Cleaning Shore Power Cable

Bill Herb

New Member
Mar 6, 2006
27
Chesapeake Bay
Boat Info
2001 340 Sea Ray Sundancer
Engines
8.1 Mercruisers w/V drives
My 30 amp power cables are really cruddy and need to be cleaned. I attempted to do so last season with over counter "marine" cord cleaner but result is worse than ever. Any suggestions; solvent etc. and what can be used to seal them.
 
My two preferred methods are:

1. Use Roll-Off along with a scotchbrite pad and rubber gloves.
2. Use Gel-Gloss available at Home Depot, apply as directed.

Both require more elbow grease than a lot of people want to put in, but the end result is better than pure solvents that tend to make the cords sticky.
 
I cleaned mine with acetone and a roll of paper towels - looks like new. You need to keep changing / rotating the paper towels. As soon as one area gets dirty, it seems to lose it's effectiveness in cleaning. Just move to a new area, and keep the towels good and wet with the acetone. Stickiness was not an issue after a couple of hours.
 
I used acetone as well amd they came out OK. But, I applied some Armor-All after I cleaned them to (hopefully) help keep them clean.
 
I use the over the counter stuff and a lot of elbow grease. The key is to keep ahead of the game. I do them twice a season and do not drag them down dirty docks. I use my dirty cables at the storage yard and the clean ones are not deployed until I'm at my dock.
 
I use acetone with a bunch of clean rags, followed by a heave dose of 303 protectant.
 
I used soft scrub on a rag and wore gloves. I treated with Armor all, and they were quite slick and my cable master wasn't gripping very well. I cleaned them again, and left untreated. Lot of work. The cover is sounding like a great idea.
 
I used soft scrub on a rag and wore gloves. I treated with Armor all, and they were quite slick and my cable master wasn't gripping very well. I cleaned them again, and left untreated. Lot of work. The cover is sounding like a great idea.
The cablemaster uses pressure and friction to move the cable through the rollers the Armour All makes the cable to slick for the rollers to grab hold of, so the cablemaster will slip. If you used only the soft scrub it would work just fine
 
SOmething I used until I got the Marinco Cover is EasyOff oven cleaner. Spray it, wait a little while, and then remove with clean paper towels. I usually spray with some kind of vinyl protectant afterwards then let it dry before putting it into the Cablemaster.

Bruce
 

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