Plastic Classic Forum

I was under the impression that ABYC wanted people to use red and yellow for DC circut wires in boats instead of the previous red and black.

I can find yellow wire OK, but it seems like most other things like het shrink tubing, battery terminl covers etc are only vailable in red and black.

Then there are items like bildge punps, electronics etc that come with wires attaached, and they always seem to coe with red and black wires, never red and yellow.

What's the story?

The yellow rule has not been around too long. I think it is just taking a while for it to catch on. So few people really keep up with the requirements that the manufacturers are probably thinking that they are keeping down the number of phone calls asking "Where is the black wire and what do I do with the yellow one?

Like a lot of things, it will catch on slowly.

LazyGuy wrote:

Like a lot of things, it will catch on slowly.

I hope so, but won't be holding my breath

The ABYC recommendation (and it's only a recommendation) on yellow wire for DC negative lines is intended to help avoid confusion, in boats so equipped, with the hot line of the AC shore power side--which happens to be black. Obviously, mistaking a black AC hot wire for a benign black DC negative wire could be an unpleasant experience, or so goes the ABYC thought process.

Considering half the manufacturers of expensive "marine" parts don't even bother to use tinned wire (this amazes and disgusts me), or wire of a size that is remotely compatible with the wire sizes most people are using to wire their boats (connecting 22 ga. wire to 12 ga. is annoying), I'm certainly not surprised that they don't use yellow wire for the negatives.

Red and black is long-standing convention for DC + and -, and is still appropriate under any existing guidelines. Using yellow wire is great if you're so inclined, but there's nothing wrong with using black heat shrink on your yellow wire (or red wire, for that matter). It makes a nice contrast.

When I re-wired my Pearson 39 a few years ago, I was able to rip out all the old wire, start over, and use yellow for the ground.

I share your pain.

That said, I got most of my wire (esp. battery cables) from this place... and I notice that they now carry YELLOW HEAT SHRINK!

GenCable.com or their store name Genuine Dealz.
http://shop.genuinedealz.com/Marine%20E ... ink%20Yel/

They used to sell on E-bay, but I think like many others, they'd had enough of E-bay's BS.

FYI, they're still on E-bay as Genuinedealz powerseller - I just bought some electrical supplies from them. Good products, reasonable price and quick delivery.