How to fix trolling motor cable on CC boat.

[jworks]

I have a Tidewater Baymax 1800 center console. The trolling motor quit working. All fuses are good. Trolling motor batteries are under the console and the wires run under the floor up to the side of the front deck. I unscrewed and took off the receptacle socket where the trolling motor plugs in. The red wire came loose from a butt connector I didn't know was there. I cannot see the red wire down in there as its too far back. How can I get to this wire to pull it back and fix that butt connector? I thought about, and tried running a flat cable toilet snake through the hole where the plug receptacle is but it did not come out where the batteries are (under the console). I guess it was running down under the floor --- I don't know, thats just a guess. So that didn't work. I don't know what to do.

 

[Alumarine]

Is there enough slack at the other end so you could push the red wire so you can get at where the butt connector was?
Or, if possible, disconnect the wires at the console and attach a fish tape to them.
Then pull the cables out at the receptacle end till you can get at the red wire, fix or replace it and then pull them back?
I might not be explaining it well as I have trouble with that sometimes!

 

[jworks]

Thats a good idea. I don't have a fish tape. I do have a toilet snake though. But its the flat type cable (not a round cable). It might work in place of a fish tape.

 

[Scott Danforth]

if you are working thru the receptacle mounting hole, you need to be able to see. you can get a borescope camera for your phone and one of the little claw grabbers and try it.

if it was me, I would tie a piece of string on the black wire, pull the black and red wire out, to where you can work on them bringing the string with them, then fish both wires back to the receptacle hole.

 

[jworks]

Yes, looking through that hole I cannot see the red wire. How far down or how far back is anybody's guess. I would say though no more than a foot and probably less. That claw grabber is a good idea. If I could just grab it and pull it up to get a needle nose pliers on it maybe I could get it to where I could work on it. That'd be the quickest way but I don't have a claw grabber. I'll see if I can locate one . Thanks.

 

[jworks]

Is there enough slack at the other end so you could push the red wire so you can get at where the butt connector was?
Or, if possible, disconnect the wires at the console and attach a fish tape to them.
Then pull the cables out at the receptacle end till you can get at the red wire, fix or replace it and then pull them back?
I might not be explaining it well as I have trouble with that sometimes!

Alumarine, there is some slack by the batteries but Its real difficult to reach back there with 2 batteries in the way. I did try pushing it once and gave up. The wire didn't move any. As for the fish tape.....I could do that on the black wire but not the red. I can't see the red one after it disconnected from the butt connector. It "might" be possible to pull both wires out at the console with the fish tape attached to the fish tape. And then I could try attaching both wires to the fish tape and pull it back through. And thats a maybe.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Use the black wire to pull the fish

Use the fish to pull both red and black

 

[Alumarine]

Alumarine, there is some slack by the batteries but Its real difficult to reach back there with 2 batteries in the way. I did try pushing it once and gave up. The wire didn't move any. As for the fish tape.....I could do that on the black wire but not the red. I can't see the red one after it disconnected from the butt connector. It "might" be possible to pull both wires out at the console with the fish tape attached to the fish tape. And then I could try attaching both wires to the fish tape and pull it back through. And thats a maybe.

You could do what Scott suggested in post 7.
Make sure you have the fish well taped to the existing wires.
The wires will probably be too thick to loop around the end of the fish.
I would overlap the end of the fish and the wires about 4-6 inches and make sure both ends of the tape wrap are tapered, not blunt so they won't snag.

 

[redneck joe]

Dont skimp on the string if used. Id use double up mason line.

 

[jworks]

Dont skimp on the string if used. Id use double up mason line.

You are right about that; I won't skimp. That string breaking down in there somewhere would be disaster -- even if you could still pull the black and red wires out at the console there is no way to ever get them back to the front of the boat. So, yes....no skimping there.

 

[redneck joe]

Good deal and if you are a fisherman you also know the knot is the most important thing.