What do y’all think about whether boat lift cables that run from the control box to the motors should be up high and dry or let under the water/mud? The black power cable that comes with the lift, we put in gray/plastic flexible water tight (supposedly) conduit.
The cable that runs to our motor (far motor from the box) is currently sitting underwater. It’s not buried in pluff mud, just resting on top of it. Should we raise it so that it dangles in the air above the water, leave it, or bury it in the mud?
I am not worried about running over it, I am worried about corrosion. If in the air, it gets salt air and direct sun. In the water it gets soaked in saltwater and occasional sun since its shallow or mud at low tide.
Any advice would be great as we’d already had to replace the control wire on our old dock when it corroded out from being in the water.
I wonder about this as well!! When our lift was installed the company did what you described, power cable in conduit running under the water to the pole and then up to the motor. A year later and the conduit is covered in oysters/barnacles.I read on another forum where this is a common method of running cables and that it also ends up with water eventually infiltrating the conduit and corroding the cable. I don’t know why it’s run this way and why they wouldn’t run it from pole to pole at the top of the pole, with flexible conduit to allow some ‘give’ in it for the poles swaying.
I’ve been thinking about hiring someone to re-wire it this way, at the top of the poles.
under water is the right way- it should be in a u shaped conduit attached to the pilings- if you have a roof over your lift then it should be ran up and over
I would also say underwater. The right type of cable should never corrode in your lifetime. There are underwater cables ran across the Atlantic and Pacific, not to mention along side almost every bridge around here.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
quote:
Originally posted by Dockman
under water is the right way- it should be in a u shaped conduit attached to the pilings- if you have a roof over your lift then it should be ran up and over
follow this advice
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I was thinking that if they were moved to overhead I’d be able to get the boat off the lift at low tide. Since at low water th conduit is in the way. I guess I’ll follow the expert advice and leave well enough alone!