What size wire for aux fuse panel

Striper80

Striper80

Senior Member
The original fuse panel is full on my 22WA. I have a blue seas fuse panel that I took off my Striper and I was wondering what size wire to use. I was thinking 10 or 8 gauge. I didn't want to just jump off the other one either.
 
not enough info. How many loads? Total amps to be drawn? Electronics or lights or both? How far from battery?

google "marine wire gauge chart" you'll find a lot of info.

here's one
http://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Marine-Wire-Size-And-Ampacity

I run 8 gauge to the panel in my cuddy and it is overkill.
Also, I have a 30 amp fuse at the battery terminal. Very important to fuse the feed to the panel at the battery.

I'll never draw 30 amps unless I accidentally touch an aluminum landing net across the panel but if I do, the fuse will blow before the wire melts.
 
I'm not really sure what the draw is going to be. So far its going to have my GPS, fish finder, VHF and wash down pump. All my lights, tabs, and other things are on the factory panel. The previous owner had it all on the lug that feeds the factory panel.
 
Striper80 said:
I'm not really sure what the draw is going to be. So far its going to have my GPS, fish finder, VHF and wash down pump. All my lights, tabs, and other things are on the factory panel. The previous owner had it all on the lug that feeds the factory panel.
Click to expand...

Aside from looking at the manuals, I would guesstimate 5 amps each (gps/ff is less, VHF about 5 and wash down could be more depending on size)

not familiar with your setup but you might be able to feed the new panel from the factory panel. You have an existing fuse panel and a -Neg bus? Are they connected to the battery with 8 or 10 wire?

You're adding a fuse panel or a switch&fuse panel?
I feed my blue seas 6 switch panel from my fuse panel thru a 15 amp fuse. runs all lights,horn, 2 gps/ff, bilge pump. the feed wire is the wire that came on the switch panel (12 gauge I think). My VHF feeds from my main panel as does my 12volt accessory socket(for plugging in spotlight)
 
I just looked at the oem wire and it looks to be 10 gauge. The oem fuze panel from my Striper looks like 12. I'll prob just pull another 10 wire so I have room for more stuff, after I hook up my blue seas add a battery set up. For now I'm just trying to clean up the shoddy work from the PO. So far I've found speaker wire hooked up to the wash down pump and a wire nut on the bilge pump wire.
I wish I could get my photobucket account to work here.
 
Striper80 said:
I'm not really sure what the draw is going to be. So far its going to have my GPS, fish finder, VHF and wash down pump. All my lights, tabs, and other things are on the factory panel. The previous owner had it all on the lug that feeds the factory panel.
Click to expand...

The GPS and fishfinder each draw less than 1 amp. The VHF will only draw 3 or 4 amps when the mic is keyed, but otherwise less than an amp. The washdown pump is your killer as they can draw upwards of 15 amps depending on the size of them. I would go with at least 10 gauge myself. And don't forget to run a ground as the ground wire carries the load as well, and is often overlooked. A good ground is more important than a good feed wire IMO.
 
All the "hotel" loads on a normal boat draw far less than 10 amps. So all your fuses should be 10 amps. The overall fuse for the panel could be 20 amps and that would suffice to protect everything, prevent a fire.

It is very wise to install an in-line fuse at the source, at the battery where the wire to the fuse box is.

Larry
 
So for this season I'll be ok. I was able to run everything on the factory fuse panel by utilizing some fuses that weren't being used. I skipped replacing the washdown pump this year and just put in a straight live well pump since I had it. Next year ill probably replace the factory block and add a secondary one. I also plan on installing the blue seas add a battery I bought. Right now I'm just going to go fishing. Thanks for the help.
Edit. The factory wire was 8 guage for power and ground.
 
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