Wiring Z tower.....

[rushin]

I am having one heck of a time getting safteywire to come out of point A and point B at the same time so I can pull through some speaker wire. I had an easier time on my '04 tower.

Any suggestions?

[da.bell]

Sorry couldn't resist

[Fast1911]

I am having one heck of a time getting safteywire to come out of point A and point B at the same time so I can pull through some speaker wire. I had an easier time on my '04 tower.

Any suggestions?

not sure if you have access to one, but a fiberglass flexible fish tape might work or you can try a vacuum with string?

[chpthril]

I am having one heck of a time getting safteywire to come out of point A and point B at the same time so I can pull through some speaker wire. I had an easier time on my '04 tower.

Any suggestions?

Z tower is actually easy compared to the E. Are you mounting on the front or rear cross bar? I use one of these from Home Depot for $11




OK, looks like he logged out so i'll answer pest I can.
If mounting on rear bar:
1) Drill holes in tower for speakers.
2) drop tower
3) feed fish-tape up tube from joint till it appears at 2nd speaker hole.
4) pull out and tape contractor string to fish-tape and pull back out at tower joint.
5) unbolt tower foot and block up with a small piece of 2x4. May already have hole in deck, if not, drill it.
6) feed fish tape down lower section, out foot and through deck, tape both speaker wires on and pull fish-tape back out lower section.
7) re-tie wires to string and pull/feed (a helper is a must here) wire till it appears at first hole, grab one wire, cut and pull out about 18", continue pulling till 2nd wire comes out next hole, pull about 18" also.

If mounting on front bar:
1) Drill holes
2) drop tower
3) feed fish-tape into 2nd (furthest from the tower joint) speaker hole
4) making the transition from the cross bar to the main tube is a biatch, but once you get, feed till you see/hear the fish tape at the tower joint. May need to reach in with a pic and grab it.
5) tie on string and pull string through tower and out speaker hole.
6) tie both wires on and pull/feed (need helper) wires out to joint. I've found that you need about 25' of wire p/speaker, so pull all your slack through leaving about 18" at speaker hole.
7) feed fish-tape up through deck and tower foot and out the top of the lower tower tube section. Re-tie the wires to the fish-tape and pull/feed them down through tower, foot, deck into storage area.

When you folt tower back up, make sure it dosnt pinch the wires. DONT FORGET THE RUBBER GASKET!!!

[tige']

As mentioned above, try vacuuming a string or piece of yarn (bigger volume, light weight) through the hole.

Two people will help, one feeding and pushing the yarn in the other running the vacuum.

Go top down, have gravity on your side.

[da.bell]

I've heard that the string/dental floss with a cotton swab does not work.

I think Dogbert said that.....

[rushin]

I am mounting on the front crossbar, I am working top down, I am not that dumb. I have not tried the vacuum-string/yarn yet. I tried it with fishing line before and it did not work, maybe yarn would work better.

I think I may have the safetywire down to the base of the upper portion of the tower where folds, but because the tower is so big in diameter and the way the hole is milled out for the wires I cannot tell.

[rushin]

I finally got it wired. I tried the yarn/vacuum deal but that did not work. I used a piece of 1/4" drip tubing, it worked pretty good. It is hit and miss trying to get it to come out of the little hole in the bottom of upper portion of the tower.

[da.bell]

The vacuum cotton swab deal sounds like it would work but I think CHP has does just a "few" too many towers and made a great suggestion.

Glad that it worke out for you and boating season is around the corner for you rushin... How is pyramid lake looking this year with water levels?

[rushin]

How is pyramid lake looking this year with water levels?

I am not sure how it is doing. However, the ramp at our local lake has been lengthened, so even thought the level will be low I think it will be usable for a while.

[chpthril]

The vacuum cotton swab deal sounds like it would work but I think CHP has does just a "few" too many towers and made a great suggestion.

Glad that it worke out for you and boating season is around the corner for you rushin... How is pyramid lake looking this year with water levels?

Yeah, I cant remember who's idea the cotton ball/dental floss was, but it didn't work for me so I went back to using an electricians fish-tape.