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Shortening an Iva-Lite cable can it be done?

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runabout36
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Shortening an Iva-Lite cable can it be done?

Post by runabout36 » Sun Jun 19, 2016 11:35 am

Need to shorten an Ivalite cable...does anybody have any experience doing this.

jbyers
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Re: Shortening an Iva-Lite cable can it be done?

Post by jbyers » Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:50 am

I'd have to take a closer look at mine. It's out of the boat right now. I seem to recall vaguely that I did this once however. I think I used a thin cutting disc on a dremel tool to cut the outside sheath being careful not to clip the inside cable. (I'm not sure if you can retract the inner cable while you cut the outer sheath.)

I would also think you could use one of those small manual tube cutters like you cut copper pipe with. The ones that you screw down the round blade and rotate around the pipe by hand, going deeper and deeper on each successive pass until you cut all the way through.

Of course now that I've posted I imagine someone will chime in about this being all wrong......... LOL :lol:

Good luck,

runabout36
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Re: Shortening an Iva-Lite cable can it be done?

Post by runabout36 » Tue Jul 19, 2016 12:11 pm

Thanks for the reply. Had mine shortened by Ivalite owner Dick Sligh. Fortunately I live in Grand Rapids MI and Dick is located in Holland MI 30 miles away. Talked to him on the phone and he started to explain to me how to do it...after hearing many caveats, I asked Dick if he would like to do it...and he said he'd love to. It's a little more involved than I had anticipated. Completely disassembled the light and pulled the inner cable out, the ends are sweated off and on with a torch. When you cut the inner cable and outer casing you don't want to distort either end...he uses a chop saw and blocks of wood with a hole the size of inner cable and outer cable that supports and surrounds the cable or case so that it doesn't distort the cut end. Long story short...he's got the tools, jigs and knowledge to do it right. If anyone needs Ivalite repair or restoration you can contact him thru the website www.ivalite.com. or call him 616 335 2049. I hesitated to put the Ivalite on the boat, but finally relented...absolutely love it when out at night.

jbyers
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Re: Shortening an Iva-Lite cable can it be done?

Post by jbyers » Tue Jul 19, 2016 12:51 pm

Great...... I thought I recalled both ends had some sort of hardware on them and that one would need to be removed to do it properly. There's no substitute for someone who has done it many times that's for sure. The money you might save sometimes ends up costing you more. Glad you had a good outcome.

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