Can we talk about Marine Wire for a moment?

preserved_killick · Post by **preserved_killick** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:33 pm

I'm wire shopping, and find myself a little surprised at the different prices of wire.

12/2 (100ft) Jamestown $154.51 -Anchor Brand
12/2 (100ft) Hamilton $117.51 -Anchor Brand
12/2 (100ft) Genuinedealz.com $66.10 -?? Brand
12/2 (100ft) BestBoatWire.com $51.20 -?? Brand
12/2 (100ft) Battery World in Portaland ME $60.00 -Birkshire Brand

I'll accept the fluctuation in copper prices will affect wire retail costs, but this is such a wide variation. Is there a significant meaningful difference in marine wire? It would appear that each product has similar ratings (UL, SAE, ABCY, Coast Guard ect.) I don't have enough experience to know either way, but I do have experience working with marketing teams who's job it is to somehow come up with a way to differentiate products in a marketplace that are essentially the same.

What do you all think? Is there a difference?

What say you.

Jeff

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:09 pm

FWIW, All of the wire I have gotten from bestboatwire is made by Pacer Marine.

All of the wire that I deal with in my job has a HUGE markup when sold through distributors. This seems to be the case with marine wire as well, though I don't know for sure. All the major brands seem to be type III, tinned copper with 105C insulation. Unless you need something special (specific insulation, etc) any of the name brands should do fine.

Ceasar Choppy · Post by **Ceasar Choppy** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:01 am

Genuinedealz also has Pacer wire, although you can specify Ancor brand for a little more if they have it.

I wired my boat with both Pacer and Ancor and found Ancor to be a little more flexible, but that was the only discernible difference. Both are marine certified etc. Last time i was on an Island Packet at the boat show, I looked into the engine room and most of the wiring was pacer. For the long runs especially, I don't see anything wrong with the Pacer.

I'm sure Berkshire brand is OK too... although when I replaced the original wiring on my Renegade, it was Berkshire and was not tinned... although I doubt they used tinned wire in 1967.

preserved_killick · Post by **preserved_killick** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:47 am

Thanks for the info guys, you've confirmed my suspicions.

I just bought some Birkshire wire battery cable from Battery World in Portland and it is indeed tinned, and much more flexible than I the cable I'm replacing.

Hirilondë · Post by **Hirilondë** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:03 pm

preserved_killick wrote:I just bought some Birkshire wire battery cable from Battery World in Portland and it is indeed tinned, and much more flexible than I the cable I'm replacing.

What makes wire flexible is the diameter of the strands. The finer the strands, the more flexible it is. The more flexible a wire is, the more vibration it can withstand without risk of breaking. Quality marine wire is .0063 strand tinned copper that is "common bunched*". The appropriate number of strands is used to achieve each gauge. More pliable insulation and jacketing can make a cable more flexible as well, but that wouldn't make it any more resistant to breaking from vibration. That is why marine cable is simply plastic insulated instead of more expensive rubber.

* Common bunching is a simple twisting of strands to form the appropriate circular cross sectional area required for any given size. Some much more expensive conductors are actually braided, but that wouldn't make marine wire any better for its intended use. It is primarily for robotics control wiring which is constantly moving and being bent.

I wouldn't think there would be any significant difference in quality between brands that meet UL, CSA, USCG and ABYC specs.