Cable access holes through roof......

[Joseph]

Hey all, forum newb.
Recently got a T6 for a MTB/Camping/Daily beast. Just added roof bars last week and thinking about mounting a roof tent and Solar panel up there, wondering on what the suggestions are regarding getting cables through the roof skin into the vehicle.... this is the newest/nicest vehicle i've owned so a little dubious about slapping some holes and cable glands up there any suggestions welcome.

thanks

Joseph (New Zealand)

 

[Kind of Blue]

Welcome Joseph. There is a fair bit of information on here and soon enough people will come and help you out. Newzealand must be a phenomenal place to be particularly for this sort of recreation. I hope that you can post loads of images so we can see what we are missing.

 

[The_Lad]

I didn’t want to drill anything on mine so I went down from the roof and into the van using the rubber grommets for the rear lights

 

[RayF]

A cable entry like this will be fine as long as it’s sealed properly with a marine grade adhesive/sealant like Sikaflex. I fitted one to the roof of my boat this year and it didn’t even need screwing down, the adhesive was that good.
Waterproof Double Cable Entry Gland For 3-7mm Diameter Cable

 

[JOG]

A cable entry like this will be fine as long as it’s sealed properly with a marine grade adhesive/sealant like Sikaflex. I fitted one to the roof of my boat this year and it didn’t even need screwing down, the adhesive was that good.
Waterproof Double Cable Entry Gland For 3-7mm Diameter Cable

Sikaflex might cost a bit more....but you’ll be glad you did! It is the only stuff I’ll use on my caravan.

 

[Joseph]

thanks for the replies guys,
I have Sikaflex 221 etc at work for doing this in motorhomes/caravans/boats (Autoelectrician) was just looking for alternate ideas as I never actually like doing roof entries even when there is no other way, I have temporarily run a cable for a bar mounted light bar the length of the van in the gutter and then inside through the tailgate grommet, I think i will look at making this permanent on the opposite side though a grommet assy.
@Kind of Blue thanks i will get onto a project log or something of the like for recording progress and photos, we're very lucky down here to have the ability to (try) control the spread of this pandemic while still enjoying the things we love, but the 'attack' is constant and seamingly unrelenting, every day the threat of 'lockdown' pops up with so many expats wanting to come home and a very 'compassionate' government
cheers all

 

[Yellowswamper]

How are folks running their solar cables from their roof into the van? I have a skyline Aurora

 

[familymack]

How are folks running their solar cables from their roof into the van? I have a skyline Aurora

CDAT Tutorials does a great video on exactly this...

 

[Fluff34567]

Many drill a hole through the roof but I plan to run the cable through the tailgate cable sleeve grommet.

 

[Samro]

Expert opinions on roof glands for pop top required.

Due to the quantity of solar on my roof, I was limited to front entry panels and consequently specified panels which had a straight cable run out of them in an attempt to make things as neat as poss.

I had really specific requirements for my solar setup and then unexpectedly required surgery which has meant that i couldn't do the cabling myself and today was the first time i could catch up with what was going on with my install.
After being taxied over to the van today to check on progress I found that the (Index type) roof glands that I had supplied had not been fitted in the location which I had planned and I hate the appearance. My fault- Poor instructions and all that!



For whatever reason the glands have been installed perpendicular to the cable exit from the panels and way too far back on the roof. The cable run is much longer than it needed to be, so I will now have to have this changed which is a massive pain in the arse as the rood will need filling and repainting!

The question is this? How safe is it to do away with the waterproof glands and just rely on sealing the entry holes with Sika? If i do away with the glands it will avoid the bumps in the side view of the roof, but i don't want to do this if it will be susceptible to water ingress.

Like the picture below, but with the entries on the drivers side of the pop-top?

 

[JOG]

Aren't the covers just cosmetic and the seal is reliant on Sika anyway?

 

[Samro]

Aren't the covers just cosmetic and the seal is reliant on Sika anyway?

No. Index glands are IP68, which was why I selected them, but whilst they are slimline they have a profile which is higher than I would like!

 

[jimc91]

Looks alright to me, I would just enjoy the van as it is and re do the panels when they fail and you have to replace them. Sometimes we worry too much about stuff, just my thoughts