Offering electrical help

[Bob Bobbers]

greetings:

I am a retired electrical engineer and have restored many old boats. If you have some electrical issue that have you stumped or just need some basic info..drop me a note and I will see what I can do for you (most help is FREE...big help will cost you a few beers!)

[Bob Bobbers]

Transducer wire

QUESTION ASKED:
Just had my transom replaced and the friend who did the job asked me about my depth sounder. To do the job quickly required cutting the wire to the transducer. I have another depth sounder with a thru hull transducer so I told him to cut. Now I'm faced with a hole in my dash where the instrument was or replacing the wiring. Seems to me I have read you can't splice that wire. Is that the case? Shall I just toss the transducer and leave a gauge in the dash to fill the hole?
Thanks for being there for those of us who haven't the foggiest idea about electricity except how to turn on lights and appliances!

[Bob Bobbers]

Cutting the wire will be ok, you may see a minimal loss in performance.

A depth sounder wire uses a coax cable (coax is is a shielded cable where the inside wire is encased with a plastic cover, then surrounded wire a wire sheathing). The outer sheathing which looks like a woven wire mesh acts as both a ground and a shield to stop electrical interference.
Strip both sides of each cable about 2-3 inches long, then peel back the woven cover and trim the inner wire so that it is about 1/2 long. SOLDER the inner wires together and wrap with tape. Now pull the woven cover over the taped area. Try to spread the weave around the inner cable as much as you can. Weave the ends together and carefully solder in a couple of places (several small spots). wrap with electrical tape.

You can also get connectors to fit onto each end to make a cleaner splice, but it may be hard to find the correct size connector due to the wide range of wire sizes used.

[Steve_Kiesel]

Thanks for sharing Bob, good info to know.

Bob Bobbers
Yep you've worked with coax alright.
You can get BNC connector to fit and I'm thinking an RG 58 ---- BUT --- any connector you install is more open to corrosion if it is not sealed right. I think solder and tape is the best bet then shrink wrap it and then 3M tape over the whole splice. Don't use any other tape but 3M --- it is the best. All other tape is just utility tape and not meant to keep out moisture.

I'm an out of work low voltage / limited energy electrician down here in Eugene and I have done many splices on coax like that as a quick fix to get a system up and running ----- 9 times out of 10 the quick fix is better then a BNC repair --- go figure.:GoodJob:

[Helmar]

The motorcycles use a grease in all the connections, tail lights and all.
There are several types of electrical lubes that can be used.

[Bob Bobbers]

your right

you are right....I forgot the shrink wrap part!

For other electrical wiring connections there are gel filled connectors that range in size from 22ga to ( as far as what I use ) 16ga. We use those for outdoors and at times indoors wiring where it is critical to keep moisture out.