B331 Speed Transducer wire routing

[CABixler]

Hi I always pull my speed paddle wheel and swap with the dummy (blank) plug.

Last season end however I could not stop the dripping and when I went to hand tighten more the WHOLE house rotated! Of course the housing should nicely and securely bedded. So the yard pulled me sooner as water was slowly coming in.

Replace the whole assembly and found it was bedded in RTV silicon. Basically window chalk that is like rubber cement and never hardens. I could peel off with my fingers. So replace with tried and true 5200.

Did make a nice tool I was proud of to loosen the lock nut that is hard to get to with the housing around the depth and speed. Worked great.

Problem Question:
I am aware of the conduit laid through the vessel and thought I could simply pull the new wire through the bow to the nav station, then to the nav station to the helm. WRONG! We found them but they don't budge. Not sure if the depth and speed are wire tied or what. Also the below the steering help is a super tight cohesive bundle also wire tied to the shift throttle cable.

Any then it occurred to me just to use the same wire and spice the new to the existing cable already in place. Same wire count and color code.


Any comment would be appreciated.

Best Regards
Craig

Some shots of the tool to loosen stubborn transducer plastic 6 point nuts. Only used to hand tighten the new one as you can over torque.

 

[DougM]

Curious as to why you need to change out the paddlewheel assembly if you are using the same brand transducer. Is seems as though it should fit into the new through hull and that replacing the O ring on the paddlewheel body should solve the leak problem. most of the transducers are Airmar brand.

Hope you never have to remove the through hull fitting. That 5200 is NASTY stuff.

 

[CABixler]

Curious as to why you need to change out the paddlewheel assembly if you are using the same brand transducer. Is seems as though it should fit into the new through hull and that replacing the O ring on the paddlewheel body should solve the leak problem. most of the transducers are Airmar brand. Hope you never have to remove the through hull fitting. That 5200 is NASTY stuff.

Good question.
I was it at all sure what I would find I felt that since Airmar had a design change and the complete set is pretty reasonable. I thought it may not completely come out whole and want to absolutely start from scratch and know what is installed is properly done so.

Complete assembly was maybe $65.

As far as 5200 I love it in the right spot and application. I also have had good results with a little heat gun and a sharp putty knife on the few times I did remove to re-bed.

It was NOT a pleasant feeling having a complete thru-hull rotate under hand force torque while water dribbles in.

Yes I like my 5200 for permanent underwater fittings.

Best Regards

 

[Stu Jackson]

Craig, ingenious tool, nice job.

What equipment do you have? On our old Datamarine, the transducer cable is coax, with BNC connectors. I'm in the process of splicing that RG-58 coax cable now.

My transducer came with 10 feet of coax connected to the longer cable that runs to the binnacle. The old OEM BNC connector had been laying the bilge for 29 years. I never knew it was there, thinking it was a single wire run.

Is it coax?

 

[CABixler]

Stu I have Raymarine ST60 Tridata and ST60 wind. The transducer is a Raymarine/Airmar ST800 with a P120 through hull housing. It was only $58 on Defender. It is a single jacketed black cable that has 5 signal wires in it. Maybe 24 or even 26AWG. Thin signal wire.

Beneteau and most makers run conduit channels through the vessel at layup to ease running wires later.

I bought for Harbor Freight (my favorite source of cheap tools meant to be used a couple times )a 50 ft fiberglass "Fish Tape" that is maybe 3/16" non-conductive cable with very nice bullet nose swivel end. It is popular for feeding though boats and mast/booms etc to pull line or cable.

Also great for running speaker wires at home....

Anyway no response form anyone having experience with running the

wires....

 

[Stu Jackson]

Craig, you wrote: "...then it occurred to me just to use the same wire and spice the new to the existing cable already in place. Same wire count and color code."

Would seem to me to be the easiest way to do it, given the fact that you know what's inside the wire bundle. Maine Sail has a good tutorial on dealing with thin wire. http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/boat_projects

Good luck.

 

[cymeyer]

Craig,

I had a similar problem a few years back. I sprayed silicon on the paddlewheel hoping it would keep the barnacles away. It fried the sensor. I bought a new sensor and wire and could not pull the new wire thru. I just cut and spliced the new paddlewheel onto the old wire and it has worked fine for years.

Chris

 

[CABixler]

That's good feedback and seems to be the logical choice i will try.

I will for fun try the fiberglass fish tape to just see where it goes.

Actually a big day here in Chicago for me. After 19 years on a mooring moved to a dock. Retirement and our new puppy made it time.

