I’m interested in buying the new Otter light bars but hate the idea of having power wires zip-tied/taped to the outside of the frame poles. Has anybody routed the power wires INSIDE the poles? Is it even doable?
I’ve done it in a Frabill. After about 3 trips I got mad at it and slammed the pole down and ripped the wire right out of the strip. External is how I re-wired it and it’s just easier. I’m sure if I spent time perfecting it, it would work ok. But I’m impatient…
Yes, I did it on my Otter cabin, one little hole in the top tube and I came through the tube end down by the tub around the screw that the pole pivots on. Worked great no shorts yet. Fingers crossed. I used 16/2 in a white sheathing from a job we did on a building.
I did, LOL using just plain RGB Cabling I think that 4wire ribbons. Think I am going to do redo it sometime and wire on external some how.
I personally don’t see the benefit. I just ran mine on the outside of the poles with zip ties and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again that same way. Absolutely no issues whatsoever.
Not worth the effort in my opinion.
I personally don’t see the benefit. I just ran mine on the outside of the poles with zip ties and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again that same way. Absolutely no issues whatsoever.
Not worth the effort in my opinion.
X2, no otter but it works.
The benefit is you do not see the wire and its nice and clean, For some of us that have OCD on having things look nice and take the extra time to do it right it gives us self gratification. Just saying that’s how I am and why I did it that way.
I personally don’t see the benefit. I just ran mine on the outside of the poles with zip ties and wouldn’t hesitate to do it again that same way. Absolutely no issues whatsoever.
Not worth the effort in my opinion.
would it work if you just run the one positive wire in the tube
and use the tube as a common ground?
i want them routed in the tube to reduce the risk of the exposed wires catching on something and getting ripped off. I also hate the look of loose wires…
i want them routed in the tube to reduce the risk of the exposed wires catching on something and getting ripped off. I also hate the look of loose wires…
I can assure you they won’t catch on anything. I’ve been using mine for two years and never even seen an instance where anything could’ve possibly caught on the wires.
I was concerned when I first did it, now I would never run them through the tubes. Being that the tubes slide, I now know that I’d be more worried about them getting pinched inside or caught inside the tube.
Outside on my Otter Resort as well. Has not been an issue.
I routed wires on the outside of poles with zip tie on 2 different shelters. Both lasted a season or two before some wires either pulled out of the lights or broke at connections. I’m probably harder on my equipment but just thought I’d share my experience.
I also removed all lights from my portables last year and just use headlamps and a little flasher mounted light now.
I have an adhesive LED light strip to one of my bars that I routed through. It is nice to have it tucked and away. I haven’t had issues of it binding or anything like that. There is a plastic piece that I had to drill through to fish the cord through. This light also had alligator clips that I cut off and after I fished it through, I put ring terminals on to screw down to my Berkley battery. Hope the pictures help!
IMG_3360.jpg
IMG_3359.jpg
I have an adhesive LED light strip to one of my bars that I routed through. It is nice to have it tucked and away. I haven’t had issues of it binding or anything like that. There is a plastic piece that I had to drill through to fish the cord through. This light also had alligator clips that I cut off and after I fished it through, I put ring terminals on to screw down to my Berkley battery. Hope the pictures help!
That’s what I was thinking about doing! Sweet setup! I’m thinking of going with the Otter lights and cutting the alligator clips off and soldering on a USB plug-in instead, then just using a USB powerpack vs a 12 volt battery…
Love my Otter XT Pro Resort, just wish Otters had the easy pole slide locks that the Clams do.
Josh did the same thing I did, nice, clean and looks factory. Make sure you get the 5630 SMD waterproof LED’s. They are the brightest SMD out there. You can get 16′ roll for about $12-$15 on EBay or amazon.
I believe usb is only 5 volt unless you have it rigged up somehow.
Its pretty easy to run the wires in the poles of an Otter or any fish house for that matter. I’ve set up 3 different houses over the years that way. My best advise is to buy wires where the positive and negative wire is in one bigger strand. Makes it easier to maneuver through the poles and I’ve found they usually have thicker coating that way. I haven’t had an issue with mine on my Otter, but had issues with my older Frabill due to the pin used to hold the poles in place took up more space in the pole and the wires would rub on it. Had to replace them once was it. I prefer it that way as then you don’t have wires zip tied all over and exposed.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
