Electrical Wiring for lights

[patrice]

Hi,
I know that there as been lots of threads about electricals wirings.
But I'm about to redo some ( cabine lights and anchor ) and was looking at the Catalina DC wiring diagram.
For the inside cabine lights it is 14ga. wires.
And wires going up the mast they're 16ga.

Just want to confirm that buying same gauge is ok.
Or if there is modifs that should be done.

Thanks all.

[Ron Hill]

Patrice : If I had to rewire, I'd go with 14 gage for everything.  
Look on the internet for marine gage wire in larger rolls than you can get a WM or Defender.  My thought

[Jim Hardesty]

I don't have an answer.  Just want to add a what if.  LED's    What if you do a LED anchor light.  Would the voltage drop with differnt gage wire make a difference?
Jim

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Jim brought up a good point, especially on the weight of 50 ft+ of #14 vs #16 marine grade wire.

Regardless of LED (which is what I have for an anchor light bulb) or not, I'd still rewire with #14 gage wire!!  My mast my thought!

[Stu Jackson]

Other than wires up the mast, if I was planning the time to spend rewiring my interior lights, I'd use 12 ga.  Ever notice the drop when you turn the second light on?  Of course, switching to LEDs would resolve that problem.  But I've never felt the need to do so, based on our own energy budget, since we use the trawler lamp and only read for a short time.  I've switched the V berth and galley lights to LEDs.

Another simple way to defeat the light drop is to rewire across the cabin to avoid that long single run that wires take.  IIRC, Ron came up with that idea many years ago.

Your boat, your choice.

[patrice]

Thank you all.
Well that is what I'll do.  Buy 14 ga. Wires.
And while rewiring will check at the fixtures and check bulb types to be able to replace with led.
And for the fluorescent light, will see at replacing whole fixtures.
That will help on power consumption.  We are at a mooring so we cannot hook up to dock power during the week.
I bought a solar panel and gizmo that need to go with it.  So this is part of the spring projectsssssssss.

[Stu Jackson]

I just replaced our galley light with a nice LED fixture from www.marinebeam.com

[patrice]

Nice fixture Stu,

Had fun over the w-e, reworking the interior wiring.  Found why only Port side lights was working.
Ground was cut where it goes around the anchor locker.  Have no idea how it could happen.

More hours for fun to come