Cut Radar cable

[jeremy dyson]

I have cut clean through my ray marine cable with a skill saw!!!
I bought new four years ago,
Is there a coupling system i can re connect it, or have i got to buy new?

 

[HinewaisMan]

A lot of people will say No, but we rigged up an extention lead for our RayMarine radar cable so we could use the chartplotter in the cockpit as well as down below. It was a std Raymarine male/female part and it works fine.

Your local boat sparky should be able to get one for you.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

A lot of people said yes on exactly this topic only a few hours ago. Search the forums. There were at least two solutions posted.

As you don't mention radar specifically I can advise that my ICM Navtex, Navman Plotter, ICOM DSC VHF and Raymarine Instrument cables all pass through Junction Boxes with block connectors inside. So you can easily connect with a simple, low cost solution.

Link to other posting on PBO http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=228205

Take a tip. There is a lot of information on the forum and a few attempts at searching usually throws up a good answer.

 

[BlueChip]

I have cut clean through my ray marine cable with a skill saw!!!
I bought new four years ago,
Is there a coupling system i can re connect it, or have i got to buy new?

My last two boats have radar cables with chocolate block connections under the saloon deckhead to allow mast removal - AFAIK the only critical wire is the coax - make sure you keep continuity of the core and screen

 

[shamrock]

Yes. I was about to buy an extension cable for the eye watering Raymarine price when I found half a cable in the marina skip (great place for good stuff!)

There's a lot of individual cables, I conected them using a 10 or 12 way terminal strip and carefully cutting each cable progressively shorter so that the cable came vertically down to the terminal strip and each connector went off at right angles to its terminal. This was done so that it could be withdrawn through the deck hole to unstep the rig.

It was a lot of work but perfectly functional and reliable.

 

[purplerobbie]

I had the same problem with a boat i bought.
I phoned Raymarine (who are very helpful) and asked there advice.
They said it is fine to rejoin the cable and the standard block connectors are ok.
Just don't shorten it more than a few inches as this will affect the timing?

Rob

 

[cliffdale]

I used the cable connector blocks for years so that I could step the mast. No probems at all. The co ax inner core was a little brittle being very fine and it tended to snap easily.

As long as the cable is in the dry, connect them with the block connectors.

Cliff

 

[DogWatch]

I have cut clean through my ray marine cable with a skill saw!!!
I bought new four years ago,
Is there a coupling system i can re connect it, or have i got to buy new?

Where are you?

 

[samwise]

As long as the cable is in the dry, connect them with the block connectors.

Cliff

Absolutely crucial! I made the mistake of ignoring all advice and fitting our radar to a deck plug ( we were planning to bring the boat back from the Med up through the canals and I thought it would make unstepping a lot easier. It certainly did, but the following season, serious corrosion set in making the radar rather unreliable. So, the connection was taken down via a large deck gland to a connector in the headlining below. The gland aperture is big enough to allow the cinnector to be drawn through if required. I am sure deck plugs can be made to work but you have to be committed to the maintenance.

 

[samwise]

I notice that this query was posted on both the Reader to Reader and the Scuttlebutt forums. I thought that "double posting" was a no no!