Quote:
Originally Posted by socaldmax
You might not want to hear this, but...
I'd recommend installing all of that into a watertight plastic box with strain reliefs for all of the cables entering it. I suspect that vibration might eventually break one or more of those wires when you least expect it and you need it most. A nice copy of the wiring diagram glued to the inside of the lid would be nice.
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Always up for hearing ideas...
I kicked around the idea of boxing it all up, but where it's at is pretty safe. If
water ends up there I've got bigger problems. The primary
electronics backbone is a combination of
Garmin Marine Network and N2K. The
NMEA 0813 stuff only exists for me because the VHF and
SSB radios don't play N2K.
The strain relief is a good point. I've got three or four more cables to run along the path, and then I plan to secure them all. In the
engine space I used a combination of split loom, wire ties, and wire anchors to secure the runs. I figure I'll do the same here. It looks much cleaner that way, but I figured I'd wait till I got it all dialed in before securing it. It's such a bummer to have to cut ties and re-wrap every time I make a change (which right now is pretty often since I'm just making it up as I go along).
I'm trying to set myself (and any future owner) up for success later by taking the extra time to label everything now. All the wires and cables get a label from the label maker that is then covered with clear heat shrink (thanks MaineSail!). Some of them get an extra label that sticks up like a tag. I did the same thing with the
battery re-wiring, where every cable has a label that tells what is on the other end. I like the idea of the laminated diagram as well. Thanks.
JRM