Battery wire through a wooden partition

[David WE Roberts]

Just checking I am doing the right thing.

I am fitting a second battery to my camper van and the cable has to go through a wooden partition which is about 25mm thick. Almost certainly a veneered board of some kind.

I was going to fit a grommet but then I realised that you don't get grommets

25mm deep as a rule.

Now grommets are usually used to protect cables from sharp edges especially metal.

I propose to drill a slightly oversize hole, say 10mm to take the 9mm diameter cable. I will also slightly countersink the entry and exit holes. Under these conditions I can't see any danger of abrasion damage to the cable.

Does this sound reasonable?

Cheers

Dave R

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You could obtain a short bit of rubber hose - perhaps the petrol or heater sort - split that along its length and use that to protect the cable. Make the hose a tight fit to the hole, and secure with cable ties, etc.

[John Williamson]

If it's the normal construction for a camper van, unless it's structural, the partition will be made of ply skins on a timber frame. If so, then one grommet on each skin will do it. However, unless you're

*certain* it's solid mterial, be very careful how you drill the hole, start with a 4mm drill, then open it out to 10mm using a normal wood drill or a hole saw depending on what you find.

If it's solid, drill and coutersink as you have said you intend to, but glue a grommet with one lip cut off in each end of the hole. There will be vibration, and this may cause wear to the cable insulation whch you pobably won't notice until the cores start fretting on each other.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "David WE Roberts" saying something like:

Cables move and fret on a vehicle, so line the hole with a piece of garden 'ose or similar.

[chrisj.doran%proemail.co.uk]

Actually, I have seen them, but wouldn't know where to get one. I was about to suggest using back-to-back a couple of the "witches hat" grommets used on flexible cables emerging from a bulkhead or the cables of electric irons, but then I came across these:

[David WE Roberts]

*************** Actually, I have seen them, but wouldn't know where to get one. I was about to suggest using back-to-back a couple of the "witches hat" grommets used on flexible cables emerging from a bulkhead or the cables of electric irons, but then I came across these: ************************ Unfortunately "Accepts cables up to 7.7mm diameter , ideal for TV and Satellite cables" I do have some of these for co-ax and was considering if they would stretch but I am not hopeful. Possibly if one was split up the side to allow for expansion?

Trimming rubber grommets for both ends sounds possible, as well.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.