But then I got to wondering.... With the 4 trolling battery leads going to the bow. Does that in some way reduce the possibility of EMI being generated by the tolling motor? I'm thinking more paths equal less load on the path so it's not radiating as much. But for sure I don't have a clue.
So a few more goodies showed up yesterday... Some good n' some not so good.
What did show up was the 3 new Lowrance power only cords. They actually also have the wake-up wire in there though it comes clipped at the sheathing. There's only 2 ports on the plug that have connectors in them so if the wake-up wire actually works it's got to be spliced into the power(red) wire sum'air. And then some ferrite rings showed up as well. I've been studying up on ferrite rings/chokes and I'm thinking by the early part of next week I ought'a be able to pass final exams for my MEE degree(MastersElectricalEngineering). Didn't wanna waste my precious time on a Bachelors...
For those that missed the 1st Act of this show the new power cords are to eliminate the possibility that some cut off NMEA leads from the orginal power cords are in some way creating a problem.
Soooo... what showed up was the following...
As you can see.... Black/Red and a little nub of the yellow wake-up wire visible...
Then the ferrite rings... to be effective the wires are wrapped through the rings. Minimum of 3 wraps - more is better... With 5 wraps the large ring looks like this...
The not so good stuff that showed up was the small ferrite rings. Those are destined for each individual piece of equipment, 3-Carbons and 1-SS3D Module, power cable where it plugs into the unit. Unfortunately the ID on the ones I got is waaaaayyyy to small so - gotta order some more. The rings are cheap - the shipping is not.
Something I've used for a number of years to pull wiring... Comes in really handy around the boat. Pulling the transducer cable w/o pull rope was pretty easy. Getting it actually go where I wanted it to was not. In fact that never did happen. But if you have a wiring project in your near future you might want to consider this set. I got it @ Harbor Freight I think it was under 10 bucks. If not it certainly wasn't much more than that. Discount the Brady Label maker in the picture. It's not required to pull wiring....Neither is the Structure Scan Transducer!
OK... so I'm bored waiting for wire, terminals, heat shrink to show up. Gave me time to work on how I'm going to install the 4 circuit fuse holder that attaches to the battery stud.
I'm using non-insulated ring terminals. Then I'll follow that up with double installation of heat shrink tubing for insulating and strain relief purposes. So... I spoke of a hydraulic crimper. I'll be using it on this section of the project. I typically use it and non-insulated terminals on cable sizes 12 ga. and up. As I said earlier it comes with a slew of dies - that fit absolutely nothing. For this test run I'm using 10 ga. cable. The die? 4 AWG and 6 AWG. I use two dies. One gets it close the other puts the finishing touches on it. With each die I'm probably crimping the terminal 3-4 times. I crimp it, rotate the terminal one facet then crimp it again. If I like it, usually not, I'm done. If I don't like it I'll rotate the terminal and crimp it again.... The following photos will explain the "why" of multiple crimps.
This is the first crimp. On the left of the die is a little of the crimp area of the ring terminal sticking out. This is one thing that necessitates additional crimps....
Sorry about the bad pics but on the crimp tube the 4ga die pushes some of it out of the crimp area and into the flat surface of the die both top and bottom... I'm gonna stick the pictures in here even though they're totally worthless.....
You can kinna sorta see the ridge sticking up where the crimp tube was pushed out of the die....
And this one is supposed to be showing the installation of stepped double layered heat shrink. Maybe the final picture is decent....
The socket head bolt represents the positive battery stud. The black piece under the cables is actually a piece of strap aluminum that will also bolt to the battery stud and stabilize the cables. There's some out there that will say "How stupid is that - putting a piece of aluminum on the battery stud?" Can't say I disagree. But that's what it'll be until it proves ineffective or causes problems or I come up with a different cost effective solutions.
As you can see the cables will have identifier labels on them. On the fuse holder there is a place for labeling each fuse position. I don't have any label material on hand small enough to put anything there right now - but I will... So in the end each cable will be individually identified AND each fuse will be individually identified.
So! No matter where you go.......... There you are!
I think I have everything I need except for larger ferrite rings for the MFD power cords. While this has nothing to do with electronics wiring it is a display of how I make up terminal ends.
I'm making up new(longer) battery cables for the ProXS. Got the 4ga wiring in and I'm using Anchor brand battery lugs/ring terminals. The factory terminals have a wider ring surface but seems I can't find anything like that in the aftermarket world so I'm going with what I've to. It certainly has worked in the past.
So the first thing I do strip the cable to match the length of the crimp area on the ring terminal. Seems like a no brainer but.... Some folks strip too little... some too much. I strip it so when fully inserted the cable sheathing/insulation just clears the crimp zone. Unfortunately I'm not smart enough to take a picture of that step...
