FWIW, Our boat has one keel bolt washer w a big lug welded to it. It is under the nut on the foremost bolt under the mast step and a stranded wire connects the mast to this washer, so the keel is the ground for the mast.
Chuck Resolute 1990 C&C 34R Broad Creek, Magothy River, Md ----- Original Message ----- From: "CNC boat owners, cnc-list" <[email protected]> To: "Frederick G Street" <[email protected]>, "CNC boat owners, cnc-list" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2014 3:40:12 PM Subject: Re: Stus-List bonding strap question Hi Fred, Thanks for the response and the offer. I can deal with 4awg stranded wire if that is an acceptable practice. My son in law is a master electrician and has all the big crimpers I need. Here is the challenge and another question: Those keel bolts are really big (close to 1 inch diameter, I bet) and I have not been able to find termination hardware (rings or open rings) that would fit over them. I noticed on my boat that there is a smaller bolt just forward of the mast right in the center of the bilge, definitely directly over the front part of the keel that is maybe 3/8 inch to ½ inch in diameter. Could this be used for bonding? All the other braided bonding cables go to the big keel bolts aft of the mast. This is bonding and lightning protection, not DC ground. Skip From: CnC-List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Frederick G Street via CnC-List Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2014 10:35 AM To: Frederick G Street; [email protected] Subject: Re: Stus-List bonding strap question Actually, there’s a reason to NOT use braid; from the ABYC bonding standard: The common bonding conductor shall be uninsulated copper or bronze strip, copper tubing, bare tinned-copper wire or insulated copper wire of the proper gauge. Copper braid shall not be used for this purpose. (a) Common Bonding conductors fabricated from copper or bronze strip shall have a minimum thickness of 1/32 inch and be no less than 1/2 inch in width. (b) Wire, where used as the common bonding conductor, shall be at least no. 8 AWG. Note: These requirements are based on both physical strength and the ability to make alld maintain low-resistance connections, as well as current ratings. So 8AWG would be okay for bonding; UNLESS it’s part of a lightning protection system. Then 4AWG is recommended. Fred Street -- Minneapolis S/V Oceanis (1979 C&C Landfall 38) -- Bayfield, WI On Jul 13, 2014, at 8:59 AM, Frederick G Street via CnC-List < [email protected] > wrote: Skip — there’s no reason to use braid over the usual insulated large-gauge stranded cable. I’ve got all crimp terminals from 8AWG to 4/0, in terminal sizes from #10 to 3/8”, as well as the proper compound crimper needed to do those large lugs; if you’d like, I could do up a heavy grounding wire for you. 4AWG green cable should be okay for the mast; I may actually have some of that around, depending on the length you need. And for the engine, if it’s just bonding (NOT the main DC system ground), 4AWG should be okay there, too. If you need a main DC ground, I’d probably go bigger than 4AWG; maybe 2/0 to account for engine cranking current. Fred Street -- Minneapolis S/V Oceanis (1979 C&C Landfall 38) -- Bayfield, WI On Jul 13, 2014, at 7:52 AM, Burt Stratton via CnC-List < [email protected] > wrote: I am in need of a bonding conductor for both my engine block and mast. Engine block strap is corroded to the point of dust. Mast strap is missing. The boat contains braided tinned copper straps with nice big ring ends to fit over the keel bolts. I have been able to find braided flat straps but no termination hardware. Does anyone here have experience with that? I have lots of experience terminating standard stranded wire but never braided straps. Is there a source for purchasing pre-terminated straps of varying length? Skip 1974 C&C 33 ¾ ton Portsmouth, RI _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album Email address: [email protected] To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go bottom of page at: http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com
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