Boat Cable

Various types of boat cable for different marine wiring installations

Boat cable is both a generic term used to describe the electrical wiring used on boat as well as a specific term used in certain cases to indicate UL approved wiring suitable for use on boats and non-commercial marine vessels.

The marine wires which fall into the general classification of boat cable usually start with single conductor cables, meaning a singular wire run and add extra wires from there into one cable, thus creating multiconductor boat wiring.

Single conductor boat cable

The most common single conductor boat cables are the marine primary wire and marine battery cable. While both cable styles are constructed similar, their main difference in terminology is based on the size (AWG) of the cable. Single conductor boat cable in sizes 16awg up to 8awg are commonly referred to as primary wire sizes. The larger single conductor marine cabling from size 6awg up to 4/0awg are referenced as battery cable.

Marine primary wire can be used on batteries although most battery installations in the marine environment call for sizes larger than those offered in primary wiring. The smaller AWG (American Wire Gauge) wires typically find their place in the circuit wiring of a boat ansillary to the main battery run.

Marine battery cable is typically a high strand count cable with tin plated copper stranding. The tin plating on the copper strands helps to minimize corrosion over the life of the cable installation.

Multiconductor boat cable

Running individual wire runs all throughout a boat can be very time consuming and that is where the benefit of multiconductor cables come in to play.

Most common of the multiple conductor cables are the two wire and three wire boat cable where individually insulated wires are grouped together with an overall jacket to simplify installation and seperate wire runs into a safe and manageable installation.

Marine Duplex Wire

Marine Duplex wire referes to two conductor cables and are often notated by AWG size first and then the number of conductors. A 14awg 2 conductor boat cable will be written as 14/2 just as an 8awg duplex will be referred to as 8/2.

Duplex wires are available in different color coding for AC or DC installations. Usual color combinations are Black/White for AC wiring, Black/Red for DC wiring, and Red/Yellow which is the new safety color code proposed by the ABYC to prevent possible connections of AC black conductors and DC black conductors which could be dangerous and promote fires.

Marine Triplex Wire