Some success today rigging the 228 project

[Chinookie]

Three trips to the boat with an endoscope over three days and I still couldnt find the entrance to the rigging tubes. Today I lay on my back studying where I was going to have to cut a hole in the binnacle to see into the heart of darkness where wires go, and I had a "you dont suppose" moment. Could there be an access hatch inside the sleeping berth? Popped my head in there for the 2nd time since buying the boat and there was a hatch, and its lid was off and laying on the cushion. No way!. I shone a light in there and behold, there were the entrances to the two rigging tubes. What a relief. It then became childs play to snake a plastic fish down the tube to measure the length of teleflexes I will need. Grady had told me 22' and I was relieved when my measurements confirmed that.
Before I pull that new teleflex though I need to understand how many electrical cables I will need to run with it (in addition to thee wiring harnesses), from the battery to the bus in the helm, and what the wire gages are. Does anyone know if Grady provides wiring diagrams for the vintage years? Mine is a 1997.

One additional question just occurred to me. On the back of the transom there is a stainless tube from which the teleflex, fuel line, wiring harness all will exit. I understand that enough slack must be in them to allow the engine to tilt up and down and left right for steering, Is there supposed to be a rubber sleeve inside that stainless tube that secures the bundle in place so it doesnt slide in and out as the motor moves? Alternatively is there supposed to be a teflon sleeve to allow the bundle to move in and out a bit? If anyone knows the answer I would appreciate it so i can order the part or fabricate what I need.

Thanks so much for your patience with my questions. The data base of knowledge from people on this forum is awesome.
I expect in a very short period of time it will be possible for AI to to scan the entire contents of this forum, and instantly answer questions. This website is a gold mine of data. I am going to make a donation tonight.

 

[seasick]

Use your plastic snake to pull one or two drag lines (small ropes). They can be left in place until the time comes for pulling cables or wires. One trick is to tie a new rope to the old one when you pull it so that when done, you still have a rope for future needs.
Another trick is to not tie the drag rope to the connector of say a transducer, but rather fold back the transducer cable about 18 inches, tape over the connector and use the loop to pull the cable. The loop is less likely to get hung up on something. Things like control cables are pulled from the helm to the stern but transducer cables are pulled form the stern towards the helm. You most likely will not be able to pull all the way from the helm but rather may need to pull from the helm to the access area under the helm and then from there aft.
Finally, the rigging harness or group of cables, lines and hoses dose and should not slide in the grommet There has to be enough slack in the rigging to allow movement as needed. Therefore the control cables will have a loop to allow movement.
As a very general rule, the control cables will be two feet or so longer than the actual distance form the helm to the motor

 

[Chinookie]

Great tips. I will follow them. Thanks!

 

[Hookup1]

The Teleflex cable are marked with a length on them. Could be on either end. If your cable is seized (not broken) you can thread a plastic spacer (Lowe's hardware bins), connect the two cables, a little tape over and pull the new cable with the old one. This feeds much better than using a pull cord.

Two grades of steering cables - buy the "Extreme". Not much more and will last longer.

Throttle cables

Hey guys, my throttles are not in sync and while that is not a huge issue, I want to plan on replacing those with some quality throttle lines. Rather than find new ones and just install them and then find out later I wanted something else, any suggestions on what you would swap them with? Not...

www.greatgrady.com

 

[Chinookie]

Thanks much for the tip. I will look for the extreme version.

 

[Chinookie]

Seasick you likely know the answer here. I downloaded the owner's manual for my year and it shows that there's 10 AWG wires running from the battery switch (stern) to the helm switch breakers. It also shows there's a 40 amp fuse in the transom in that line. Since the breaker protects the line then the line should be capable of at least 40 amps right? So...shouldn't that wire be 6 AWG for the run? I'm estimating its a 15-16 feet run. What am I missing?
https://www.westmarine.com/west-advisor/Marine-Wire-Size-And-Ampacity.html

 

[Chinookie]

Actually now that I look at it closer, for the 3% voltage drop, and a 30 ft round trip, it should be 4AWG unless I'm totally misunderstanding the circuit.

 

[BRO-CAL]

Attaching rigging tube locations schematic here in case anyone needs it in the future. This is for the 226 or 228 Seafarer, provided by Grady-White customer service.