Minnesota Classic Glastron Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: pyro225 on September 27, 2017, 08:19:07 AM
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Hi all - obviously this question is going to come up in my rebuild... and it’s also coming up for my 10yr old regal as it lived in the sea permanently tied to a buoy until I got her 3 yrs back. When I got her all the speaker wiring was green and disintegrating. Ever since half the dials only work with a wiggle of the cables.
Is there a best kind of wire for resisting corrosion? I want to kit the new one out as best I can!
Thanks
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Copper will patina in the presence of moisture, just look at the statue of liberty. In wiring, this patina/corrosion is accelerated due to current flow. Bad thing is it happens especially around crimped ends that can hold moisture. I build all my own wiring using stranded copper wiring with proper insulation rating for the task. I use bare crimp on ends, and solder the fitting just at the connector. If you allow solder to travel down the wire, it make a brittle point. It is possible to strip the wire back and put on new ends, but water generally has a capillary action, and the green runs down the wire some distance. When a dash board is finished I use an rtv sealant for windshields(no salt)to seal the connections that are exposed keeping the water out. Whether the whole harness needs replacement is a difficult decision on larger boats, they get complex. Some folks are against splicing, but a good soldered and taped Western Union splice will Outlast the life of the boat. Acceptable on low current items, don't splice main battery cables and such. Hope this helps.
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Thanks - so would you cut them back to see how far the copper runs before taking drastic action?
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If you cut back say 2-3" and the copper is clean or just a little green and the wire remains long enough to reconnect, then I'd use it. A little patina is ok, just use some fine sandpaper to clean up and crimp new ends on.