Feeding cables through impossible routes !

[wonkywinch]

I've done loads of poking cables through impossible routes in my time. Whilst the electrician's fish etc are handy, I found the lid from plastic mini trunking really good. It comes in 3m lengths which should be long enough for most orifii.

 

[Seastoke]

My Primor 24 has its battery bank in the engine well .... cables then lead to stbd and up into the box section GRP cockpit side. Fwd to the steering console, where a hole in side allows cables to enter rear of console.

I am loathe to dismantle the console as it carries the weight of the steering mechanism as well as switches etc. Similarly reluctant to disconnect any cable and use as a pull though ..

I've tried stiff wire fed in from aft - with hand up inside console to the side .. but no success.

If the installers had just used a section of conduit pipe - life would be so much easier !!

My wish is to install a dual Speed / Depth NASA unit ... and that will need both transducer cables fed up to the console .....

Looks like I'm going to have to use an existing cable and pray I can get it back again ... the task will be to identify the cable inside that console ... there is an access hatch in bottom of console about 7" x 4" - big enough to get hand in ...

Being in the trade there is no such thing as impossible , it’s just an opertunity to make more money.

 

[ChromeDome]

I most commonly find the one in #4 useful. Mine is white, 3 mm but 4 mm is available. Surprisingly strong and no joints to fail when it counts.

I've marked mine every meter to get an idea of how much went in = how long a wire to connect for pulling back.

I've left vivid coloured whipping line in places for possible future projects.

 

[Seastoke]

You just triggered my thoughts ... I have an Endo with a stiff bendable cable .....

What ever turns you on.

 

[Gustywinds]

You should keep that sort of information to yourself

Thought an innuendo was an Italian suppository?

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I most commonly find the one in #4 useful. Mine is white, 3 mm but 4 mm is available. Surprisingly strong and no joints to fail when it counts.

I've marked mine every meter to get an idea of how much went in = how long a wire to connect for pulling back.

I've left vivid coloured whipping line in places for possible future projects.

Now that’s what I call innuendo.

 

[Alicatt]

I still use my snake/fish from when I was on the tools, been very handy in getting cables through on Hunter after finding some things that were supposed to have been installed were not

 

[ChromeDome]

Now that’s what I call innuendo.

And I'm not even a little bit Italian.

It's all about precision, you know...

 

[Refueler]

I was going to have another go today ... but looks a bit grey out there and clouds forming up ... forecast shows possible showers.

 

[Hurricane]

I use a set of these - loads of people selling them on Ebay/Amazon
Mine are about 1m long but I also have an interchangeable set about 300mm long.



Also
When I visited the Princess factory, they use some thickish cable ties with the ratchet end cut off.
Then just tape several together with electrical tape.
The beauty of this is the they are rigid in one direction and bendy in the other so you stand more chance of finding a hole.

As said above when you have have finished leave a mouse cord for later.
In fact, make sure that the mouse is double length - so one end of the cord has enough spare to pull through without loosing the end.
Then when pulling a cable through, you attach to the middle of the mouse (at the long end).
Then if the new cable becomes detached, you still have the mouse at both ends.
If you know what I mean.

 

[Refueler]

Your connectable rods ... I have a complete set of CF tent rods that clip together .... worth a try.

 

[Irish Rover]

Your connectable rods ... I have a complete set of CF tent rods that clip together .... worth a try.

I'd be very reluctant to use anything that wouldn't buckle when it meets any resistance in case I met a transducer, vhf or other cable with a join.

 

[dpb]

Faced with a similar dilemna last week I used a length of ordinary garden hose which proved far better than expected and was a little steerable by rotating it.

 

[Refueler]

I'd be very reluctant to use anything that wouldn't buckle when it meets any resistance in case I met a transducer, vhf or other cable with a join.

There are only electrical cables ..... and the entry point is the only restriction .. once through that - the space is the volume between outer and inner topsides.

 

[Alicatt]

I was lucky that there is a cable tray running the length of the salon under the central support spar for the floor, so it was feed the cable down the access hatch on the bulkhead which goes from the upper helm down to the void under the floor, there are a multitude of cables, pipes and the steering coupling all running down that. Running a NMEA2000 backbone cable from the upper helm to the lower helm was quite easy for a distance of 8m in total, and I put a "T" in the engine bay for future expansion.

 

[Nauti Fox]

I've used curtain wire with some success in the past....

 

[oldgit]

There are only electrical cables ..... and the entry point is the only restriction .. once through that - the space is the volume between outer and inner topsides.

Will guarantee you there will be a least one pinch point , usually where two parts of the boats mouldings ie. saloon/fly come together that the builder has with malice squeezed the entire rats nest collection of electrics/hydraulics plus anything and everthing else through the gap.
The MAD solution is to put a few inspection hatches in strategic locations.

 

[Refueler]

Will guarantee you there will be a least one pinch point , usually where two parts of the boats mouldings ie. saloon/fly come together that the builder has with malice squeezed the entire rats nest collection of electrics/hydraulics plus anything and everthing else through the gap.
The MAD solution is to put a few inspection hatches in strategic locations.

No doubt !! We all know builders have evil minds !

 

[Refueler]

I've used curtain wire with some success in the past....

This is nearly as bad as when I had to feed wire through a horizontal mast to replace broken halyards !!

 

[ProDave]

My tool of choice has been one of these for years Essentials Steel Fish Tape 15m (49') - Screwfix

It's a steel fish wire which has the advantage over the fibreglass ones that you can pre bend it to particular shape to go around corners. It has helped me pull cables through many seemingly impossible places.