Tower Speaker wiring - thru the hull pics??

fish hook

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Jul 22, 2011
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94
Just purchased a tower and 4 speakers from Indy. I'm kind of picky with my stuff and was wondering what everyone does where the speaker wire runs thru the hull. I know there are some wiring kits/plugs out there but I don't plan on disconnecting the wiring so hardwired is fine, plus I'm not a big fan of the bulky plug - thinking more along the lines of some type of stainless steel bezel or grommet. My wire will penetrate the hull just in front of the port side windshield. Anyone got pics of their wiring setups?
 

StingrayMike

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Aug 17, 2014
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355
00001903.jpeg Not sure of your cable size, but when I do cable runs that penetrate the hull to a external component, I use perco fittings
 

fish hook

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Jul 22, 2011
Messages
94
Not sure of your cable size, but when I do cable runs that penetrate the hull to a external component, I use perco fittings
i like the clean look of the perko fittings but my cable OD is a little larger than the fitting max cable size
 

dizzy1

Seaman
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Aug 6, 2009
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69
I thought I would need a grommet going in/out of the tower, but the insulation on that set of wires is hard and doesn't cut thru. I sealed mine with silicone to go around the wire and into hole slightly. I just looked after 4 years of use, not a single cut into the insulation or any marks. Guess it depends on the tower as well and how thick the tubes. MIne are very thick, so really no sharp edges from the hole. But can see where a grommet could help depending on tower and wire being used.
 

fish hook

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Jul 22, 2011
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What size cable are you using?
was considering a jacketed 8 conductor cable to run a 4 channel amp to the speakers but i just ordered some NVX 16ga speaker wire and some of that mesh braided wire covering instead. I'm trying to figure out how i want to wire the speakers. I have a polk 4ch and a polk mono now running 4 Fosgates and 12" kicker sub. I ended up ordering one of these guys for the hull fitting
http://www.boatstoreusa.com/outdoor...tm_source=bc&gclid=COf66biI_dICFYm4wAodJlwPLA
 

StingrayMike

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Aug 17, 2014
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355
Thats looks good.
is the speaker wire only 2 conductor?
and
are you planning on running all the cables through 1 fitting or have multiple fittings?
 

fish hook

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Jul 22, 2011
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wire is standard 2 conductor. All 4 wires will fit nicely in the braided loom and fits perfect thru the hull fitting. I'm installing rubber grommets in the tower tubing for a clean look also. i think i'm going to like the look, it's real clean. I'm stuck at the moment - I had to order longer 12mm stainless bolts for the tower install but they wont be here until next week. I'll post pics when its done
 

StingrayMike

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Aug 17, 2014
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wire is standard 2 conductor. All 4 wires will fit nicely in the braided loom and fits perfect thru the hull fitting. I'm installing rubber grommets in the tower tubing for a clean look also. i think i'm going to like the look, it's real clean. I'm stuck at the moment - I had to order longer 12mm stainless bolts for the tower install but they wont be here until next week. I'll post pics when its done
With 2 sets of 2 conductors running through, it might not make a true water tight seal. Thats why I asked.
if you could use a 4 conductor with shielding, then you could seal it tight.
 

fish hook

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Jul 22, 2011
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Little update - i had some concern about the front mounting points of the tower and the thickness and irregular curves of the hull. I ended up glassing the area with 4 layers of cloth today and I'm going to use 3/4" plywood plates with "peanut butter" caked on the backs to fill in the voids. Might throw a couple layers of glass over the whole setup then use the 3" x 1/4" thick round aluminum plates that were supplied with the tower to finish it off. Also, i had to order longer SS 12mm cap screw bolts to accommodate the plywood. Like i said, I'd rather spend a few more bucks and time to do it right - i don't want any gel coat or strength issues. I ordered the 150 epoxy resin from US Composites along with the cabosil filler to make the PB; they were great - delivered to my front door in 2 days. Weather in northern IL sucks anyway, river is flooded, etc.... Anyway, the wiring isn't done yet as I,ve been waiting to finish the tower install. I'll make sure to add pics when I'm done
 

fish hook

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jul 22, 2011
Messages
94
With 2 sets of 2 conductors running through, it might not make a true water tight seal. Thats why I asked.
if you could use a 4 conductor with shielding, then you could seal it tight.
I'm running 4 separate speaker wires so i have the option to run either of 2 channel amp with speakers wired in parallel or run of a 4 channel amp. I plan on enclosing the wires in heat shrink between the tower and the hull then enclosing in the expandable mesh loom for fit & finish. The drop inside the hull will be forward enough so any water will drip and run into the bilge so i will loop the wires underneath so any water can't chase down to my amp. I'm pretty confident with this hull fitting and the rubber seal provided (and that any water from the outside should be minimal at the fitting location) will be waterproof. One of my deciding factors was to run 4 separate wires i would have had to use a 8 conductor wire which is about 1/2" O.D. - that would've been way to big to feed thru the tubes and make some of the bends.
 

fish hook

Petty Officer 3rd Class
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Jul 22, 2011
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Ok, its been a while but here's the final product, sorry it took so long. Tower turned out great - sturdy and looks awesome, very clean mounting hardware. I couldn't be happier with it. Tower collapses in just a couple minutes. I also ordered stainless steel hand knobs to replace the cap head bolts where the upper tubes are disconnected for storage. I think im going to order a couple more for the front. I knew it going in but my factory bimini doesn't fit anymore - Indy makes a nice bimini that attaches to the tower, that might be on my radar for next season. The speakers are pretty nice too. The cans area great, all wiring is hidden and run thru the can mounts into the tower tubing. The speakers themselves are pretty darn good but I may upgrade to Fosgate M262,s in the future - i have those and M282's down in the boat and they are pretty impressive. And the mirror - what a nice addition. One important note - all of the silver aluminum parts are anodized, not polished. They stay looking brand new without the hassle of elbow grease to polish off the oxidation over time. That little fitting for the wiring thru the hull - jackpot!! Worked great and looks good too. If you look close, i installed rubber grommets where the wiring comes out of the tower. Overall the install went good - it took some time getting the tubes rotated correctly so everything was lined up and centered - ran stringline from front to back and hung a plumb bob from the tow point above. After the install, I probably have 20 hours on the water from last year, some rough seas at times also. checked the mounts and re tightened a little after the first ride, they've stayed solid since. No gel cracking at all - shouldn't be an issue, i ended up with around 2" of hull thickness between the extra plates, new glass and PB epoxy. I think I could pull a tank with this thing......
 

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R055

Chief Petty Officer
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Jul 13, 2015
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579
Just wanted to share my tower install from last year. I installed the big air wave and 3(I know awkward number) speakers on tower. Left the 4th channel free for subwoofer I'm installing this year. I Didn't get fancy with a thru hull fitting for simplicity and didn't wanna drill 4 extra holes. And then covered the wire with mesh wrap I got from Amazon for 10$. I mounted the tower on curved surface so straightened the inside using pc-11 epoxy filler and got 6"x10" aluminum 1/4" plates for the backing plates. Used last season about 10 times for wakeboarding with no stress cracks or anything.
 

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