Mast Electrical Wiring

I am rewiring the mast lighting on our 1976 E27 and need some information. Some previous owner gave up on whatever the orginal plan was, drilled holes in the mast 3 inches up from the base, ran the wires a short distance on the deck, then drilled holes so he could run the wires into the head. Just a horror...


For those of you who have pulled the mast on an E27, can you please tell me what was the original way the electrical wires went into the cabin from the base of the mast?


I've looked and can't find anything obvious so that I can reconstruct what was originally there.


Thanks as always for the help.


Andy

27 Mast Wiring

On my 73' 27 the wiring was run through a hole in the mast step directly under the mast. The wiring ran down through a "chase" cut in the compression post which was concealed with a piece of 1/4" x 1" teak trim. The trim was accessible on the aft of the post.

Same

On my '75 it is as Al describes.

Don

aj vollmer said:

I am rewiring the mast lighting on our 1976 E27 and need some information. Some previous owner gave up on whatever the orginal plan was, drilled holes in the mast 3 inches up from the base, ran the wires a short distance on the deck, then drilled holes so he could run the wires into the head. Just a horror...


For those of you who have pulled the mast on an E27, can you please tell me what was the original way the electrical wires went into the cabin from the base of the mast?


I've looked and can't find anything obvious so that I can reconstruct what was originally there.


Thanks as always for the help.


Andy

Click to expand...

There are several issues at play with these two competing set-ups. I have an E25, which has the same mast profile as the E27, so I believe I can contribute to this discussion. The factory original set-up requires you to route all mast wires and the VHF coax through a relatively small hole in the aluminum mast step and the deck beneath it. The size of this hole requires you to be a minimalist in terms of the gauge and the number of wires you use. The same goes for the gauge of the VHF coax cable. The benefit of the alternative set-up that you describe is that it allows you to be more liberal in your wiring. It also more easily allows you to connect and disconnect the wiring and VHF cable when stepping and unstepping the mast. Additionally, if you do it right, rain water won't drip down the wires into the boat. It sounds like the previous owner just did a crappy job. It really doesn't look too bad, if you take your time and think through everything. I got my idea from Tim Lackey, who documented his refitting of his Pearson Triton, Glissando.

Here are a couple of pics of my boat, and two links that might be of help.

Roscoe

http://www.triton381.com/projects/maintenance/mastpaint1.htm

https://middlebaysailing.wordpress....ring-connecting-with-the-boat-wiring-harness/

Here's the correct Glissando link: http://www.triton381.com/projects/restoration/maststepping.htm

Roscoe

Hmm... Must have been one of the blog posts that got lost in the epic site melt-down. But I simply enlarged the hole in the mast step, to about 1 inch, IIRC. I got quite a lot of wires through it, including the big radar cable and the big RG213 cable for VHF. I glued a schedule 80 PVC fitting into the hole to form a dam, so water will have to rise up two inches to get into the cabin. It should flow out the limber hole before that happens. So far, no drips.

This was not my preferred set-up, but I was short on yard-time and it's a two-week turnaround to order any sort of parts around here. I tried ordering several kinds of multi-pin waterproof military connectors from the Internet, but none of them were quite right, or required more parts that I couldn't get in time.

What I would really like is a junction box at the base of the mast and another up around spreader height, so that you can work on the wiring without pulling the mast. I didn't feel good about cutting that large a hole in the mast. Instead, I put a junction box on the bulkhead, just below the mast, but there's really no clear path to fish or extract wires - it all fits too tightly in the hole. (Without the radar, it might just be possible.).

Some masts have internal wiring conduits. Mine did not - there were just some pieces of foam rubber stuffed up in the mast to keep the wires from knocking around. I could only pull the lowest one out. But I was able to shove heavy-duty fish tape past the others. This with the mast horizontal, on sawhorses. I don't know if it could be done in situ.

