[C320-list] Port Side Wiring From Chart Table To Aft

[Allan S Field]

Joel - Running wire from the distribution panel to the port locker is very
easy.  First, go to Home Depot or Lowes and get a 6 ft. Splinter Guard Glow
Rod.  The rod is essentially a semi-flexible fish tape but unlike the
traditional reel fish tapes, won't get hung-up when pushing/pulling it
through; it is FAR superior to a reel-fish tape.  

Next remove the all of the wood paneling (3 pieces total) in both of the
cabinets over the stove and on either side of the microwave unit.  Once you
remove those panels, you will see a very large fiberglass "shelf" that
serves as a chase.  Starting in the distribution panel, push your rod into
the opening in the upper aft corner of the distribution panel until it comes
into the first of the cabinets over the stove.  From there, just continue
pushing the rod through until it comes out in the portside locker.  Of
course, you need to tie a messenger line to the end of the rod so as to
eventually pull the wiring through; the rod has a small hole on either end
for tying on the messenger line.

Pulling the wiring through gets a little tricky as it can hang-up on stuff
behind the microwave.  I have found that the easiest way to attach the
messenger to the wire is to punch a hole through the end of the wire as
close to the end of the wire as possible but still leaving sufficient outer
covering so as to not pull apart if and when the cable hangs up when pulling
it through.  What you want to have is messenger line and cable end that runs
as straight as possible with little, such as large knots or too much cable
between the messenger line and where it punches through the cable, to hang
up on.  

What really helps is having 2 people to do this although I never have had
that luxury!  You may need some patience and if you have 2 people, one can
push and jiggle the rod from one end while the other person is waiting for
it to come through so as to jiggle and pull from the other end.

The chase behind the cabinets on Sea Shadow currently have wire runs for at
least the following - stereo speakers, AIS GPS antenna power, AIS
transceiver power, GPS antenna power for the VHF, Sirius/XM radio antenna,
autohelm power, chartplotter power, and RAM mic to the helm.  The point is
that one can run a lot of wiring from the distribution panel to the portside
locker!

Hope this helps!  Again, the key is the Rod versus traditional fish tape.

Allan S. Field
Sea Shadow - #808
Columbia, MD

-----Original Message-----
From: C320-list [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf
Of Joel Krauska
Sent: Monday, May 04, 2015 2:25 AM
To: C320-list at catalina320.com
Subject: [C320-list] Port Side Wiring From Chart Table To Aft

I'm thinking about adding cockpit speakers from the Stereo and/or running a
GPS antenna in to the aft locker from the GPS unit in the cabin.

Both task will require wire runs from the chart table area to the aft
locker.  I'm thinking I should get some of the flextubing and put it in
place now with some pull cables.

I've read some notes about other people accomplishing this, but I can't seem
to figure out where the conduit actually is hiding/run.

I can feel a little bit at the rear of the lockers to the sides of the
microwave, but then it somehow takes takes a dive down in to the mysterious
space behind the chart table.

I figure it also does some magic behind the refrigerator and main cockpit
locker.

Has anyone taken some pictures of this wire chase that they could share?

I'm sure it will involve taking off some paneling, but it would be nice to
get some hints before I start taking it all apart.


Best,

Joel

ps. Coming soon for any techie C320 folks, details about an all-in-one combo
GPS/AIS/Wifi unit -- Vesper XB-8000 that I'm testing out.