Directions for mounting an EWI Reel snake into an RL-6047 EWI Tourcase snake case (Do not use these exact measurements for large reel snakes mounting into an RL-6060 case):
1) Remove casters from reel frame and position the reel snake into the tray where you want it. I suggest placement of approximately:
A) 3 3/4" back from the foam of the front of the tray.
B) 1 1/4" back from the foam of the back of the tray.
C) Centered left to right, which is about 1 1/4" from the foam on each side of the tray.
Picture of positioning the snake:
2) Mark the position of the reel frame caster mount holes on the tray's bottom foam. I find that a red Sharpie or Blue Print pencil works good for this. These marks are to identify where the holes will be drilled for the mounting fasteners.
Picture of marking the reel frame caster mount holes:
Picture of marked reel frame caster mount hole on foam. Note the four (4) each marked holes on the foam which are small round circles approximately 1/2" in diameter
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3) Drill four (4) each holes in the bottom of the tray for the mounting hardware. These holes should be drilled in the center of the marks on the foam. A 17/64" drill bit is just the right size for this; however, a 9/32" bit will work ok. A 1/4" bit will be just a little too small. Note that the 4" blue case casters and caster boards should be removed from the bottom of the tray before drilling the holes. It is a good idea to label each of the two caster boards so they can be reassembled in their same positions.
Picture of drilling mounting hardware holes:
4) Install the four (4) each tee nuts into the bottom (underside) of the tray into the holes you drilled. It's best to push the tee nuts into the holes and then tap them with a hammer until the tee nuts are reasonably well seated into the holes. The tee nuts don't need to be pounded in super hard, but they do need to be inserted and seated well enough so they won't spin when threading the machine screws in from the top side. I have included an extra tee nut with the mounting kit hardware in-case you mess one up.
Picture of installing the tee nuts:
5) Reinstall the four (4) each blue 4" case casters and two (2) caster boards. Note that each caster is attached with two (2) each long 8mm bolts and two (2) each shorter 8mm bolts. The longer bolts thread into the tray tee nuts and the shorter bolts thread only into the caster board tee nuts. I hope that makes sense? The heads on the caster mounting bolts are supposed to be 12mm, although a 1/2" end wrench or socket will also fit pretty good.
Picture of reinstalling the case casters and caster boards:
6) Install the reel snake into the tray. This is a straight ahead process of placing the reel snake into the tray, and thread the four (4) ea. #10-32 x 1 1/8" socket head machine screws and four (4) ea. dish washers included in the mounting hardware kit into the tee-nuts you've installed. The socket head machine screws require a 5/32" or 4mm Allen wrench.
Picture of installing the socket head machine screws and dish washers. Note the "dish" portion of the dish washers is positioned with the "dish" down into the reel caster mounting holes:
7) Tighten the socket head machine screws. All four (4) socket head machine screws can be tightened right down in no particular order, but they should be tightened in steps and evenly since the foam below the reel will "give" a little, and you don't want to sock one screw down tight and then have the frame a bit twisted in the bottom of the tray. Tighten the four (4) each socket machine screws down to about 5 ft-lbs. They shouldn't be super tight, but they should be "good and snug". If you have some "Lock-tight" or finger-nail polish around, you might apply a little to the threads of the socket head machine screws before inserting them if you like.
Picture of tightening socket head machine screws:
8) All done.
Picture of what it looks like when the installation is complete:
