What size wire?

[Bad Habit]

I'm having some interference in my electronics so I decided to re wire the electronics I have added. I was wondering what gauge wire should I use to do this. I have a VHF radio, Depth Raider, GPS, Fish Finder and 4 Big Jon downriggers. Right now they are all wired into a terminal block on the bulk head (under the helm). I want to wire them directly to 2 seperate batteries using Johnny Ray terminal connectors. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks, Rick

[jimski2]

For your VHF Radio which consumes 25 Watts when it transmits, you should use at least 10 gauge wire. Attach it directly to the battery terminals with the fuse next to the battery on the positive terminal. The range your radio transmits is dependent on how many amps you can get through the wire and 10 gauge should do the job. By going direct to the battery you avoid power losses from the other accessories. Dual batterys could use a battery disconnect switch to choose which battery you are charging or both batterys in a parallel hookup. The switch you use should have a field disconnect switch to protect the diodes in the alternator if you switch batterys that you are using while the engine is running.

[Bad Habit]

Thanks for the reply Jimski2. I am having problems with my fish finder "ping" interfering with my VHF radio. On a couple of channels, mostly 8, my squelch goes off every time the fish finder pings. I also don't seem to be marking fish or bait if I get into deeper water. I'm thinking the transducer might be bad, but that's just a guess. I wanted to get this re wired any way and am hoping it might help.

[jimski2]

One of my graphs does the same thing on 68. I shut the radio off, it is nicer. One thing I found out was the sensitivity setting on your fishfinder will blow your transducer if it is too high. I lowered mine down, still get a good picture.