Tower wiring harness

Seems that there are lots of us currently doing tower systems. I was going to do a group buy for this but it didn't really seem worth it just to save a couple bucks so I just thought I would pass this information along.

I just ordered a wiring harness with disconnect ends from Audiopile. They are making up two for me and a friend. I used their cable in the past and really liked it so I ordered more for my next boat (in anticipation). The cable is heavy duty black pro-audio grade 13ga wire with genuine Neutrik NLT4-BAG/NLM4-BAG cord ends. The ends are $10 each and the cable is $0.50 per foot assembled. They also sell 11ga wire (it's european 4 sq. mm wire that's why the odd measurement) but it cost $1.04/foot. I will be getting a sample to check it out.

I ordered mine 30' long so I will have plenty to go all the way to the amps. They cost $35 each plus about $8 shipping.
Give them a call: 509-287-2020

Here is a link to the cable:
http://www.audiopile.net/products/Speaker_Cables/NL-4_speaker_cable/NL413_cutsheet.htm

Here is a link to the ends:
http://www.audiopile.net/products/Adaptors_Connectors/Neutrik/NL4_Speakon/NLT4MX-BAG/NLT4MX-BAG_cutsheet.asp

If you want to use the panelmount on your boat you can use the clunkier cheaper NL4FC end and save yourself another $12, these are not as strong as the M series ends.

Excellent info, I added it to www.diytower.com and created a new section for wiring.

I've got a question:

My tower speaker connectors are as pictured below, and my amplifier obvioulsly just has the regular phillips screw connector block on the side of the amp.

1. How do these NLT4 and NLM4 connectors work with my tower speaker hookups?
2. Should I cut them off near my amp and just screw down the wire?
3. How many pairs are in the wire? I need two pairs, one for each tower speaker. I have two tower speakers.
4. What's the diameter of the finished product with and without the end connectors? We have to drill holes in our boats and in the tower possibly to feed the wire through and if it's too fat, that's not a good thing, right?



In addition, here's a little gem I found from another post on MBO that I'm using as my thru-hull fitting to feed my wire out of the hull and into the tower. Go to: www.danamarineproducts.com and search for "Bilge Dump".



Thanks,
John

John - that's an awesome way to finish off a through hull wiring project, thanks for sharing and I added it to diytower.com

Take a tip from Mike when you run the wire through your hull, put a loop in it and tie it off with a zip tie just below the through hull fitting so any water that might run down will not find its way to your amplifier.

The whole idea behind using the Neutrik connector (or any other quick connect) is that it provides you with an easy place to disconnect the wiring. Most people choose to put this break at the boat's deck so they have a clean install, and it's easy to remove the tower if that was ever needed. It really all depends on the type of tower you have.

John, for the Fusion's binding post connectors you need a set of banana plugs. They will slide right into the terminals already on the Fusions.

Jason:

Thanks. I guess it does not make any sense for me to use the Neutrik connector since I'm running my wires through the hull using the "Bilge Dump" thing from Dana Products. My amp will be fairly close to that through hull, so I can always just disconnect the wire from the amp and pull it through in the event I need to take off my tower. I really never take off my tower.... and of course on the Fusion speaker side, I need a different connector anyway.

What is the best way to run your wiring through the hull to the tower and make it look clean and still be able to lean your tower back? Does anyone have any good pictures of their wiring to the tower?

It really depends on what kind of tower you have Pat, and whether or not you need to be able to completely disconnect the wiring at the deck frequently.

What model tower do you have?

I was planning on using a panel mount jack in the boat and plugging the cable end into it. When it actually came down to cutting the hole in my boat I decided that having a small hole was more important than having an easy disconnect to I ended up cutting the cord ends off and putting the wire straight through the deck.

Here's a pic

I went to www.audiopile.net and called Mark on the phone who actually builds the cables. Really nice people.

He's making me a custom 4 conductor cable that is bare on one end so I can hook it to my amp tie down block easily, with pig tails on the other end that have gold banana plugs (red and black) on them to plug into my fusion speakers.

All of it will be shrink wrapped of course and very clean. The diameter of the 4 conductor cable is 0.410 so it will fit easily into the 0.500 inside diameter Bilge Dump bezel from danamarineproducts.com that I'm using for my thru hull.

I have a proflight tower. The company suggests taking the tower off and drilling a hole under the base. You can then run it up into the lower tubing of the tower. This makes sense, it is just you then need to drill a hole in the tower from the lower unit and then one into the upper unit. If I do this I just want to make sure it looks clean since I just paid $36,000 for the boat. Thanks for the feedback Jason and Mike....

I got my wiring harness almost finished. I'm really happy with the results so far. The bezel looks really clean through the hull, and the wire is a nice beefy cable all shrink wrapped. The pig tails come right out and fit snug up to the speakers. It's all very clean.

BTW: getting it all run through the tower was a major PITA. I ran string first, then taped it to the wire and pulled it through, but it was not easy by any stretch.

Here's how mine turned out:

John, that turned out excellent. Looks very clean..

Everybody running wires through towers, here are a couple tips (old electrician tricks) to help the process.

1. Get an electricians "fish steel" from the hardware store.

2. With some nylon twine tie a 3" loop on the end of the steel, then fray the nylon to create a "basket-net".

3. Push the steel into the tower, hook the basket at the second end with a hooked coat hanger.

Be careful not to chip the powder coating at the holes.

Duct tape a shop vac nozzle to the bottom hole, feed the string from the top, takes five minutes.