The next thing I do is apply dielectric grease to the stripped cable end and fill the crimp tube on the lug with dielectric grease as well. Then when you stick the bare cable into the crimp tube it looks sorta like this:
Then it's time to crimp. As noted earlier I use a cheap hydraulic crimper for this operation. It's cheap but it works better than anything else that's affordable to the average boat owner. I have figured out how to make really good crimps with this setup. Can't get in a hurry as it takes multiple stages of crimping. In this case I'm crimping 4 gauge cable/lugs. The die from the HarborFreight tool? '0' gauge. Before I was crimping all the way down until the crimp tube was forced out of the die. This created a ridge where the crimp tube, once pushed out of the die, was crushed by the edges of the die. I "finally" realized if I did the crimping in stages I did not get the ridge because I did not force the crimp tube out of the die to begin with. It does take multiple 5-6 iterations of crimping but it ain't like the sun rises and sets before it's completed. For the effort I end up with an extremely tight crimp w/o damage occurring to the crimp tube. When I talk about crimping in stages.... I start crimping until it looks like it may be distorting the crimp tube in a bad way - pushing it out of the die. Then I release the pressure, rotate the crimp tube by on flat on the hex crimp die and crimp it again until.... distortion. Then I release the pressure, rotate the crimp tube.... until it's fully crimped.
My camera is not fond of taking close-ups but... it is what it is...
Then it's on to the heat shrink installation. On these big cables/big heat shrink I use a heat gun, looks like a hair dryer. On smaller cables 8 gauge and smaller I use a micro torch - also from Harbor Freight.
And once the crimp is done I install two layered pieces of heat shrink. 1.) To protect the crimp tube from contamination. 2.) to provide strain relief to minimize cable movement in that area.
In the end it looks like this:
OK... Question of the day: How would a RedNek make twisted pair outta 10 gauge wire?
Well first he'd lay out his wire and heat shrink tubing on the floor and measure it to make sure he had enough twisted pair to make the run he has. Then he'd loop one end around a hinge on his shops roll up door. Thereby ensuring he can't open the door until the job is complete. Last check indicated it was 105 degrees in the shop with the door down. Heat shrink tubing is starting to shrink layin' on the floor! Ha! Is not!
Then he'd put enough li'l fiberglass sticks together to go through the heat shrink tubing. Then he'd tape the cables to the little fiberglass tubes. Then he'd try pulling the cables through the heat shrink tubing. Then he'd find out that didn't work. Then he'd destroy a 16' piece of heat shrink tubing trying to get his %$#%&^%(&^%$#%$( wires out that only made it 1/2 through the 15' of heat shrink before it seized up. Then he'd try lubing everything with cable lube to get it through the heat shrink tubing. Then he'd discover that only made matters worse. Then... he used a flat tape pull cord taped to the cables which were staggered and after several fails FINALLY get's the stinkin' wires thought the stinkin' heat shrink tubing...
Then... that RedNek would take a piece of CPVC and put it between the two cables taping and tie wrapping on either side to make a "twister"! Then he'd get the ladder to hold the twister when he needed to take a break....
Then he'd twist... and twist... and twist.... and take a break...
Notice how the heat shrink is twisting up n' lookin' ugly....
Otha' end...
Then he'd twist n' twist n' twist some more...
By this time I've make 70-80 twist on what started out as a 16' run - it's getting shorter. I'm also starting to heat shrink the tubing with a heat gun. This is accomplishing three things. 1.) It's shrinking the tubing - well duh.... 2.) it's smoothing out the wrinkles/twist in the tubing and 3.) It's relaxing the cable allowing me to put more twist in it. The last 30 twist, in 10 twist stages. Consisted of twisting then heat shrinking. So that in the end it looked like the following....
In the end I put 100 twist in a length of paired cable that started out at 16' and ended up 15'. I kinna shortened up a longer story as there were several "fails" trying to get the paired 10 gauge wire thought the 3/8" heat shrink tubing. If I had to do it again I'd buy 3/4" heat shrink tubing with a 3:1 shrink ratio. Would'a made this task a heck of a lot easier! What I ended up with is 1 twist per 1.8" or at least that's how the math shook out.
Got to thinkin'. Some of y'all gonna be in deep chit if I do all of this twisting wires, looping ferrite rings, and all that other stuff and end up getting images so good Lowrance is calling me asking me how I did it! Lololol.... There's some out there that would do what it takes but not many. That said I'm kinna doubting I'm gonna get those kind of world altering images - but I could. And if I do.... Some of y'all......
Last edited by yupitsme; 06-15-2019 at 02:30 PM.
Hey yup, why not twist the wires first, then slip the pair through the heat shrink? And yea, a larger diameter shrink w/ a higher shrink ratio would’ve helped!
