Routing cables on roof

[ihatework]

Has anybody got a better idea than using plastic d shaped trunking to route cables from solar panels on roof please?

[Detling]

The black rubber stuff for taking cables across walkways etc. Can't you find a way of routing them inside then you only have the little bit from the panel to the entry point outside. You need to remember whatever you use, roofs get hot and are hopefully in full sunshine which tends to kill plastics quite quickly.

[Bod]

Metal conduit, painted to match roof. 

 

Bod

[ihatework]

It’s a boat we’re looking at buying and they’ve been run after lining out by the looks of it, not brilliantly done. I need to have a proper look at where the cables enter the roof. 

As I have zero experience I’m thinking that I need to avoid holes wherever possible?

Thanks Bod that’s a good idea, like being able to paint to match  

[blackrose]

Presumably metal conduit will have to be screwed down onto the roof? In which case, in terms of making holes in the roof you're back to square one - unless you just bond the conduit on with Stixall, Marineflex or some other flexible sealant/adhesive? Personally conduit on the roof sounds like a bit of a bodge to me. I think you may as well do the job properly, make one water-tight hole and route the cables on the inside. If there is a mushroom vent nearby would it be possible to drill a hole in the side of the vertical upstand of the base, about an inch above the horizontal flange and then protect the cables with a some flexible conduit as they pass through? Or just bring the cables in through the gap between the base and the dome without drilling any holes. When routing any cables from the outside to the inside of the boat you do have to make sure that they rise up before falling so that they don't act as a path for water to enter the boat.

Edited April 27, 2019 by blackrose

[Slim]

If you're routing the cable through the roof don't mess about going through mushroom upstands etc use a Scanstrut waterproof fitting. About £20 dependent upon cable size. (available on line, just Google/E Bay/Amazon. That way you can position the entry wherever you want.

 

Frank

[Alan de Enfield]

21 minutes ago, Slim said:

If you're routing the cable through the roof don't mess about going through mushroom upstands etc use a Scanstrut waterproof fitting. About £20 dependent upon cable size. (available on line, just Google/E Bay/Amazon. That way you can position the entry wherever you want.

 

Frank

Like this ?

 

 

[Johny London]

Go for the mushroom vent option - saves making any new holes and your cables will go up into them (into the natural gap they have) before heading downward. I got my cables all the way through the boat ceiling by going from one vent to the next at a time, using a rod first then pulling the cable through with it. The way the ceiling batons are should allow for this though it takes a little bit of "finding" sometimes.

[dor]

Bite the bullet and do it properly, routing the cables inside, going through the roof with a proper cable gland.

chances are that as they cobbled it in the first place then the rest of it will need doing properly.  Isolators? Fuses? Cable size?

in most boats, rerouting a cable inside is not a big job.  The fairly stiff panel cable can be pushed quite a way behind the lining.

routing it through the mushroom is just another bodge.

[Johny London]

Why is routing through the mushroom a bodge? It wont affect ventilation, meets the criteria for avoiding water tracking and saves making more holes in the roof. 

[blackrose]

I guess it's a semi-bodge, but as you say it avoids putting another hole in the roof, so if there was a mushroom vent in a convenient position it would be an acceptable bodge to me. Otherwise go for a waterproof gland.

 

What you don't want is conduit on the roof!

Edited April 27, 2019 by blackrose

[Richard10002]

8 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I guess it's a semi-bodge, but as you say it avoids putting another hole in the roof, so if there was a mushroom vent in a convenient position it would be an acceptable bodge to me. Otherwise go for a waterproof gland.

 

What you don't want is conduit on the roof!

I routed my solar panel cables through a mushroom vent near the front of the boat, then along the roof space, and down to the controller at the rear of the cabin. Works fine, avoids additional holes, and no leaks in 18 months.

[frahkn]

6 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

I routed my solar panel cables through a mushroom vent near the front of the boat, then along the roof space, and down to the controller at the rear of the cabin. Works fine, avoids additional holes, and no leaks in 18 months.

 

Surely that was more work or more time consuming, than drilling a hole and fitting a gland?

[Richard10002]

2 hours ago, frahkn said:

 

Surely that was more work or more time consuming, than drilling a hole and fitting a gland?

No

 

The mushroom provides the hole and gland equivalent, and the cables would still have needed to be fed inside the roof space.

[ihatework]

Thanks for all the advice, still trying to get an offer accepted on this particular boat so I can’t check how good the rest of the installation is. Maybe we’ll start again with routing cables from scratch as suggested. 

[Alan de Enfield]

39 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

The mushroom provides the hole and gland equivalent

How does it do that ?

[Bod]

6 hours ago, blackrose said:

I guess it's a semi-bodge, but as you say it avoids putting another hole in the roof, so if there was a mushroom vent in a convenient position it would be an acceptable bodge to me. Otherwise go for a waterproof gland.

 

What you don't want is conduit on the roof!

My conduit.

Way better than cables lying on the roof, jumping up into mushrooms, or hanging over the side into windows.

Not the best photo!

 

Bod

 

[Alan de Enfield]

35 minutes ago, Bod said:

Way better than cables lying on the roof, jumping up into mushrooms, or hanging over the side into windows.

But it would be so much tidier if you had  gland going thru the roof near the panels.

[Bod]

Yes, it's the old story, of not being able to get behind the lining. 

Certianly a new build/refit should be fully tidy. 

 

Bod