Association Forum - Cost of rewiring 1980 Catalina 25?

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Cost of rewiring 1980 Catalina 25?

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Ray4445
Deckhand

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USA
16 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/18/2018 : 16:19:34

Can anyone give a rough estimate of what the cost would be to rewire both the boat and replace two bad switches?

Ray

REF

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5231 Posts

Response Posted - 03/18/2018 : 21:19:03

Ray, welcome to the forum. The switches are relatively inexpensive. You can use paddle type 120VDC at 30A switches generally. The wire is not cheap. While its best to consult books like Don Casey's Sailboat Electrics for specific wire gauges, you'll find yourself buying a lot of #12 AWG tinned, stranded (not solid) wire for navigation lighting and internal lighting and 12VDC power fixtures. And from the battery to the control panel, expect to use #8 AWG cables. A stereo sound system will likely need #10 AWG wire to supply enough current. If you have an electric start outboard motor you can expect to run #6 wire. Remember that for a 12 foot run you need 24 feet of wire.
Copper wire isn't cheap. You could spend a few $100 on wire if you were to replace it all. You should check the wiring you have to see whether you can reuse some longer pieces.

Bruce Ross
Passage ~ SR-FK ~ C25 #5032

Port Captain � Milford, CT

Edited by - Voyager on 03/18/2018 21:23:57

hbushey
1st Mate

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USA
29 Posts

Response Posted - 03/18/2018 : 21:48:16

We're doing this right now. Complete rewire from scratch, with the exception of the factory navigation and Cabin lighting wiring. Not including the batteries, we're about 1K into wiring, terminals, circuit breaker panels, and a new battery charger. This included wiring and parts to redo the shore power as well.

Heather and Scott
�Respite�
1989 C-25 TR/WK

RichardG
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 03/20/2018 : 17:02:39

If you go with new LED lights for cabin and navigation lights, with very low current requirements, thinner (cheaper) wire may do. I recently rewired and installed new LED lighting with 16AWG. This looked to be the same gauge as the original wire I cut out, where I could, which was a complete corroded mess - amazing it still ran any current. I expect the new marine wire I installed will look quite a bit better after 36 years.
For music, I prefer a rechargeable bluetooth speaker, which requires no wire (or mounting).

RichardG 81 FK/SR #2657
Terminal Island, CA

Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5231 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2018 : 18:55:50

I thought about the lower power requirements for LEDs but the way that the cabin lights are wired in a daisy chain from the aft port side, up into the Vee berth, then back down the starboard side into the quarterberth gave me pause. Even at 2W each, that's 14 W or 1.2 A running 2 x 40 feet or 80 ft. I'd go with at least 12 AWG on that.