts of pressure on your electrical systems in the form of humidity, corrosion, constant vibration, and exceptionally common instances of “Murphy's Law” at play.

Being aware that anything that can go wrong will go wrong, boat owners are forced to be proactive and make sure they solve problems before they happen. So, installing dedicated marine battery cables and terminals is essential if you want your electrical systems to work regardless of what the open sea throws at it.

But, what's the difference between regular wire and marine battery cables and terminals?

In general, wires and cables should be able to carry a current load around an electrical circuit. The best material for this is copper as this material is a highly efficient conductor. However, copper is highly vulnerable to corrosion, meaning that any exposure to the marine environment will chew it up faster than you can say “ready to set sail”. Moreover, copper wires are usually too rigid, which means that the constant rocking of a boat can progressively loosen soldered connectors and terminals.

Marine battery cables and terminals are specifically made to withstand all these conditions and still be easier to install and maintain. Marine-grade wire has a higher strand count, which means that it is extremely flexible and can be driven through narrow and constrained environments usually found on boats. They are also more stable, even under constant vibration and movement. Each strand inside marine battery cables is individually tinned for maximum corrosion resistance, which gives them their typical silvery look.

On the other hand, marine battery terminals are solderless, reducing the amount of labor required to install or replace the wiring. You won't find the usual plastic or PVC sleeves found in automotive-grade terminals. These are replaced by nylon sleeves that provide increased crack, puncture, and corrosion resistance. Their conductors are not made of bare copper but from tin-plated electrolytic copper which reduces power loss, and increases corrosion resistance. They also provide unmatched mechanical connectivity through a tightly insulated wire crimp.

As you can see, there are important differences between automotive-grade wiring and marine battery cables and terminals. If you want to find marine-grade electrical supplies, we recommend EWCS Wire. They have everything you need for your next marine electrical project in one place. If you want to know more about their high-grade marine battery cables and terminals, call them at 800-262-1598 for further assistance.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Importance of Fire Alarm Cables

There are few things more important than fire safety. Without the proper fire electrical equipment set up in a small home or a big building, one small fire that starts anywhere in the building can cause a huge safety issue. According to the National Fire Protection Association, an average of seven people die from fires on a daily basis. The fact that this could be prevented makes the situation that much worse. When any type of building gets ready for people to move into it, whether it’s to work or to live, one of the most important things to check is fire safety. Fires spread like no other, so ensuring that the building has the proper fire safety tools to help prevent fires from starting and spreading with no warning to the other occupants in the building is a major factor in the overall safety of the building. Besides actually having a smoke or fire detector in place, one of the most important things all fire alarms need to have to ensure the safety of the building’s occu...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Guide to Choosing Electric Wire Cable

If there’s one thing that’s sure in the world of electrical supplies, it’s that you’ll always find yourself out of supplies just when you thought you had enough for a current job. With the diversity to be found in the shape, structure, and styling of residential, commercial, and industrial building plans, you can never fully know exactly what you’ll need before you get your hands on-site. With that in mind, there are some steps you can take when stocking up that will help ensure you’re the most prepared you can be. This guide will help you stock up on electric wire cable before every job, so you can get to work stress-free. Step One: Get Colorful No job will go smoothly if you can’t tell your wires apart from one another. Not only will uniformly colored electric wire cable make the job at hand more difficult, but it will also make future repairs considerably more difficult. Make sure you plan to have multiple colors of cable on hand before every job. You’ll thank yourself when y...
Post a Comment
Read more

Important Things to Know when Buying Alarm Cables

When you’re looking for wires and cables, EWCSWire can surely help. EWCS stands for Electric Wire and Cable Specialists, because that’s who they are. The people at EWCSWire really know their stuff about all the different kinds of wires and cables—their uses, accessories, and what safety requirements need to be met in order to be useable. Whatever type of wire or cable you need, EWCSWire has the stock and the knowledge to help you get everything you need. EWCSWire even has a selection of alarm cables, whether you need security alarm cables or fire alarm cables . But it’s important to be aware that when shopping for these kinds of cables, there are important safety guidelines that make each type of wire different. These cables have been put to the test to ensure that they meet certain standards. Plenum-Rated Cables EWCSWire offers security alarm and fire alarm cables that adhere to the codes that qualify them for a plenum rating. Plenum is the name given to any space in a build...
Post a Comment
Read more