Opinions on Saving Old Wire

I am repairing a Stevens 47 Sailboat vintage 1981. I have had to remove the interior joiner-work salon, galley and aft stateroom port to get to the hull. I am intending to upgrade all the tronic's and electrical. My question as I have opened up so much of the boat, is it worth saving the marine wire or should I just replace it all?

JC47

 

replace it all ,while you can,

 

yep, replace the wire that's in-built as it were, and run the new wire in conduits (plastic water pipes are good).

The old cable is probably still ok in the most part, so cut off the last six inches or so, then cut the removed end open to check it's ok. If it isn't, repeat the process until you come across good cable. You can use the old, good cable in more accessible places.

Marine wire should have been caulked so it should only be the ends that fail. Negative leads are the most prone to degradation, the so-called "black rot" this is obvious because of the (black) copper oxide on the cables.

Wire that looks ok will generally be fine.

Tim B.

 

Thanks for the advise. JC47