What part to lead wire from outside the transom to inside

[Hudson Force]

'just a brief replay of the alternative. Sure, back up plates are normally solid and the run for the wire may pass out of sight through bulkheads. I just like the wire to pass a few inches from the solar panel to the distal end of the davit and out of sight. I drilled through the center of my back up plate and drew a cotton ball tied to a length of dental floss with a hand held vacuum cleaner. This was the lead that I then used to pull my wire,- all secure and out of sight.

What's the other plan? - 'an exposed pair of wires with cable ties running from your solar panel to the cable clam on the hull?

[Scott Berg]

Consider a "J" pipe as well
Kato makes a great one
http://www.katomarine.com/swannecks.htm


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[Bulawayo]

I have always known them as cable glands!!

Originally Posted by jbinbi

So I am going to take a perfectly good boat, and add a hole to it to lead the wires from my solar panels on my davits to inside the hull. I know you don't just make a hole and fill it with some caulk, there are special waterproof thru hullsfor this, in fact I have used M12 waterproof connectors for other jobs. However, this isn't a connector, it is a hole. For the connector, it is a nut that has a compressible rubber/plastic washer/gasket that seals around the wire.

Another member said home depot carries these items, went to 2 and couldn't find anything.

Would be happy if someone could give me a part number or link to a device to do this. Thanks.

[Bulawayo]

I like that idea.....shall save it for reference.

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

'just a brief replay of the alternative. Sure, back up plates are normally solid and the run for the wire may pass out of sight through bulkheads. I just like the wire to pass a few inches from the solar panel to the distal end of the davit and out of sight. I drilled through the center of my back up plate and drew a cotton ball tied to a length of dental floss with a hand held vacuum cleaner. This was the lead that I then used to pull my wire,- all secure and out of sight.

What's the other plan? - 'an exposed pair of wires with cable ties running from your solar panel to the cable clam on the hull?

[hellosailor]

"so what is the diff between the cable clam and cable gland."
Clam was probably someone's trademark for their brand or design. Much the samew way that gasoline and kerosene were both trademarks. (Which is why the Brits call them "petrol" and "paraffin oil", different markets, different names.)

[unclemack]

There's a big difference in how they are fixed and in how secure they are.
But what do us Brits know about anything?

cable clam





cable glands

[hellosailor]

Well, Nescafe ain't coffee...(G)...but then again, maybe it is. Any bicycle shop could turn out the "clams" without special tooling. The "glands" would require special molding and production. but either one works the same way, by compressing a rubber ring around the cable.


As Chairman Mao once said, "Black cat, white cat, all same. Catch mice."

[jstevens]

jbinbi,

I think the cable seal you have selected will work OK if it is long enough for the thickness of the deck. However, you will have to drill a larger hole for this seal than you would for a cable clam. With the cable clam the hole only has to be large enough to pass your 10AWG wire (since you do not have a terminal or connector on the wire). With the Anchor seal you will have to drill a hole large enough to accommodate the body of the seal. You may also need to reach both sides of the deck to tighten seal to the deck. As another poster stated, the anchor seal is normally used to pass wires into a junction box as shown here: http://www.svsarah.com/Sarah/Images/...ndlass0004.JPG
The Cable Clam has the additional advantage of accommodating a hole large enough for a terminal or connector on the wire.


John

Edited to add: I just noticed this picture includes a Cable Clam so my point with the picture might be a little confusing. In this case I used a Cable Clam to pass a multiple wire cable through a 1" deck and a cable gland to pass the same cable into a junction box for a windlass installation.

[unclemack]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Well, Nescafe ain't coffee...(G)...but then again, maybe it is. Any bicycle shop could turn out the "clams" without special tooling. The "glands" would require special molding and production. but either one works the same way, by compressing a rubber ring around the cable.


As Chairman Mao once said, "Black cat, white cat, all same. Catch mice."

How many holes needed to fit a clam and how accurate do they need to be?

The answers for a cable gland would be "one" and "not very"

One fitting requires an accurate hole piercing through a solid block of rubber - the right size to grip the cable but that lets the cable pass through.
The other one - doesn't.

They're not the same.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by unclemack

There's a big difference in how they are fixed and in how secure they are.
But what do us Brits know about anything?

cable clam





cable glands

The top pic type are good. Not sure I felt they were great, a lot of holes to pass a simple wire thru. The other white plastic/chrome types that grip on the wire as you tighten also are good but need to fit your particular wire well, and need to fit thru your fiberglass thickness..
Some times I think just a small clamshell scoop covering a hole is more elegant actually. the wire loops down, then up under the clamshell scoop, then thru the hole.

[oleman]

Every cable on a USN ship that goes through a waterproof bulkhead uses a stuffing tube. I would expect that commercial small boats would also use them.
Good luck and stay dry.

[topmast]

Weather you use use a J tube or a gland of some kind, butyl tape is handy. Every auto window repair shop throws out partial rolls of tape. Check it out if you are a diy'r

[jbinbi]

Unclemack, jstevens, (and others) thanks for that info, good explanation on the diff. Not sure of the length on the screw thread on the gland, but should be enough to cover the thickness of the fiberglass on the back of the deck where the davits are. I can't find dimensions on it, but I would think it has 1/2" of thread, and glass is maybe 1/4"?

But now agree, that clam needs a smaller hole, just the size of the wire (1/4"), whereas the gland needs a 1/2" hole to put the threaded part through, and normally, the smaller the hole you make in a boat the better, though not sure when we are talking about 2.5 vs. 0.5 it makes that much diff...However, I have not done this yet, and that is why I posted, hoping those with more experience can share with me.

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

...you can have a much neater lead with the wire entering your davit near the solar panel and leading into your hull inside the base plate of your davit...

This is the way to do it, wherever practical.

[stillbuilding]

Having a steel deck, I would weld on an inverted stainless J tube of chosen size and pass all cables through then fill the intake space with silicon or whatever. No reason you could not add a flange to screw on for GRP or other.


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