Pulling Cable through the boat ....

[EZM]

Ok ..... I'm about to go into my toolbox and get me recip saw !!!

I'm installing my Onix 10, New style ethernet hub, etc... and so far so good until it comes time to run my transducer cable from the back of the boat to the helm.

The boat is a Lund tyee - so there are pretty much panels everywhere ....

The wiring chase along the gunnels isn't too bad - there a dedicated box in there so pulling wire using a snake is pretty straight forward (a little tedious but possible).

There's a spot in the corner of the chase that I think ( I can't see in there) is 90 degrees left, then 90 degree down and out and then goes down and back toward the transom under the back casting deck ( 2 quick sharp turns ). I am having a hell of a time trying to get the snake through there ....

Any tips or tricks????

:argue2:

Taking the boat apart in that area isn't practical or possible without doing some damage.

I'm going back in the garage after dinner ..... my patience has me eyeballing the saws all .... lol ..... help a brother out and save a boat today!!!!

[dodger]

Can you get the first 2 X 90 degree turns with the snake and then come from the helm with a separate pc of wire with a hook to help with the last bend?

That's the best I've got to offer. :(

Dodger.

[PerchBuster]

I did it by sacrificing my old transducer. Just cut off with side cutters, taped the new cable to it multiple spots so it wouldn't pull apart and then used it to pull the new one all the way back up to the helm or in your case to the hub. If you still wanted the transducer that you will sacrifice buy a new one first and tape it to the others and pull all of them through together. Reinstall transducers to transom. Cheaper than chopping up the boat.

[The Fisherman Guy]

Not sure on the snake you are running, or the the exact configuration of that corner, but I found a trick that worked for me.

I cut the hook off of the thinnest coat hanger I could find in my girlfriends closet, straightened it out and bent the last inch or so 180deg so it would have a rounded end. I inserted the other end into my cordless drill. It made approximately a 32" snake.

Before chasing it into the tight spot, I took my pliers and 2 inches above the bent end, bent the shaft about 5-10 degrees. I rubbed some paraffin on the bent end to help lubricate it.

I inserted the snake into the tight spot and when it stopped, I slowly rotated the drill until it rotated the bend into the correct direction. Pushed it further, and rotated again. It made it through eventually. Once the bent end was through I opened the bent end, and pinched a three foot section of speaker wire into the bent end of the coat hanger. I pulled out the coat hanger the same way it went in, threading the speaker wire through the tight spot.

Finally, I securely attached the transducer cable to the speaker wire, and tightly taped it with electrical tape, tapering the connection so it wouldn't catch on the corners. Pulled the speaker wire through, pulling the transducer cable with it.

Hope this makes sense. Good luck!

[EZM]

I will give a couple of these ideas a try ....... the biggest issue is I can see exactly what's going on the the corner of the boat there ..... all I know it two quick corners that need to be navigated and quite a few obstacles like other wiring, some structure and stuff.

I'm using something similar to this ....

https://www.google.ca/search?q=wiring+snake&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=XoNFVcjEEcmgNtb5gcAN&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#imgdii=KKrz_XDrNQOfvM%3A%3BKKrz_XD rNQOfvM%3A%3BxgI1L3gyb9_lwM%3A&imgrc=KKrz_XDrNQOfvM%253A%3BMydKh-LfIIa6-M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.forteelectric.com%252Fi mages%252F9066a_1_.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.fo rteelectric.com%252FSnakeWire.html%3B275%3B282

Anyone got any well trained hamsters?

[The Fisherman Guy]

Just like orienting into an open hole sidetrack.

Enjoy the garage time before opening day. Boat work is the best work.

[huntsfurfish]

After you are successful, leave a couple(at least one) lines to pull future cables. Will make the next install easier:).

[Mackinaw]

Is the chase small enough to shoot a line with air compresser and pick up with snake from other side or put a snake in from both ends and let them hook each other at trouble spot and then pull to one end or other.
Good luck

Mack

[bobalong]

Sorry not much to offer, the PIA method you are doing, is often the only way. Cant believe that "bird" hasn't come out with a wireless transducer yet.....hoping it will soon be one of the new improvements in the sonar world.

[Kim473]

When pulling the wire or pushing the snake, use some electritions wire ease or soap. Don't want friction to damage the existing wires. Yellow stuff that is very slippery. I think you can get it at Home depot and places.

[Sea Hawk]

My old boat was a lund tyee and i know what you mean about the tight corners in the back of the boat. My lund had a round cover in each corner that you could rotate and remove to get access to the cable tray. Whenever i had to install any new cable i would remove the cover and get my wife to reach in with her small arm to grab the cable. I hope you have those on your boat.

[EZM]

My old boat was a lund tyee and i know what you mean about the tight corners in the back of the boat. My lund had a round cover in each corner that you could rotate and remove to get access to the cable tray. Whenever i had to install any new cable i would remove the cover and get my wife to reach in with her small arm to grab the cable. I hope you have those on your boat.

It's has a cable chase along the gunnel that runs from near the underside of the dash all the way along the top of the gunnel and ends just short of the corner. The cable chase is accessed pretty easily and has a few cut outs that can be accessed from the side storage bins .... great design there.

It's the corner, a dark area - at full arms reach where the cable goes straight down at 90 degrees, for about 20" and then at another 90 degrees toward the transom along another neat and tidy chase.

Last night I went and purchased a inexpensive inspection camera - a flexible snake type BUT it was pretty useless actually.

I will keep working at it ..... hopefully have some time today.

[Sea Hawk]

Did you try to contact someone at the lund factory. They may be able to explain how they do it. I did that with the boat i now have and the manufacturer was very helpful. You could also try the service department of a larger lund dealer. They probably have faced the same problem.