2016 Ranger 1850 LS Reata / Merc 150 4s / SmartCraft / Lowrance HDS Carbon SS3D
I considered twisting then installing the heat shrink but with the bone headed decision to go with 2:1 3/8" tubing kinna made that not an option. Plus... I didn't want to relax any pressure I had from twisting until I had the twist locked in place with the tubing. If I had gotten 3/4" 3:1 it would've been a walk in the cake and a piece of park!Originally Posted by MichaelJ3
why need twist?
Tangrine Orange Key 16604126S1
It eliminates the inductive discordance on the hormonical ‘x’ axis while inducing eliptical digital signatures on the sinusoidal positive half waveform on the ‘y’ axis. I’m surprised you had to ask!
Doug, in post #25, is that fire extinguisher in code?
Nice work.......
Ed R.
2006 ChampioN 198 225 Optimax
Now why'd ya' have to go and ask a question like that. You know I'm going to go pull it, check CoastGuard regs and report back - right?Doug, in post #25, is that fire extinguisher in code?
So to answer your question....
Yes it is.... sorta.
I didn't actually know/remember so I did go pull it. I did get on line and check Coast Guard regulations. Geee... thanks Ed!
Then I'm setting here looking at the picture I posted and I see something.... At the bottom of the U.S.C.G. approved section are the following requirements - that I've never noticed before...
Valid only with
Bracket Number
Bracket Number B70-0161
Strap Number S70-0007
I replaced bracket and strap last year. I just got one that fit. I have no clue if it is the certified and approved bracket and strap.
Damn.... the things we learn on the way to Grandma's house.
Last edited by yupitsme; 06-16-2019 at 06:20 AM.
Looked at the pics to see the method...All old news...... BUT..OMG..here is a guy with an open flame Micro Torch making connections with what appears a can of gasoline and a gallon of Lacquer Thinner in the same area...at least in the pic behind the new connector...Good recipe for old fashioned gas fired Texas BBQ... What a nasty mess that all is. Prob need more than a small extinguisher for this.
Gas fumes and an open flame torch in a small confined area in the same pictures...Ouch Just a heads up to clean it all up for safety and maybe save a life.
Tommy
Prostaff
Lowrance/Navico
Buzzz.... buzzzzz.... buzzzz....Shooo fly...
Ok... so this has nothing to do with electronics except for the fact I had to remove the hydraulic lines to put the with wiring where/how I wanted it.
Bleeding hydraulic systems solo can be a bit problematic. And solo is the way I operate most of the time... ('cept when the fire dept. shows up and helps me extinguish a raging inferno). For whatever reason it seems every couple of years that's exactly what I end up doing - bleeding the hydraulic steering. So... Developed/created some stuff that makes it possible.
Made this little bucket bracket w/plumbing to connect to the fill/vent port at the helm. The little blue handle is a ball valve that allows me to shut the flow off when I'm done.
Then that hydraulic fluid has to go somewhere so I have a catch bucket connected to both bleeder ports so all I have to do is open one and close the other.
Each bucket holds up to 3 quarts. I only use 2 quarts. Once I've pushed 2 quarts though the steering system it may... or may not be completely air free. The advantage of this set up is I can take the bucket that caught to hydraulic fluid coming out of the steering cylinder and unscrew the lid, take the bucket to the helm and pour it into the bucket at the helm - without much of a mess. That's one advantage. The other advantage is - when bleeding steering systems often, coming out of the steering cylinder, the hydraulic fluid will end up with micro bubbles. If those micro bubbles are re-introduced in the the steering system by dumping the catch bucket in the the fill bucket those micro bubbles will eventually combine creating an air pocket/bubble that will/can affect the steering. What I do is transfer the contents of the catch bucket to the fill bucket then - let it set overnight. With all the micro bubbles in the fluid it appears foggy looking. When I come back in the morning it's clear. Then I run it 2 quarts though again until I end up with an air free hydraulic steering system.
What is next????
USS Intrepid CVS-11 Helicopter Anti Submarine Warfare Squadron-3 1960-1964
When I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations I have a good day
Donnie... Donnie... Donnie.... I thought we wuz buddies. I'm very hurt, deeply offended and extremely baffled by your comment. I washed/detailed my boat as recently as 2011 I'll have you know! It's not due for it's next detailing until 2021 - Which I'll do whether it needs it or not!!!! Thank'ya' very much!What is next????
You are a true fisherman..Do you provide a tetanus shot for your passengers?
YES, we are buddies..
USS Intrepid CVS-11 Helicopter Anti Submarine Warfare Squadron-3 1960-1964
When I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations I have a good day
Absolutely not! They're given an instruction sheet that reads: "Get in - Sit Down - Hold On - Shut-up"You are a true fisherman..Do you provide a tetanus shot for your passengers?
YES, we are buddies..
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