Running tower speaker wire - magnets!

[gallobg]

I successfully ran speaker wire up the tower yesterday in a 2019 AR195. I tried a new trick to get a lead rope through the tower and it worked really well so I thought I would share.



I used some neodymium magnets to drag the lead rope down the tower. First, I drilled the tower speaker holes using a step bit like others here. Be warned, those metal shavings fly EVERYWHERE. I put down a few towels to catch the shavings but it really didn’t make a difference.



For the lead rope, I used duct tape to secure one magnet to the end of the rope. Next I inserted the rope into the tower speaker hole and then I used a second magnet on the outside to capture it and slowly lead it along the tower tube. The factory towers are non-magnetic so this worked extremely well. I was able to easily run the lead line all the way to the bottom of the tower bracket in just a few minutes, at any time I need to stop the magnets held each other in place.



At the bottom, I fashioned a retrieval tool out of a long zip tie. I used duct tape again to secure another magnet to the end and used this to fish out the lead rope at the bottom end of the tower bracket. It took a little longer to catch the magnets together because it’s a blind operation, but it actually wasn’t that bad.



After that it was an ordeal running two 14awg wires up the tower due to their thickness (they barely fit together in the small gap where the tower attaches to the boat) but the lead rope did it’s job to pull the speaker wire through. In hindsight I probably used too light of a rope because I was concerned it would break considering how much friction the speaker wires had, but it held and I was able to get them through eventually.



Anyhow, the lead rope took only about 10 minutes to get down the tube so I would definitely suggest that to anyone doing this! Of course running the speaker wires back up took considerably longer due to the tight squeeze…

 

[philistine]

Great idea! I'm getting ready to install my tower speakers and will try this technique. Did you run both speaker wires the same side? I was thinking that I would run the speaker wires on each side because of their size.

2020 AR195S
I'll be using 16AWG JL Audio marine speaker wire (no wire jacket).
JL Audio M6 LED 880's (sport white)
Wetsounds SYN-DX2 (2 channel amp)

The tower speakers are an "add-on" to an already significantly upgraded stereo system along with a triple battery bank running on an ACR etc.

Cheers!

 

[gallobg]

Yes, I ran both speaker wires through the same side. I ran jacketed 14AWG and it was a very tight fit. The tower tube has a great internal size but there’s this weird choke point where it meets the boat hull that’s only about a 1/2” wide and at a weird angle. So getting two jacketed wires through there took a long time.

At first I tried to pull both wires together through that choke point, but it was just too tight. I would have broken the lead rope. So instead I had to pull each wire separately.

But the magnet trick worked excellent to get the lead rope down the tube. I would do it again this same way. Although I probably would have pulled one wire from each side separately. If your wire is unjacketed then just go slowly when pulling and be careful not to break the wire insulation.

 

[Rockit69]

Thanks for the write up, I spent 3 hours trying to pull and push wire and a fish tape. Between the tiny hole at the tower base and the bimini support obstacles it kicked my ass. I tried the magnet route with what I had, small magnet and a very thin picture frame hanging cable, and it worked, sort of. Made it through and when I went to pull the 12 AWG wire it snapped. Ordering parts off Amazon for a redux and I will pull from both sides of the tower. Trial and error!

 

[scokill]

Necessity is the mother of invention. That's a great idea. On my ar230 tower I just metal fish tape pushing the string and it worked perfectly.

 

[1BadTundra]

I successfully ran speaker wire up the tower yesterday in a 2019 AR195. I tried a new trick to get a lead rope through the tower and it worked really well so I thought I would share.



I used some neodymium magnets to drag the lead rope down the tower. First, I drilled the tower speaker holes using a step bit like others here. Be warned, those metal shavings fly EVERYWHERE. I put down a few towels to catch the shavings but it really didn’t make a difference.



For the lead rope, I used duct tape to secure one magnet to the end of the rope. Next I inserted the rope into the tower speaker hole and then I used a second magnet on the outside to capture it and slowly lead it along the tower tube. The factory towers are non-magnetic so this worked extremely well. I was able to easily run the lead line all the way to the bottom of the tower bracket in just a few minutes, at any time I need to stop the magnets held each other in place.



At the bottom, I fashioned a retrieval tool out of a long zip tie. I used duct tape again to secure another magnet to the end and used this to fish out the lead rope at the bottom end of the tower bracket. It took a little longer to catch the magnets together because it’s a blind operation, but it actually wasn’t that bad.



After that it was an ordeal running two 14awg wires up the tower due to their thickness (they barely fit together in the small gap where the tower attaches to the boat) but the lead rope did it’s job to pull the speaker wire through. In hindsight I probably used too light of a rope because I was concerned it would break considering how much friction the speaker wires had, but it held and I was able to get them through eventually.



Anyhow, the lead rope took only about 10 minutes to get down the tube so I would definitely suggest that to anyone doing this! Of course running the speaker wires back up took considerably longer due to the tight squeeze…

I did this for my Light Bar wiring... Worked great.

 

[platinum00]

good idea.

However, with the tower down, I didn't have any issue pushing 14ga around the bar.

 

[LukeDames]

Genious ! Thanks for the tip ! I’m getting ready to upgrade the audio in my AR 250 I have all the equipment but I’m not sure whether I should take it to a shop or attempt to do it myself.

 

[Chief fan]

so mounting the tower speakers on the hinge side of the tower is what most people do? Want to do this install and just curious