[Xbolt7mm]

Use some light string, tie a little piece if cloth on it and blow it through with an air compressor, keep go up in string size until you can pull the cable

[cube]

Might be easier to tie a string to one of your old Lowrance cables at the helm and pull the string through first. You can then tie the strings to the cables you want to bring back up to the helm. And as Huntsfurfish said leave one blank string in for the nest time.

[EZM]

I had a lousy piece of string in there - it got caught and broke .... I will use a stronger nylon when I do the next pass through.

I have to do a spring run up on the boat - I will see if the dealer can just pull it through for me - I'm sure they know how that cavity in the corner is configured and might have done it a few times ..... so hopefully we will have it resolved.

I will supply him 2 pieces of HEAVIER nylon rope to leave in there.

That is a good tip .... saw it on the lund website on Walleye Workshop .... some good instructional on there - unfortunately the Tyee model is significantly more complicated compared to the Pro V when it comes to that back corner. If I had a boot going right into the wire chase I'd be laughing and eating cake right now.

http://www.lundboats.com/experience/boat-tip-videos

[GraylingGuy]

I've had similar issues in the past. I found the best thing was to use a small diameter cord (Para-cord or the like) and electrical tape. Ensure the knot is in front of the the plug and centered. You want to try to pull on the knot and not the plug. Build a taper with the tape. Finally, have an extra set of hands. one set pulls with light tension and the other wiggles and pushes from the other side.

That was the best way for me to not grind all the rivets in the panels and start tearing stuff apart.

[huntsfurfish]

Another option, would/may be to create an access panel at the back where it will give access to both directions. There are various sizes u can buy to make it look professional.

[EZM]

Ok - Got it done ..... so for those of you who face similar issues .....

1) Disconnected one of the transducers at the helm and attached (taped up) 3 para cord lines to it.

2) Pulled the transducer/3 para cords back through the side (gunnel chase) of the boat and laid the coiled down on the floor of the boat (a half pull) as I pulled it all to the middle of the floor (leaving everything still connected and taped up).

3) Then, going to the back of the boat, I was pulling the transducer and 3 lines all the way out the rest of the way - effectively, splitting the pull in two parts to avoid hang ups.

4) I detached 2 of the 3 para cord lines (leaving them in the wiring chase) and added the 2 additional transducers and reversed the process doing the "pulls" in two stages.

The key was pulling in two sections (instead of wrestling everything along the entire path) AND having my son apply some tension on the line so we could wiggle/manipulate/force the line to get over hang ups by trying different angles.

We used a cut off hockey stick shaft to poke back and assist the bundle of cord in the corner (where it was a tight radius pull and two quick angles) to gain an inch or two at a time.

The new type cords and connectors the Onix uses are hard to manage due to their size and inflexibility- The SI transducer cable is as thick and inflexible as a cable TV wire and the connector would have trouble squeezing through the neck of a bottle - so they are much more challenging to run.

Hopefully this helps someone out there.

[cube]

Ok - Got it done ..... so for those of you who face similar issues .....

1) Disconnected one of the transducers at the helm and attached (taped up) 3 para cord lines to it.

2) Pulled the transducer/3 para cords back through the side (gunnel chase) of the boat and laid the coiled down on the floor of the boat (a half pull) as I pulled it all to the middle of the floor (leaving everything still connected and taped up).

3) Then, going to the back of the boat, I was pulling the transducer and 3 lines all the way out the rest of the way - effectively, splitting the pull in two parts to avoid hang ups.

4) I detached 2 of the 3 para cord lines (leaving them in the wiring chase) and added the 2 additional transducers and reversed the process doing the "pulls" in two stages.

The key was pulling in two sections (instead of wrestling everything along the entire path) AND having my son apply some tension on the line so we could wiggle/manipulate/force the line to get over hang ups by trying different angles.

We used a cut off hockey stick shaft to poke back and assist the bundle of cord in the corner (where it was a tight radius pull and two quick angles) to gain an inch or two at a time.

The new type cords and connectors the Onix uses are hard to manage due to their size and inflexibility- The SI transducer cable is as thick and inflexible as a cable TV wire and the connector would have trouble squeezing through the neck of a bottle - so they are much more challenging to run.

Hopefully this helps someone out there.

Glad that worked for you. I'm sure you can't wait to try out the new toys.

[JohninAB]

Sure glad I bought a Crestliner!:argue2:

Glad you got it all done. Cannot wait to see this gold plated ruby edition Onix 10 work.

I am currently redoing my cables in the boat. Looking at running my electronics off their own dedicated battery and getting some aluminum insulated wire wrap to stop or reduce any electrical interference that may exist.

[huntsfurfish]

Glad that worked for you. I'm sure you can't wait to try out the new toys.

Sure glad I bought a Crestliner!:argue2:

Glad you got it all done. Cannot wait to see this gold plated ruby edition Onix 10 work.



Yup, x2
Knew you would figure it out!:)

[EZM]

Sure glad I bought a Crestliner!:argue2:

Glad you got it all done. Cannot wait to see this gold plated ruby edition Onix 10 work.

I am currently redoing my cables in the boat. Looking at running my electronics off their own dedicated battery and getting some aluminum insulated wire wrap to stop or reduce any electrical interference that may exist.

I'm going to have to board your crestliner like a pirate ..... I will probably be down your way this weekend testing the toys and adjusting the transducers (if required).

Need to isolate the 50/200 kHz from the 83/200 kHz on the units and play with some settings.

Going to do a bit of mapping and take the boat for a spin ...... too bad fishing is not open ...... at least I will save myself 15 bucks at the launch.

[JohninAB]

EZM, everytime I picture you as a pirate this comes to mind.

https://youtu.be/0pN7nmzuvNc