I just used a terminal block on the bulkhead to make all the connections. I arranged this bunch of wires into a drip loop in the base of the mast. before routing them through the conduit and down through the through-hull in the deck. This has worked well for me.

Roscoe

Sample posts for photo duplication issue

Andy, If it helps any, I'm attaching several photos of how Ericson solved that problem on our boat. The mast base has an aluminum riser welded in place that must by 1" in diameter and 6" tall. Cables and wires are formed into a drip loop, then into the riser. Beneath that is a hole in the deck that lines up with the corner of the head compartment. There are two terminal strips on the compression post where everything electrical is attached. Note: That is a new mast base supplied by Le Fiell when I had the mast repainted. Given that the mast had not been pulled in seven years, the factory original had turned to white powder, thus the new one. I added 1/4" weep holes drilled on a 45° angle to port, aft and starboard with the thought that now salt water would have a way to run out of the new base before having a chance to do major damage. After all the modifications to the base, it got sent out to be anodized. The original terminal strip is above one that came with a Data Marine wind instrument, requiring a larger teak cover. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey CA

Amazing help! Thank you all for the great info and pictures. I appreciate the info on how others
have solved the problem and the effort to post the info and pictures.

After the posts from Al and Don I removed the trim and found the original wires (see pix.)
The wires are immovable, so I'm guessing they are glued in. Using a maintenance port on the mast near
the (original or from some PO?), I am going to try a pipe cam I have to see
if I can figure out what is in there.

Using the posts of Roscoe, Toddster and Glyn, I was thinking of just drilling gingerly
straight up from where the original wires come thru, checking to make sure I haven't done
any damage, then enlarge the hole a bit and put up a short length of PVC pipe epoxied in
place to guide the wires and prevent water intrusion.

Think that would work? I really would like to avoid the cost of pulling the mast.

Thank you again for all the help.

Andy

Spooky! My setup could be a twin to the one shown in Glyn's photos. But it's just what I came up with out of my own fevered imagination.

- the hole doesn't go "straight down." It slants off toward the corner so that it day lights outside of the compression post.

- it would be awfully tricky to try to fish wires through there without pulling the mast. I just make the job one of the priority jobs to do while I had the boat hauled to the farm. It's also why I put so much impedimenta on that mast all at once. There didn't seem to be sufficient access to add things casually with the mast in situ.

aj vollmer said:

Amazing help! Thank you all for the great info and pictures. I appreciate the info on how others
have solved the problem and the effort to post the info and pictures.

After the posts from Al and Don I removed the trim and found the original wires (see pix.)
The wires are immovable, so I'm guessing they are glued in. Using a maintenance port on the mast near
the (original or from some PO?), I am going to try a pipe cam I have to see
if I can figure out what is in there.

Using the posts of Roscoe, Toddster and Glyn, I was thinking of just drilling gingerly
straight up from where the original wires come thru, checking to make sure I haven't done
any damage, then enlarge the hole a bit and put up a short length of PVC pipe epoxied in
place to guide the wires and prevent water intrusion.

Think that would work? I really would like to avoid the cost of pulling the mast.

Thank you again for all the help.

Andy

Click to expand...

I would fill the small hole - the one with the coax currently running through it - and, just as you are thinking, enlarge the larger hole. To enlarge the hole, I would first create a wooden plug by means of a hole saw. I would then use this plug as a guide for drilling the appropriately sized hole with a larger hole saw. If you don't use this technique, chances are you'll make an ugly mess of the gelcoat. I'd also start out your drilling with the hole saw with the drill set to Reverse. This will minimize the damage to the gelcoat. You can tell that the guy before you did not do this. See my attached pictures illustrating this plug-and-hole-saw technique.

As far as installing a piece of PVC is concerned . . . that's not the approach I myself would make. It would look cheap, and it would be difficult to keep it sealed. I would use a plastic through hull. I sealed mine with butyl tape. Before I installed the through hull, however, I would use epoxy to seal the balsa deck core.

Roscoe