Cobra Wire

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angus99 said:
Anyone familiar with them? They have attractive prices and the specs on size 8 marine cable and larger look good. I'm getting ready for some significant rewiring and these guys are cheaper than GenuineDealz, plus they're 20 miles from my door.

Extra Flexible Marine Battery Cable | Cobra Wire & Cable, A Division of EIS, Inc.
Click to expand...

Go for it.
They are the exclusive supplier for cable to my integration company. Great product and people. Needless to say that's what I used for my inverter install. The web site for my company is innovasys1.com .
I tell you this NOT to troll for business as we're strictly industrial but so you can gauge how much of this we buy.
 
angus,
Is this #8 "marine wire" tin coated copper w many strands? That's what I got for my new anchor capstan.

What is considered "marine"?
# of strands, wire material, coating and sheathing is probably all considered to be labeled marine. Is there a standard or is this basically a rule of thumb.

On my winch I crimped the connection under the deck and soldered the ends on deck that attach to two exposed studs on the end of the winch motor.

Except for using #8 wire I followed nose on this one. What could I have done to make the winch installation more suited for marine use?
 
It's good wire, but iv'e found it less flexible then Pacer and Ancor.
 
Thanks, all. They're going to send me some samples so I'll give it a look.

Eric, I'm looking for everything from 4/0 to 16. I'll use number 8 for bonding. Others would be better to ask about your winch wiring, but -- based on everything I've read, my criteria for wire is Type III tinned, stranded copper built to a BC5W2 standard.
 
mbevins said:
Go for it.
They are the exclusive supplier for cable to my integration company. Great product and people. Needless to say that's what I used for my inverter install. The web site for my company is innovasys1.com .
I tell you this NOT to troll for business as we're strictly industrial but so you can gauge how much of this we buy.
Click to expand...

Impressive site, mbevins! With all that volume, I don't suppose you have a few surplus rolls laying around for a one-time Brantford boy, do you? ?
 
I'm in no way affiliated with them but Fisheries Suppy in Seattle carries Cobra wire and cable. I'm doing a similar project so have been getting lots of wire. Agree that Blue Sea Systems makes a great product. Also through FS.
Stan
 
OreWa said:
I'm in no way affiliated with them but Fisheries Suppy in Seattle carries Cobra wire and cable. I'm doing a similar project so have been getting lots of wire. Agree that Blue Sea Systems makes a great product. Also through FS.
Stan
Click to expand...

Thanks, Stan. Just so I'm clear, are you using Cobra Wire? If so, are you happy with it in a boating application? Do you share Oliver's opinion on the stiffness?
 
The little I have used does a bit seem stiffer as if the insulation was a stiffer plastic....but still very usable.
 
OreWa said:
I'm in no way affiliated with them but Fisheries Suppy in Seattle carries Cobra wire and cable. I'm doing a similar project so have been getting lots of wire. Agree that Blue Sea Systems makes a great product. Also through FS.
Stan
Click to expand...


Thanks, I'm always on the lookout for a better deal. Looks to me that bestboatwire still has the best prices for retail wire.
 
Using Cobra and Ancor. Cobra is a bit stiffer but no so much that it's been any issue.
 
I've found the stiffness to be no problem, sometimes I prefer it.
 
"Marine" wire we will be labeled "Boat Cable" on the jacket along with the UL 1426 rating number and USCG designation.
 
caltexflanc said:
"Marine" wire we will be labeled "Boat Cable" on the jacket along with the UL 1426 rating number and USCG designation.
Click to expand...


I will make a point of looking at the ancor flat cable I have. I dont recall "Boat Cable" being on the stamping. Not saying it isnt there, just that the term feels too generic for some reason.
 
BC5W2 is another UL standard, apparently. I have seen it described as "boat cable," not "boat capable."

To add more to this discussion, it looks like Cobra markets a couple versions of boat cable, one of which meets the ASTM B172 standard, which is identified as "rope lay" flexibility. The devil seems to be in the details.
 
angus99 said:
BC5W2 is another UL standard, apparently. I have seen it described as "boat cable," not "boat capable."

To add more to this discussion, it looks like Cobra markets a couple versions of boat cable, one of which meets the ASTM B172 standard, which is identified as "rope lay" flexibility. The devil seems to be in the details.
Click to expand...

That's what I was referring to and assumed you meant back in my original post.
 
I don't think Ancor markets anything BUT boat cable. Ancor is a marketer, not an OEM, by the way.
I have never seen anything labeled "boat capable" as there is no such designation.

BC5W2 and UL1426. When we see that on our insulation, we know we have the correct conductor. It is rated for 600 volts, at a 5 (highest) dry rating, is water resistant (W), and has the highest (2) wet rating, hence BC5W2.
 
The one thing those standards don't convey apparently is flexibility. From reading on other sites, it appears that Type 3 has more and finer strands of copper than other Types, which generally leads to a more flexible cable (gotta be true because I read it on the Internet :thumb:). It would seem that sheathing thickness would also have something to do with suppleness.
 
How did "Boat Capable" enter into this?

We're like a bunch of collies talking about cats and then, a squirrel........
 
angus99 said:
The one thing those standards don't convey apparently is flexibility. From reading on other sites, it appears that Type 3 has more and finer strands of copper than other Types, which generally leads to a more flexible cable (gotta be true because I read it on the Internet :thumb:). It would seem that sheathing thickness would also have something to do with suppleness.
Click to expand...


I've noticed that pacer and anchor have thicker sheathing then comparable cobra. But I'm talking the outer sheathing as found in multi-conductor cable like duplex, triplex, etc.
 
what_barnacles said:
How did "Boat Capable" enter into this?

We're like a bunch of collies talking about cats and then, a squirrel........
Click to expand...

I'm very aware there's no such term. In post 19, I was addressing "boat capable" because I thought I saw it used by someone in an earlier post. (Now, I don't see that earlier reference . . . did somebody correct their post or did I just imagine seeing it? . . . entirely possible since I was jet-lagged when I wrote it.) Anyway, much ado over very little, IMHO. Sorry if anyone got disoriented.
 
So, what's the story between genuinedealz and bestboatwire? They're on the same street in Brunswick, GA, and it looks like they used the same web designer for their sites, but they have different phone numbers and pricing. Has anyone compared them?
 
Looks like the genuinedealz has a ebay store, and bestboatwire doesnt. Dunno why.

I havent tested many prices between the two, but so far bestboatwire has the best price (including shipping). I have made several purchases from bestboatwire recently, so far so good.
 
I've requested samples from Cobra, genuinedealz and bestboatwire. Feeling a lot better informed, thanks. I understand the BC in BC5W2 also stands for boat cable.
 
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