Holding Wires Down

J

journey on

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journey on
I am happy, happy, happy.

I found a new way to tie down wires, to keep them from flopping around.

I installed a new depth sounder, a $82 Humminbird to back up the main one (which doesn't like turbulent water.) Plus $25 for the extension cable.

As usual, running the transducer cable up from the rear was a bear, port side, past the AC inlet, under the hot water heater, etc. etc. But I found a nice place to mount the display, also port side (so Judy can easily read it,) on the dash, right under the center window. And this meant that I had to run the cable and power cord on the dash, one coming from the port side, the other from the starboard.

So that's settled, now how do I tie those cables down? Instead of drilling holes for screws and a clamp, I finally thought of VELCRO. I had some with sticky sides to bond to some object you wanted to hold AND a mounting surface. So I cut a 1” X 1/2” length of both hook and loop, pressed the hook on the dash, laid the wire on top of that, and then covered it with the loop stuff. Worked great, holds the wire like a champ AND is removable. Hole-less.

Not Earth shattering, don't think it's original but it simplifies a lot of wiring.

Boris
 
Boris,

Sometimes the best solutions aren't always the most obvious. I'm a big fan of Velcro and double-sided sticky tape to do the work of drills and holes and patching. Good job!

-Sarge

p.s. - somehow reading Boris' comment made me think of the millions of dollars NASA spent on creating a pen that would work for astronauts in zero gravity, whereas the Russians just used a pencil.
 
I worked with NASA most of my career, and yes, some Russians are smarter than NASA. (Though I was made in the USA>)

Boris
 
I use adhesive backed cable tie mounts from the electrical section at home depot. They are cheap and stick really well to a variety of surfaces and I have never had one come off. They do come off nicely with a little persuasion when you need them to. No holes....

http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/185306.aspx
 
The biggest problem with any of these is the adhesive. At least here in the South--when it gets hot, the adhesive is the first thing to let go... If that happens, then use some super sticky or epoxy etc to get that putty to adhere and stay there.
 
thataway":3dk9ewyp said:
The biggest problem with any of these is the adhesive. At least here in the South--when it gets hot, the adhesive is the first thing to let go... If that happens, then use some super sticky or epoxy etc to get that putty to adhere and stay there.
Click to expand...

Bob, that's a problem even up here in the cold and wet Pac. NW. In my experience, any tape based product will eventually come loose and leave a nasty residue behind. I prefer cable ties and small screws as needed but that just because I hate nearly all kinds of tape. The comes from having to clean tape off of nearly every surface in my first lab. In a 250 sq. lab, I wound up with a couple of office trash cans of tape. I've hated all tape ever since.
 
If you want a really clean install, get some of this sleeving:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#sleeving/=boyiqm

I got the "expandable mesh", "standard" in white in various sizes.

I bought a bunch and am running all my installs (wires) through them before attaching them via whatever means.
 
Even with the mesh, ABYC calls for support every xx inches--depending on the size and weights of the cables.
 
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