H34 - why would Hunter use Butyl tape to hold wiring in place?

[hunter34austin]

at least it looks like butyl tape from a roll, the stuff I pulled out behind the AC outlets and cabin lights before pulling new wires from the panel to the starboard side. Is this common usage for butyl tape?

Attached is also a picture as a reminder to check the wiring on your boat from time to time - close call for me.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

This is definitely the work of a previous owner who was smoking crack when the "work?" was done .

Hunter will take shortcuts, but I've never seen them do anything like that.

 

[Ron20324]

I always thought the tape and some gum-like substance was there just to hold the fixture in place until paneling was put on top of it to screw it together?

 

[kloudie1]

I found a few wires in my H-34 that were "seated" in butyl gook.. I figured they wired the inverted deck before it was installed and used that stuff to hold the wires in place when they flipped it upright and installed it.

 

[ggrizzard]

Kloudie has it right.
When I re-wired my H30C, I found butyl tape holding the original wiring
that ran through the engine bay to the panel. It's in between the coach roof
and the fiberglass cabin liner. It also held the wiring for the cabin lights in place.
It will probably be there when the next owner tries to re-wire for new lights, etc!
But, it does keep the wires in place...

 

[hunter34austin]

well, mystery solved - at least they put it in places where you can reach it because it does a pretty good job holding the wires in place. even after 35 years

 

[daviddp]

I used butyl to hold washers in place while replacing stanchions. The nuts and washers were a full 24" in and out of sight. A tiny dot on the backside of the washer then the nut. I am still finding things to use it for around the house.

 

[Tim Mills]

You should also drop your electrical panels open once a year and make sure all the terminal screws are snug. Several years ago I had a loose air conditioning breaker terminal almost set my boat on fire and a loose electrical main lug almost set my RV on fire.

What was plugged into that outlet?

 

[daviddp]

at least it looks like butyl tape from a roll, the stuff I pulled out behind the AC outlets and cabin lights before pulling new wires from the panel to the starboard side. Is this common usage for butyl tape?

View attachment 184144

Attached is also a picture as a reminder to check the wiring on your boat from time to time - close call for me.
View attachment 184145

Was one stranded wire and one solid @ the device?

 

[hunter34austin]

I didn't check the DC wires. The AC wires were standard marine grade AC cable rated for 600V.

 

[jssailem]

Why would you assume that Hunter used butyl tape to hold the wires in place? From the images it looks not to be a new from the factory boat.. Previous owners use all sorts of "solutions" to 'get the job complete - good enough' so they can go play....

Always nice to identify these issues before they become nightmares.

Oh almost forgot.... Welcome to the forum.

 

[hunter34austin]

Agree - I'm not sure if it was original from the factory (although the tape looked decades old and was placed in a way pretty much impossible through the cutout) but it could have been also one of the previous owners work. And i've found some very weird examples of that on my boat

 

[jssailem]

You're not alone brother.

 

[ggrizzard]

Well, I've owned my H30C since new and it came with butyl tape holding the hidden wiring in place.
That is, unless some gremlins decided to use it in unreachable areas of my boat when
I wasn't onboard during the past 41 years.