steering consol mystery

[handball]

To start with I have a 1987 sea ray weekender that has a large steering consol complete with gauges ,steering, controls etc.The consol has a sliding door that drops down when the latch is released. Inside the consol in the lower half is mounted a radar, a stero and amp, a vhf,all three are mounted on a plywood shelf.above all this is the fuse holders and wiring.If you look above this area you can see the shift, throttle, and steering cables that feed out the top right side of the consol and disapear behind a plywood wall.<br /><br />What I need help with is how are you to get any wires with connectors from inside this consol and down into the bilge? I have installed a fume detector gauge in this consol and in order to get the cable and the sender mounted in the bilge I had to cut the cable snake it thru a small confined area then after reaching the bilge I had to re solder the sender wires.I cant even imagine how one could ever replace the shift or throttle cables.There must be some way to do this but I sure can not figure it out.I have just bought a new fishfinder and have to run its cable to the bilge to the transducer, there must be a way to do this without cutting its cable.<br /><br />Bill

 

[roscoe]

Re: steering consol mystery

NEVER cut a transducer cable if you expect it to work properly.

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: steering consol mystery

well lets all be thankfull there are people such as roscoe, with such insightfull answers. i bet that cleared EVERYthing up...hahaha JK<br />on to your question...<br />i had an older cris craft 34 footer that had similar setup to what you describe. cables and wiring going into walls and then disapearing. at least on my chris craft, some of that was pre fabricated meaning it was not user adjustable without removing fiberglass walls or floor. usually thottle and steering and shift cables should last up a good long time without needing replacment , as long as they are used /excercised regularly. if they sit. they will stick.my cris craft was a 1970 and still worked fine. hope this helps a lil

 

[18rabbit]

Re: steering consol mystery

NEVER cut a transducer cable if you expect it to work properly.

Well, you’re kind right. It is ‘preferred’ to not cut the transducer’s cable.<br /><br /> Can you lengthen or shorten the transducer cable?<br /> <br />It’s the 3rd question down in the faq from the folks that made your transducer. <br /><br /> http://www.airmar.com/faq/faq_index.html

 

[salty87]

Re: steering consol mystery

have you tried snaking a wire down the hole where the cables currently go? just to see where it might lead. <br /><br />what about making a hole? )<br />i had to run some wires and used the already existing hole in the floor from the battery cables....just moved em aside a little.<br /><br />is the amp and stuff mounted on that board? mounting amps on a board and hiding the wires behind it is the preferred installation. perhaps it is hiding something.<br /><br />pics?

 

[roscoe]

Re: steering consol mystery

Never mind phatmanmike, cut it up and splice it back together. Especially if is coax or double shielded. Then call me when you need a new one.<br /><br />I was just trying to save the guy some money.<br /><br />And your suggestion for his install question was....??<br /><br />*******************************<br />Sorry handball, you are just going to have to get creative if there are no access panels.

 

[handball]

Re: steering consol mystery

Thanks for the interest fellows, one thing for sure I am not cutting any connectors off the cable end. I was hopeing to find someone that had a similar sea ray and might have installed electronics in them for a living. As soon as it gets a little warmer I will try to remove the radio and radar from the shelf it is mounted on , after that I will try to remove the shelf, maybe that will give me a shot at getting the cable to the bilge.Sea Ray gives the owner a lot of good info with the boat but does not get into details like this, probably because they want to install everthing.I have had about 15 boats over the years both power and sail and this is the first boat that I have been unable to figure out how to run the wiring.<br /><br />Bill

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: steering consol mystery

I have just bought a new fishfinder and have to run its cable to the bilge to the transducer, there must be a way to do this without cutting its cable.<br />

There is! They make extentions for most brands of cables. What kind of finder do you have??

 

[handball]

Re: steering consol mystery

Rick,<br />I have a furuno model 6100 fish finder and the problem is not with the length of the cable it is that where the other cables go thru to the bilge is so tight that there is no room for the connector.I will just have to keep on searching for another way to get the cable to the bilge.<br /><br />Bill

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: steering consol mystery

Gotcha, Handball. Was just thinking that if you had more cable, you could find another route. I understand your problem now and it's a toughy. Wish I could offer more advice, but without seeing it, I can't help, other than to say keep on looking and you will find a way to get it there...