Pinched the trans. wire while lowering trolling motor. Now it is acting erratically. Can I cut a few inches off at the pinch and splice it.
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Pinched the trans. wire while lowering trolling motor. Now it is acting erratically. Can I cut a few inches off at the pinch and splice it.
Yes. Solder all the conductors, including the shield. Be sure to seal them well.Quote:
Originally Posted by 65pontiac
Thanks CatFan
I always thought that it could not be done - but as CatFan stated it can. I am not soldering savvy so I enlisted the help of my Bro In-Law. He had an electrician friend do the work. He put a piece oh heat shrink tubing on the cable, made the connections, soldered them, then covered the area with the heat shrink and sealed it up. I went one step further and applied several coats of liquid electrical tape over the entire area. Nice and water-tight! So far so good.
Good Luck to you!
How do you solder the shield? Thats the stuff on the outside that looks like tinfoil? I would think that would be hard to work with. Got some details CatFan?Quote:
Originally Posted by CatFan
It isn't as easy as the wires. I twist the ends of each piece so it's like a piece of wire, then gently twist them together and solder it like a wire. It's sometimes plastic-coated, which makes it hard to work with. The copper braid is much easier, but I've only seen one unit from the mid-80s that used copper.Quote:
Originally Posted by wilbur
I'll be real interested to hear how that works. I worked with radar's and communication systems most of my life and power transmission was always associated with wave length which was associated with the physical length of a cable feeding an antenna. Too long or too short resulted in reflected power, reducing the power output. They may have some new way of automatically compensating for these variables now, I don't know. I know it can be soldered physically but whether you get a change in wavelength will be interesting. Reflected power can also cause arcs in the cable.
This isn't RF. The signals going going through the cables are pulses and DC voltages.Quote:
Originally Posted by FAADAN
This is what I keep telling folks. If the cable was calibrated with the transducer, you couldn't buy a transducer cable extension. Makes sense don't it.Quote:
Originally Posted by CatFan
I spliced a HB SI cable for DonG and it works fine.
That was last year and it is still working fine...Quote:
Originally Posted by Cane Pole
Dunn mine bought ten times works like new
I never had a problem, done it several times, eaven use the heat shrink shrink, as far as the shield, I just cut the rubber back far enough to get more shield than I needed and just overlapped the shield and no problems.
It is very possible that the lower frequencies that these units operate at, will not result in a significant impedance mismatch and not cause a significant problem.
Like Cane Pole said... The length of the wire on a depth finder has nothing to do with the return.Quote:
Originally Posted by FAADAN
I am a towboat pilot & we use depth finders with portable tranducers to place on the head of our tows. The extention cords are cut in 200' lengths. We may have out as little as 200' or as much as 1600' depending on the size of the tow.
Never have a problem as long as you take care of your cords. We splice the wires all the time.
Thats why we love ya CP you think of everything.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cane Pole
So you dont have to solder the shield? Thanks BeagleQuote:
Originally Posted by beagle man
I would solder the shield or wrap it with aluminum foil under the tape or shrink tube. Unfortunately, most shields today are no copper and will be hard to solder.Quote:
Originally Posted by wilbur
Quote:
Originally Posted by wilbur
You best solder the shield. It is signal ground in most cases. I put a "how to" on here couple years back. I will try to retrieve it. Might be in the archives.
I know everyone has told you to solder it and they are right. I tried it without soldering and it did not work. I re-did mine by soldering and heatshrink just like everyone is saying and it has been fine for a couple years now.
Found this in my archives.....
http://spectrum-instruments.com/reso...licing_STP.pdf
This is called a western Union splice and the splice areas are staggered to keep it free from a lump in the line when you put it back together. Neatness counts.
I have never cut a transducer cable. Is it a shielded pair or is it a co-ax cable? If it is just a shielded pair, length makes absolutely no difference.
Shielded pairs.Quote:
Originally Posted by FAADAN
is this something a authorized minn kota place will do along with cutting the shaft down?
Did the splicing on Sunday. I took out about six inch's of cable. there was 4 wires plus a ground wire. I soldered. shrink tubed and liquid taped the connections. Then the outer skin I shrink tubed, taped and covered completely with liquid tape. Went out today and the unit was working perfectly. Thanks everyone for your help.
Good deal!Quote:
Originally Posted by 65pontiac
well i tried everthing i know , i soldered i done everything but when it starts up it says transducer not connected i've tried wire nuts, butt connectors and soldering so i finally called humming bird they told me if i broke the tin foil shield it will not work anymore, the tin foil shield is wrapped around all five wires seperately i only need three wires, but even with the tin foil wrapped together it still wont start however the temp gage works dont know what else to do.
does anybody have a transducer for a piranaha max 15 they would like to get rid of ?
Make a jumper for the tin foil sheild and test it.