Hey Moose---NAPA

[Don G]

has the #6 stranded battery cable. It comes in 25' length in a box. They have red & black. I think I paid $22 or $23 per box. If they don't have it in stock they can get it overnight. The boat that I am restoring had been rigged with 2 # 10 wires for pos. & 2 #10 wires for negative. It got hot and welded together at the boatside receptical. What a mess. My suggestion is 2 #6 ga. with a 50 amp breaker and your troubles are over.

[Moose1am]

thanks for that tip. That does not cost as much as I thought it would. I would not need too much wire as my boat is only 15'11" long. 25 ft would be enough for the black and another 25ft for the red wire. If I ever start to restore my boat I will install the new wiring in it for sure. Right now I am going to see how the 10 gauge works with my application. My trolling motor only requires 35 to 40 amps of current and that 10 gauge wire should work now that I beefed up the trolling motor plugs and the added the bigger more powerful circuit breaker. I like the idea of using a circuit breaker instead of a fuse. It cost a bit more up front but in the long run I thought it was worth the extra money to make sure that my boat is running good.
I have checked the wiring and there were only signs of too much heat in the wiring at the terminal ends on the neg side. I replaced all those multi terminal connections and disconnected some unneeded wiring to simply the setup. I had two fuse holders originally and one was for the trolling motor receptible and the other was a spare which I used to fuse a toggle switch for my live well water pump. I also added a cigarette lighter to that area of my boat and that wiring and the fuse for that cigarette lighter is now coming straight though the 30 amp fuse in the back of the boat to my multi heavey duty wire distrubition system then it goes to the cigarette lighter. I think these car stereo wire distrubition adaptors will really help keep the wiring from overheating and this way I can run up to 5 different system off one positive wire. I only am using two wires out of the distribution box. One to the trolling motor which has to pass first though the 30 amp fuse in the back of the boat and then though the 35 amp circuit breaker before it goes to the trolling motor's plug. After I get done testing this setup and the 30 amp fuse does not do any thing funky I may move the 30 amp fuse holder from the back of the boat to the front and use it only for the cigarette lighter outlet. I want that cigarette lighter outlet protected by a fuse. I am going to look at the wiring and fuses in my truck to see what size fuse a cigarette lighter outlet uses and then fuse that wiring accordingly.

My wiring is 25 years old but it appears to be in very good shape. And the terminal connectors ( yellow spade plugs for 10 gauge wire) were showing darkening on the yellow plastic insulating collars so I got rid of those connectors alltogether. The distrubution box accepts the bare wires and they are held in place by big screws that are flat on the bottom and hold the end of the wires inside the inlet holes of the distribution box. The distribution box is from Stinger Pro SDB2. It uses 24K gold plate to carry the currents better and to make better connections. The base of the distrubution box is made out of solid brass which I guess is gold plated where it needs to be. It's only about 2.5" long by 1.5" wide and about 3/4" thick. You can get them from Stinger AAMP of America, Inc. 13160 56th Court Clearwater, FL. 33760 Phone number 727-572-9255 FAX # 727-573-9326.
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has the #6 stranded battery cable. It comes in 25' length in a box. They have red & black. I think I paid $22 or $23 per box. If they don't have it in stock they can get it overnight. The boat that I am restoring had been rigged with 2 # 10 wires for pos. & 2 #10 wires for negative. It got hot and welded together at the boatside receptical. What a mess. My suggestion is 2 #6 ga. with a 50 amp breaker and your troubles are over.