Not talking moonshine here but the stress relief to keep wires from
breaking.  Some of you may have a similar issue with some item on your
boat.  Possibly where insulation on a cable breaks and exposes the wires
inside.  VHF microphone cable maybe?

I installed a Nexus instrument system on Touche' in 1999.  I remove the
knot log transducer if the boat is idle for some time.  After a couple
years of constant handling, the knot log transducer got a bit flakey.  A
Nexus tech (who now works for Garmin) told me one of the wires in the cable
where it exits the transducer most likely broken and was making
intermittent contact.  He said it was because the cable was subject to
sharp bending at that point.  He told me how to modify the new one to add
stress relief and prevent recurrence.

Well, that fix lasted many years but during the transit to Pensacola a few
weeks ago, it acted up again.  I surmised the same problem had occurred.
My fix may not have been robust enough.  I used electrical tape to
stabilize the cable and it worked fine for the remainder of the trip adding
credence to my diagnosis.

I received the new cable today and added beefed up stress relief as before.


Here's the fix with pics.

First, the transducer as received.  Note that the cable is epoxied into the
transducer but a small well remains.  There is no stress relief.  The cable
is subject to sharp bending where it exits the epoxy.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_sb5TfIENvsaUlBUl9pY0xaV0k

First, I applied several layers of heat shrink.  Note that I tapered the
layers.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_sb5TfIENvsbURlWkhPdldwYWs

Next, I stood the transducer in a jar, taped it and filled the well with
unthickened epoxy thus locking the heat shrink in place.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_sb5TfIENvsUTdQdi1KSm9XQjQ
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_sb5TfIENvsZnI2OGQzak1SSEE

Finally I removed the tape.  Final product:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_sb5TfIENvseEtLTGpKS04xT0E

The heat shrink should now prevent sharp bending of the cable where it
exits the transducer.  (My previous fix only used one layer of heat shrink.)

Dennis C.
Touche' 35-1 #83
Mandeville, LA
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