Tower Wiring - Lets see your clean installs

Rhawn

Tower wiring can either look like an eyesore or nice and clean. Lets see your slick installs peoples! I don't have anything speakerwise on my tower yet, else I wold post the first.

brotherbrown831 · Outlaw Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 154 City: Oklahoma City

I will post some pics soon, I just posted the pics of the tower, rack and speaker install yesterday, the amp and cabin speakers are clean and unseen, but we ran out of time before I could drill the tower for the speaker wires. Problem I'm having is my boat is so small I don't have enough flat surfaces for more speakers. I had to yank out my Sub box to make room for fat sacs. I need a bigger boat.

Rhawn · Posted: Mar 23, 2009 4:48 pm Post subject:

Excellent.

Oh And CALLING Brit Rider.

Brit Rider · Posted: Mar 24, 2009 12:59 pm Post subject:

Rhawn, Haha, someone call?!

What do you need to know? I actually did an install on Saturday that I was really proud of - we did a pair of Kicker KMT6 tower speakers and 4 lights; kind of standard but looked super smart.

As always - Put heat shrink on all the wires, ran grommets where holes were drilled and stuck Neutrik Connectors at the bases of the tower.

Something I have started doing more and more now (only possibly on thicker tube towers like Monster Tower) is actually mount the Neutrik connectors in the tower itself. you can then take everything off and it leaves it looking super clean, especially when installing wet sounds speakers (they also use the same connectors). then to connect you just use the Neutrik Speakon connectrs at both ends of a piece of Speaker wire.

I'll have a hunt for some pics... there's some on my phone for sure.

brotherbrown831 · Outlaw Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 154 City: Oklahoma City

Brit Rider,
Don't suppose you have ever done an install on a Big Air H20 tower have you? The forward legs have inserts connecting two pieces together so the wires can not be run straight up. I guess I will have to drill above and below the joint and have the wire run externally for those few inches. If some one has a better idea let me know. Once I get above that joint I have the rest of the wiring mapped out.

Brit Rider · Posted: Mar 24, 2009 4:21 pm Post subject:

brotherbrown831, Actually, as a matter of fact I used to retail that tower here in the UK.

I think its a great universal tower, the only things that made us stop carrying it were its shipping weight and slightly tricky installation.

Unfortunately, you will have to run the wires externally where joints exist... it can be done relatively neatly, with grommets and heat shrink tubing - just set aside a couple of hours and take your time. Patience is the key with tidy tower wiring! Very Happy

brotherbrown831 · Outlaw Joined: 26 May 2008 Posts: 154 City: Oklahoma City

I just installed that tower two days ago, im curious what was tricky about the installation? That is the only tower I have ever installed so I have nothing to compare it too. But I would have to say I thought it went pretty smooth. I sure hope I didn't miss anything during my install that could come back to haunt me.

Rhawn · Posted: Mar 25, 2009 5:57 am Post subject:

Brit Rider, I am specifically looking for ideas on where the wires come out of the boat. On alot of boats I see a hole drilled in the deck with a chrome triangle looking thing covering it. Sad

I am hoping to make it look much better/hidden than that.

I plan on using shrink wrapping on the wires.

Is there a specific brand of grommet you can recommend? Same question for Neutrik connectors.

Here is a side pic of my tower, pretty sure its Skylon.

Brit Rider · Posted: Mar 25, 2009 8:38 am Post subject:

brotherbrown831, Couple things, firstly, there is a lot of drilling (specifically into stainless steel) which can be tricky. The tower also come in several sizes, so keeping inventory here in the UK was tough. Don't sweat it though, its one solid tower! Really great product in my opinion, it was just these small logistical issues that killed it for us.

Rhawn, I wouldn't worry about putting a deck connector on your boat, what I'd do is drill a hidden hole in the deck behind where the rear tower leg is covering - like 6" forward and 4" up from where the rear mount is in contact with the deck (you will need to unbolt the tower leg from the boat to do this). Heat shrink and grommet the wiring that runs between the deck and the tower leg. Then, rather than running the wires along the windsheild section, bring the wiring out of the leg almost right away and lead it up the upper rear leg (again grommeted and shrunk etc). The wiring will then be hidden all the way up the tower to the point where you bring it out to hook upto the speakers.

Anyone looking will only ever see a small 6" section where your rod-end bearing is at the bottom of the leg. This setup will also allow the tower to fold without any disconnecting of wires etc.

Does that make sense? Might be a tad confusing...

JeffreyCH · Posted: Apr 02, 2009 7:50 am Post subject:

I saw a pic awhile ago where someone had used SS braided hose, like what you see under the hood of a show car, and used the fittings and everything. It looked real slick, I wish I could find that pic again, if anyone else has seen this please post a link to the pics. I'm installing my tower next weekend, and might go that route.

Rhawn · Posted: Apr 02, 2009 9:36 am Post subject:

JeffreyCH, That's an awesome idea.

Brit Rider, you have a pic or brand name of the grommets and connectors you are using?

Brit Rider · Posted: Apr 02, 2009 1:17 pm Post subject:

Rhawn, any local hardware store stuff will be fine... its pretty non-brand specific