Will,
I can't help you with the speaker wires for a MkII, but I can point you in the right direction for the three year membership. Contact our Membership Chair, Sean McGuckin. He can help you upgrade your membership from one year to three years, so you can get the CD. It is definitely worth it!

The wires exit into the lazarette beneath each seat.

They thread down inside the stern pulpit stainless tubing. Just crawl into the lazarette and look up at a point where there is a stern pulpit attachment. The wires are hanging in there. Also, while you're down in the stbd lazarette look for the pvc tubing that will act as a conduit to take the wires (that you must install) forward to the salon where your stereo is located.

Welcome aboard, Will.

Will, you must remove at least the aft cabin closet drawers to find the forward end of the pvc conduit; but the entire closet is removable with, if I recall correctly, only 6 or 8 screws. Remove the drawers first, then the screws, and take the whole closet out and it will make it easy to work there.

Beneath the chart table is a round plastic access panel. Your wire run will pass within reach of that panel, then up behind the power distribution panel, then to your stereo location...presumably on stbdside near the chart table.

I suggest 14 guage wire, marine stranded...NOT household solid. The wire I used looked exactly like household 14-2, but was marine grade stranded.

Also, beware the live 120VAC behind the power distribution panel. Shutting the 120 VAC off at the switch on the panel DOES NOT remove the voltage from exposed terminals on the back side of the panel. For this dangerous work you should ensure the AC is OFF by removing the shore power plug at the dock connection (ie, NEVER at the stern connection).

I hope this helps.

Hi, Larry. I'm curious about your strong warning to 'never' disconnect the shore power cable from the stern of the boat. Obviously, one 'always' disconnects the cable from the stern of the boat to take her out.

Please explain what you meant. Thanks!

Duane,
I think what Larry is referring to is the fact that if you simply disconnect the shore power from the boat, you are leaving the shore power cord "live". You should first turn off any appliances in the boat that draw current, then disconnect the shore power cord from the dock, and then lastly disconnect the power cord from the boat. If you disconnect the cord from the boat and/or dock without turning off the master 110VAC breaker or at least major appliances, you tend to get arcing at the power cord connections, which leads to increased resistance, which leads to melted cords and fires. Load. Dock. Boat.

Hi, Tom. Thanks for your post.

I agree 100% that your method is the way to do it. I was also sort of thinking that might be what Larry was referring to, but I thought I would ask.

Are all MKIIs prewired? I 'm planning on installing rear speakers as well on my 95. Where do the wires exit the stern pulpit?
Thanks,
Sid

Sorry, Duane, and thanks, Tom.

Sometimes I am not as eloquent as I would like to be. "Never" is a strong word, isn't it? I was indeed referring to the correct procedure of disconnecting shore power first at the dock box, and only then disconnecting it at the stern connector. The risks of doing the the procedure the wrong way include the possibity of damaging the components as described above, and also the risk of electrocuting the diver that is changing zincs on the boat a couple slips down the way.

Sid, I am not sure whether all MkIIs were pre-wired; perhaps there was a series that didn't have them. On my 2002, one end of the pre-installed wires was in the lazarette as previously explained, and the other end exited the stern rail S/S tubing beneath each stern rail seat...the so-called "cat bird seat" or "jump seat".

Sid,
Read Larry Brandt's post #3 above.

My 1999 model was definitely not pre-wired. I did drill new holes in the stern "perch" seat tubing to run wires and it was not fun. The end result was worth it, however.

Tom,
I was asking where the wires would be on the outside/pulpit, not in the lazarette. I couldn't find any exit holes under the pulpit seats and wanted to know if I was looking in the right place.
Thanks,
Sid

[QUOTE=deising;758]My 1999 model was definitely not pre-wired. I did drill new holes in the stern "perch" seat tubing to run wires and it was not fun. The end result was worth it, however.[/QUOTE]

Duane,
Where did you have to drill? Mine is not prewired. I'm not sure if I would need to remove the pulpit to put the holes through the deck and also how/where to drill on the pulpit to get the wires from under the perch seats to below decks. Just looking the process seems to be drill under the seats, drill through the vertical portion of the pulpit in to the horizontal bar that the seat is attached to, and then drill through the deck. If this is how you did it, what did you use to seal the hole left on the vertical portion?
Thanks,
Sid

[QUOTE=Sid;3078]Duane,
... Just looking the process seems to be drill under the seats, drill through the vertical portion of the pulpit in to the horizontal bar that the seat is attached to, and then drill through the deck. If this is how you did it, what did you use to seal the hole left on the vertical portion?... [/QUOTE]

Sid,

That's pretty much it. I carefully measured to find the center of the vertical tube where it intersected the fiberglass at the base, and then I drilled upwards from inside the lazarette - enlarging the hole progressively. I tried using a rubber grommet to seal the hole around the wire, but it was marginally successful. I then added silicone caulking to make it mostly sealed. I used wire loom to protect the speaker cable and secured it under the seat.

When drilling the vertical tube, I tried to make the hole centerline athwartships. This doesn't weaken the tubing from fore/aft bending loads as much.