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Author	Topic:   Fishing Wires Through Rigging Tunnel
Andre C	posted 03-16-2004 11:40 PM ET (US)         How do I fish a new wire from the console to the rear well of my Montauk?
Tom W Clark	posted 03-16-2004 11:44 PM ET (US)             Through the rigging tube or "tunnel".
JBCornwell	posted 03-16-2004 11:50 PM ET (US)             I found an electrician's "fish tape" very helpful for the first one I ran, Andre. After that I keep a cord in the tunnel for pulling through any new wires. Red sky at night. . . JB
jimh	posted 03-16-2004 11:58 PM ET (US)             [Changed TOPIC: was "Montauk question".]
Chuck Tribolet	posted 03-17-2004 08:01 AM ET (US)             I'll second the electrician's fish tape. If the boat's been in salt water recently, flush out the tunnel with fresh water so your tape doesn't rust. Chuck
JayR	posted 03-17-2004 09:55 AM ET (US)             I too keep a length of cord in my tunnel for ease of running new wires, etc.... It is twice the length of the tunnel. That allows me to pull it back when whatever I needed to fish through is completed.
gnr	posted 03-17-2004 10:10 AM ET (US)             I used one of those fiberglass tent poles that are joined together by an elastic cord. Slide one length in and attach the next length until you are through. I also left a wire in the tunnel to make life easier the next time.
Andre C	posted 03-17-2004 10:33 AM ET (US)             Thanks for the ideas guys.
rtk	posted 03-17-2004 01:16 PM ET (US)             I use the stainless inner cable of an old control cable for snaking wires. Cut both ends off and pull it out. It will not kink, the cable naturally wants to be straight and the small diameter made running wires easy through some pretty tight runs. If you use enough electrical tape to connect the wire to the cable no need put a "hook" at the end. Rich
kingfish	posted 03-17-2004 05:11 PM ET (US)             Here's one you can keep in your tool box and works like a champ! Go to AutoZone (or PepBoys, or whatever) and buy a length of tachometer or speedometer cable. It also wants to be straight, and when something is encountered you can get the leading end to get around it by twisting the cable one way or another. It then can be coiled up into a roll about the size of the palm of your hand and taped or velcroed and kept handy with your other tools. I have a seperate toolbox just for electrical tools and connectors, etc. and that's where my cable stays. The guys at Lakeside Marine who built my arch turned me onto that one, as that is what they use for snaking through arch and tower legs. kf
peetmin	posted 03-17-2004 09:36 PM ET (US)             A big, fat 25' tape measure works pretty well as long as the bottom of the tunnel is smooth. Sometimes I'll use the tape to pull a string to pull the cables.
DaveH	posted 03-18-2004 08:29 AM ET (US)             Kingfish and I have similar tactics. When I rigged large boats, I would use an old 25'length of Teleflex with the plastic sheath still on it. The plastic allows smooth passage through bulkheads and the metal inside allows you to twist it and turn up through holes. It would be a piece of cake through the Whaler tunnel.
Landlocked	posted 03-18-2004 10:59 AM ET (US)             Another option.... Go to Home Depot/Lowes and buy 10 ft of 10guage copper grounding wire. Works good and its cheap. Ll.
where2	posted 03-18-2004 12:48 PM ET (US)             The non-corrosive version is a length of heavy weed-eater line. If you stand in the electrical aisle and look at the options, they sell non-metallic fish-tapes, and boy do they resemble a piece of heavy weed-eater line with a 300% markup!! Wander over to the garden center and buy a spool of the heaviest weedeater line they sell, leave enough in the rigging tube to pull both ways... It doesn't rot, doesn't absorb water, comes in easy to see colors, and resists abrasion. This cost saving tip brought to you by someone who spends too much hard earned money at the home-improvement store...
Drisney	posted 03-21-2004 08:30 PM ET (US)             Here is another neat trick for wire fishing; hook a shop vac up to one side of tube seal it with rags, next tie a light weight rag on a stout string and presto !! it will shoot through the tunnel. Dave
Florida15	posted 03-21-2004 09:49 PM ET (US)             A Montauk must have more room in the tube than a Dauntless. I had a heck of a time pulling a new transducer cable through the tube of my Dauntless 15' even tying it to a cord. There just isn't much room what with all the cables going through there. All of your suggestions sounded great but I just can't see them working on the crowded tube of a Dauntless. I wish they would.
jimh	posted 03-21-2004 11:28 PM ET (US)             As someone who has some experience in dragging cables through cable tunnels, I can tell you that often what happens is the pull-wire is entangled with the exisiting cables. Each new cable pulled in has to follow this entangled path, which often become difficult to negotiate. Sometimes one has to create a new pull wire that takes a more direct path. You can do this by pushing a larger diameter, stiffer wire or snake though, trying to keep it in contact with the outside of the tunnel tube so that it takes a nice direct path.

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