[CA] [CA11] Cable chasing tips

[Splashman237]

I’m sure many people would agree that chasing/pulling new system cables on older boats is often difficult and very time consuming . Couple of tips I’ve found by trial and error :-

When chasing older cable there is lots of friction, so release or remove as many cable ties / p clamps etc as possible

After trying various lubes I discovered there was a proper cable pulling lube which is very slippy when pulling initially and then leaves a very thin film on cable for any later adjustment or additions.

I used a thin mousing line pulled through by the old cable I was removing ( always remove redundant cables ) and tied cables with several rolling hitches covered in tape.

I found that often the cable end snagged on parts of trunking or bends , so I modified the end of a BIC biro or similar ( or any other similar conical item ) with a [censored] in the end through which the mouse line can be threaded.

I later found a commercial cable pulling “sock” which is like a Chinese finger lock puzzle that grips cables and has an end eye for pulling , ivdd Ed yet to try this but looks promising

In addition to using mousing line, I also bought and used glass fibre rod kit and a wire system with end fittings where no cables were being removed . while the rods were good on straight(ish) runs the wire was better on bends .

Hope these are useful, add any other tips you have as I’m sure many people struggle with cable chasing

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Splashman237,

Thanks for the tech tip. A related tech tip may be found here.