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PTT Wiring

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yankee-flyer

Well Known Member
Please tell me there's an "RV Trick" to getting the PTT wiring through the control column, past the 90 deg bend, and then under the cross tube. I tried fishing it but the pin wants to catch at the cross tube and I'm afraid of pulling it off.

Wayne 120241
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hey Wayne

Others can jump in, but I think I remember running some safety wire thru and very carefully wrapping some elect tape around the wire(s) and pulling them thru. Not easy, but you can do it. Don't use much elec tape. Spiral warp it as best you can.

John Bender
 
I tied a piece of thread to a cotton ball and then sucked the cotton ball thru with the shop vac. Attached some string to the thread and pulled it thru. Then pulled the wires with the string. Still took a few tries.
 
yankee-flyer said:
Please tell me there's an "RV Trick" to getting the PTT wiring through the control column, past the 90 deg bend, and then under the cross tube. I tried fishing it but the pin wants to catch at the cross tube and I'm afraid of pulling it off.

Wayne 120241
Click to expand...

:)Not that hard...
After pulling a string in with the vacuum I attached the pin end of the wire to the string with a small amount of mylar packing tape, it's thinner than electrical tape and pulled gently to get it around the bend.
[url=http://tonytessitore.smugmug.com/RV-12-Project-N577RV/Finish-Kit/9229733_jnRJi#628115568_LhrVT-A-LB][/URL]
Tony
 
yankee-flyer said:
Please tell me there's an "RV Trick" to getting the PTT wiring through the control column, past the 90 deg bend, and then under the cross tube. I tried fishing it but the pin wants to catch at the cross tube and I'm afraid of pulling it off.

Wayne 120241
Click to expand...
Wayne, the easy way to do it is to use a 2 ft. piece of string trimmer line (.080 thick). Bend a tight loop in one end and use some electrical tape to hold the loop closed. On the other end put a slight curve in it and fish it through the control stick. The trimmer line may need to be twirled a little, as you push it past the 90 degree bend, but it will negotiate it. The rimmer line has just enough body to be pushed through. Once it's out other end, loop your wires through the electrict taped end and pull them through- works slick. Steve
 
Wayne

As Marty stated, used the shop vac to pull through a very small cotton ball. I took a very small piece of cotton, wetted it into a ball and used a needle and thread in and out of the cotton ball in different directions several times. The cotton ball cannot be very large (maybe 3/16" in diameter) in order to get by the cross over tube. It took several tries to get the ball past the cross over tube and the 90* angle. As previously stated, I then attached a larger piece of string to which the PTT wires were then attched to. Hope this helps.
 
Another good tip with the PTT is leave a good sized (3-4") loop at the bottom of the stick to allow for maintance / switch replacement years down the road. If there is some slack the switch can be replaced in a few mins, if not, it can be a "major" PITA redue.

The cotton ball trick works great!
 
I did the cotton ball thing but I like what Steve did too...hadn't heard that one when I did mine or I might have tried it first...sounds easier.
 
Fishing

He is what I did. I got a length of braided nylon fishing line (squidding Line) to which I tied a 5702-75-60 washer. It's a small chrome washer included in the kit. Lowered it down from the top end, keeping the end below the 90 downward. The weight of the washer got it by the 90 and was small enough to slip past the cross tube. The only hang up I found, and this may also affect the cotton ball method, was the whiskers inside the tube from the welding process. They tend to catch on the line. Even pulling the wires was a challenge due to the distance between the 90 and the cross tube.

Art Pennanen
 
stick handles

Wayne,

Assume someone has already told you about the air hose trick for putting the handles on the stick.
 
Suck or blow?

I blew a piece of string don the tube with the air line. Took a couple of attempts but worked fine. I tied the string to the wire about an inch from the end with the pin end folded over, so there was no strain on the pin crimp. Seemed to work fine until I noticed that I had fed the wire from the wrong end ;-)

It does seem daft that wires emege from the bottom of the stick then are routed back up the outside and clamped with a tie wrap. Why not drill a hole at the bottom of the stick bend for the wire to exit where it is required? Eliminates the possibility of the wire getting fouled up in the control mechanism...
 
gblwy said:
It does seem daft that wires emege from the bottom of the stick then are routed back up the outside and clamped with a tie wrap. Why not drill a hole at the bottom of the stick bend for the wire to exit where it is required? Eliminates the possibility of the wire getting fouled up in the control mechanism...
Click to expand...



Sounds like a good idea to me. ;)
 
Re-- PTT wiring

Thanks for all the tips guys. Tried the string trimmer idea first and it worked right off the bat. Sticks are in and wired.

Wayne
 
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