So strange walking off a boat onto dry land

 

[cymeyer]

Craig,
Let me know if it works.
Docks are pretty nice, especially when doing a lot of work on the boat!
Hope the pooch likes sailing!
Chris

 

[Ron20324]

I tried to run a wire from the trandsucer location under the vee, through a conduit to the nav panel. The thin conduit had ovbiously been crushed in the manufaturing process, and the wire would not go through. I found the blockage, pulled the new wire out and around the blockage and back into the conduit. By the way, there was a messanger line in the conduit, but that was crushed also and would not budge. An easy job, but made difficult by the sloppy factory work.

 

[CABixler]

Craig,
Let me know if it works.
Docks are pretty nice, especially when doing a lot of work on the boat!
Hope the pooch likes sailing!
Chris

Yep we hope we like it. Will be good for guests and the grandkids. Just hope we don't miss the peaceful privacy and quiet of floating on the mooring.

But anxious to try it out. Can always go back.

 

[CABixler]

I tried to run a wire from the trandsucer location under the vee, through a conduit to the nav panel. The thin conduit had ovbiously been crushed in the manufaturing process, and the wire would not go through. I found the blockage, pulled the new wire out and around the blockage and back into the conduit. By the way, there was a messanger line in the conduit, but that was crushed also and would not budge. An easy job, but made difficult by the sloppy factory work.

Ron i was glad to read your reply. I am absolutely convinced this exactly the case in my boat.

Tugging two cables (speed and depth) from the nav station and not feeling the tug in the vee through a 1" plus diameter plastic conduit makes no sense unless it is kinked.

I will just splice in the new transducer into the lines. After all it worked before, I just replaced it to get a proper bedding through the hull.

-Craig

 

[CABixler]

Final update and to close out this post.

Great info I got from Raymarine.
NOTE: if you power up a display (st60) without first having the transducer it switches to a "slave" mode meaning it assumes it will just be a repeater of info. Then you hook up the transducer and you get no response. So. Just power all off and hook it up then power up!! ALL GOOD!

I took Ron's advice and agree the front cable is pinched. And Chris's advice and soldered the new transducer to the existing wire. All worked out. So I am all good with properly bedded transducer.

Thanks to all.

 

[NiceBeny]

Final update and to close out this post. Great info I got from Raymarine. NOTE: if you power up a display (st60) without first having the transducer it switches to a "slave" mode meaning it assumes it will just be a repeater of info. Then you hook up the transducer and you get no response. So. Just power all off and hook it up then power up!! ALL GOOD! I took Ron's advice and agree the front cable is pinched. And Chris's advice and soldered the new transducer to the existing wire. All worked out. So I am all good with properly bedded transducer. Thanks to all.

I am wondering if you use it to get your speed or calculate amount of current speed from GPS speed ? I find that the paddle wheels aren't great and somewhat out dated with GPS now? And another hole in the hull.

 

[Stu Jackson]

I am wondering if you use it to get your speed or calculate amount of current speed from GPS speed ? I find that the paddle wheels aren't great and somewhat out dated with GPS now? And another hole in the hull.

Most people already have that hole in their heads, oops, hull. :dance:

We just today repaired our 29 year old coax cable.

...we’re glad we can finally see our boat speed through the water again. I use it all the time here with our “current sailing” to compare our SOG with the GPS to STW.

Comes in really handy, too, to figure out how your bottom is doing. WOT speed checks work.

Without current, then it's just a philosophical thing.

 

[NiceBeny]

Most people already have that hole in their heads, oops, hull. :dance: We just today repaired our 29 year old coax cable. ...we’re glad we can finally see our boat speed through the water again. I use it all the time here with our “current sailing” to compare our SOG with the GPS to STW. Comes in really handy, too, to figure out how your bottom is doing. WOT speed checks work. Without current, then it's just a philosophical thing.

I now it's accurate in lake or small current sailing, I guess I'm just used to the wide range of current here in San Francisco, sometimes you can be heeled over with 6 knots on speed on meter and still be standing still.

 

[Andreas.M]

Speaking of reworking the st60 unit, my depth finder is working, then wayyyyyy off, then nonfunctional then working. There is no pattern that I can discern . Any ideas out there?Thanks
Andreas

 

[DougM]

Speaking of reworking the st60 unit, my depth finder is working, then wayyyyyy off, then nonfunctional then working. There is no pattern that I can discern . Any ideas out there?Thanks
Andreas

Loose connection or a partial break in a wire?...

 

[Stu Jackson]

Doug's right. If it is electrical and intermittent, it is 99% sure that it is the CONNECTIONS.

 

[Andreas.M]

Thanks, I'll run the connections
Not looking forward to that
Andreas