Making my own marine RCA cable

[SpeakerFRK]

I’m connecting 3 amps. Over about a 15’ run, and I have to split 4 of the cables. I looked on Amazon and there’s a couple problems. #1 cheapest I can make this work if I bought it premade, is about $200 for marine rated cable. #2 I couldn’t even find marine rated splitters.

So, looking to make my own. What would I need to make this happen? I saw Sewell deadbolt ends that look pretty easy to install. I also have a soldering iron if I need to use that instead. My bigger question is what cable should I use that will be marine grade (tinned)? I saw some that many people recommend using coaxial cable. Any particular that is tinned and high quality? Would you recommend the ends I found or some other ones?

Here’s a coaxial cable I found that’s tinned copper.

 

[Prana Ferox]

I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to accomplish here but if you've met a US Marine you know that eventually they're going to chew through whatever wire you use

 

[kemmler3D]

I am not sure how to solve this one, but I will follow with interest because I need to do some outdoor speaker cables myself in the near future. I think most wire should be OK if it's got decently thick insulation, but it's the plugs / terminals that I wonder about. How to protect from moisture?

 

[Blumlein 88]

Wet Sounds

Wet Sounds’ marine stereo systems and equipment provide crisp, high-quality audio that’s loud enough to be heard whether you’re fishing a local pond, water skiing on a lake, or tubing on the ocean. Enjoy unparalleled protection from water damage with Wet Sounds’ state-of-the-art equipment.

shop.wetsounds.com

This place has marine/outdoor gear for audio. Splitter cables too.

Waterproof stuff on Amazon appears to have an extra layer to seal everything in other than the actual RCA exposed metal parts. I've seen RGB cable for outdoor use like that. Like this appears.

Amazon.com

If you made your own, I'd say the box must be watertight including the RCA jacks.

Don't know the particulars in your case, but you could always run it inside some conduit. Or maybe some flexible Pex water line.

 

[SpeakerFRK]

I am not sure how to solve this one, but I will follow with interest because I need to do some outdoor speaker cables myself in the near future. I think most wire should be OK if it's got decently thick insulation, but it's the plugs / terminals that I wonder about. How to protect from moisture?

Well many plugs are gold coated. So that’ll provide some protection. For example like these.

 

[SpeakerFRK]

I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to accomplish here but if you've met a US Marine you know that eventually they're going to chew through whatever wire you use

Bare copper does horribly in wet environments. I have some connections for my rear doors on my sprinter van and I have to clean them about once a week otherwise the system keeps thinking that the doors aren’t closed

 

[SpeakerFRK]

Wet Sounds

Wet Sounds’ marine stereo systems and equipment provide crisp, high-quality audio that’s loud enough to be heard whether you’re fishing a local pond, water skiing on a lake, or tubing on the ocean. Enjoy unparalleled protection from water damage with Wet Sounds’ state-of-the-art equipment.

shop.wetsounds.com

This place has marine/outdoor gear for audio. Splitter cables too.

Waterproof stuff on Amazon appears to have an extra layer to seal everything in other than the actual RCA exposed metal parts. I've seen RGB cable for outdoor use like that. Like this appears.

Amazon.com

If you made your own, I'd say the box must be watertight including the RCA jacks.

Yes I’ve seen wetsounds cords. The problem is they cost an arm and a leg. I’d be spending $300+. That’s why I’m looking to make my own

 

[Blumlein 88]

Those Sewell's probably aren't air/water tight however. Some RCA ends are potted. You could probably put those together by filling it with epoxy as you screw it together. Won't get apart again. An extra layer of heatshrink right over the RCA's themselves would probably do quite well.

 

[SpeakerFRK]

Those Sewell's probably aren't air/water tight however. Some RCA ends are potted. You could probably put those together by filling it with epoxy as you screw it together. Won't get apart again.

I was thinking that or rubber cement. But if they are tinned Cooper it shouldn’t be as much of a problem right, and connectors are gold plated, so shouldn’t rust

 

[Speedskater]

Ancor Marine Grade Coax Cable

Marine-Grade Coax Cable (Bulk) | West Marine

Check out our Marine-Grade Coax Cable (Bulk) and more from West Marine!

www.westmarine.com

 

[SpeakerFRK]

Ancor Marine Grade Coax Cable

Marine-Grade Coax Cable (Bulk) | West Marine

Check out our Marine-Grade Coax Cable (Bulk) and more from West Marine!

www.westmarine.com

What’s the best one to use? Rg59u?

 

[Lambda]

I would just uses something to stop water ingress. on the cable ends.
(Silicone) greases, wax, conformal coating, plasti dip or just CA glue.

 

[Speedskater]

What’s the best one to use? Rg59u?

Whichever one is the correct diameter to fit your connectors.
I bought a roll way back when it wasn't so pricey, for the marine radio antenna on our sailboat. Then used the remainder to make nice white audio interconnects.

 

[DVDdoug]

Audio signal connections should be coax/shielded. Virtually all RCA cables are shielded and all microphone cables are shielded.

With speaker wiring it's not necessary and it's better to use two-conductor wire or a pair of single-conductor wires for each speaker. Speakers don't need shielding because speaker wires-connections can't pick-up enough noise energy to drive a speaker without going through an amplifier. And speaker wires carry more current than RCA signal wires and you can get heavier gauge wires.

I don't know anything about marine wiring... I'd mostly be concerned with keeping water/moisture out of the plugs, jacks, and any other connections... Anywhere that you can see the metal contacts.

Nothing bad will happen if you temporarily or occasionally submerge the "middle part" of a regular audio cable as long as the ends & connectors stay dry. Long term, the insulation might deteriorate and then moisture will get to the copper, etc. The sun can also cause damage long-term too and I'm not sure which is worse. (A assume marine-rated cables are also resistant to UV/sun effects.)

You could heat-shrink any Y-splitter connections. You can get heat-shrink lined internally with sealant (it's probably hot-glue or something similar). Of course, that kind of thing becomes difficult/impossible to "service".

...If you have a yacht that says dry inside you could probably get-by for many years with regular audio/video gear.