Thank you, thank you, thank you Excellent idea.

A good quality extension cord would be less than half the cost of regular marine grade wire and, in my opinion, would be just as good. I would think that Home Depot or Lowe's would carry this. Also, this will allow me to add a little to my dock bar bill line of credit.

Thanks again.

Another option that is very cost effective is utilizing whats known in the Electrical Trade as TC Cable or Tray Cable. It is a stranded Cable and is available in various sizes and it is rated for marine use. We use it all the time on offshore platforms. You will not find this at any residential or commercial electrical supply house. You will have to go to an Industrial Supply house such as Reily Electrical Supply, Consolidated Electrical Distributors (CED), or Graybar. This will suffice for insurance requirements as well as survey requirements. For example a 2/C #12 sells for about $ 0.35 a foot.

The problem with Romex is not so much it coming loose from the receptacle but rather the copper conductor breaking into two pieces within the insulation as a result of vibration causing an arc which will result in a fire. This could happen in the hull or a wall.

If a fire were to result in someone being hurt and/or killed you could be held criminally liable.



I hope this helps, if you need a phone# to these supply houses email me and I would be happy to give it to you.



Sincerely,



Jason Campo

Miss Sandi

Belle River, LA

Heres the skinnys. There are a lot of things that will work. Every houseboat I owned except the last one were wired with ROMEX on the AC side.

Over that period of time regulations changed and specifications were tightened up. Generally speaking your boat will be grandfathered with the wiring that was installed as built, when built.

The current trend is that any changes or additions installed after initial build should conform to the latest regulations that are inforce at the time.

Common sense tells us that boxless switches and receptacals are deficient and should be corrected. However common sense also says we aren't going to tear out all the existing wiring because it doesn't reflect current standards.

Now comes the CYA part. It's in your best interest to make any additions or improvements in your boats electrical system reflect current practice. This will prevent problems if something comes up involving your insurance company and/or overzealous CG/AUX inspectors.

Cheers

OHB
OLD HOUSEBOATER39155.7725462963

Well, now that I have all of these options, I can start to amass the cash to make it happen. It takes a long time to collect all those quarters standing on the street corner, but if it has to be done for the boat, I'll do it. The "tray cable" will be investigated as viable option. OHB, you hay have the only answer and I will indeed, cma.

Thank you all once again.