Mounting GPS on steering pedestal

[Taylor]

I'm going to mount my new GPS on my pedestal steering guard (using a RAM Mount 109V mount) but I'm unclear how you get the wires up there. Do people drill holes in the pedestal itself, in the guard tubing, or just wire tie them to the pipe and run them through the floor of the cockpit. There must be a good way to to a neat and clean installation. How do you run your wires? If you run them inside the tubing (this would be my first choice,) how big a hole did you drill, how did you drill it, and what do you use to cover the hole and protect the wires from the raw edges?FYI - my guard tube is on 11" centers, and appears to be about 1" in diameter. Thanks, -Taylor

 

[Calif. Ted]

Most common is to drill about 1/4 inch hole

in the guard with a rubber grommet and then thru a hole in center of the guard foot thru the cockpit floor. Have to then seal it with caulk but it is not exposed to weather under the guard foot. With something like a Navpod there's usually a bunch of wires taking this route to the instruments & auto pilot. I don't know if it is worth this if all you need is power for the GPS.

 

[Taylor]

Power + external GPS antenna + Sounder

... lots of wires, and they all have connectors on the ends.

 

[Paul (Affinity C320)]

Running Wires in the pedestal steering guard

I went through this last year. Fortunately, I only had one big wire as my GPS has an internal ant. and the big wire contained all the little wires used to connect everything up. Buy a rubber grommet where the inside diameter matches the diameter of your wire (S) and the package will tell you what size hole to drill for the grommet. After drilling the hole and putting the grommet in place, I bought some hard clear plastic tubing, stuck my wires inside the tubing, taped it in place, put white greace on the tubing and stuck the entire thing in the hole and down the pedestal steering guard. Of course I had to loosen the bottom of the guard and drill a hole through the cockpit floor. Once the wire gets to the bottom of the guard, you can't push it anymore so you need someone to pull while you push. One last thought is that I checked which side was already taken up by other wires and I then used the other side.Took me several days to figure all this out.Good luck.

 

[Terry Cox]

Taylor, if it were my boat I would come...

up through the pedestal post along with the other wire(s) like I did on our H28, which is where the GPS is mounted. Just make sure you run the wires between the cylindrical metal sleeve at the base of the pedestal and the pedestal wall. This helps keep the wires away from the steering system. Also, you need to secure them at the top of the pedestal in such a way as to keep them away from the steering system.Trying to drill a hole through the cockpit sole (and liner) really complicates matters, IMHO. I would just follow the same electrical route used to supply power to the compass.Terry