Mast wiring (35-3)

[ChrisInMaine]

The yard got confused and took our mast down last winter when we didn't expect it. So I never got in there to label and photograph the wires before they got disconnected.

We did check the lights before the mast went back up, but the wires didn't get labeled then either.

So now the mast is back up but I can't get a single light working. I've tested the circuits and they are working as expected. What I'm less confident in is the wiring to the mast. The manual references a brown, blue and yellow positive connections and a black ground. These correspond to what I see at the bus bar coming from the panel.

From the mast I have a brown, green and yellow in a single cable, and then a black and white in another. I've tried connecting the black, white, and both to ground and sending power to each of the other leads but I get nothing.

I don't see anything else coming down from aloft.

I am wondering if this is aftermarket wiring on the mast side or it otherwise I might be missing something. Thoughts and insight appreciated.

 

[Loren Beach]

FWIW, that's the same-looking little terminal block that is under our headliner. Now, with new wiring, our lighting all works.
One idea I picked up from our shipwright is to have a spare or extra 12 volt battery from an old 12 volt DC drill motor, and a couple of wires with alligator clips. We quickly ID'd and tested all of the new lighting on the spar and could mark each wire.
We also verified each wire from the breaker panel, and labeled them one at a time, with a multimeter.

 

[ChrisInMaine]

FWIW, that's the same-looking little terminal block that is under our headliner. Now, with new wiring, our lighting all works.
One idea I picked up from our shipwright is to have a spare or extra 12 volt battery from an old 12 volt DC drill motor, and a couple of wires with alligator clips. We quickly ID'd and tested all of the new lighting on the spar and could mark each wire.
We also verified each wire from the breaker panel, and labeled them one at a time, with a multimeter.

Thanks! Curious to know if you have the black and white cable as well and what those wires might correspond to. The white is curious as there is no obvious place for it on the bus bar.

 

[Loren Beach]

I cannot ID them, and I wish I could!


Were all... of these wires there before the spar was unstepped?

 

[ChrisInMaine]

Well, the mast was not supposed to be unstepped so I did not inspect the state of the wiring before it came down.

 

[Kenneth K]

Your wiring (left side of the block, YLW/BLUE/BROWN/BLK) looks the same as mine.

The 3-wire lighting connector (grn/ylw/blk, shown hooked up) should be for the combo steaming/deck light at the front of the mast. It should be hooked up as follows:

-grn (or ylw) to YLW -- no way of knowing whether grn or ylw is steaming or deck light until you try it out.​

-ylw (or grn) to BROWN​

-blk to BLK​

The two-wire connector (shown unhooked) should be for the anchor light atop the mast. It should be hooked up as:

-wht to BLUE​

-blk to BLK (doubled up on the same stud as the blk/ground for the steaming/deck light)​

None of your lights are working now because nothing is grounded (BLK is the ground).

Here is mine:



The 3-wire steaming/deck light is wht/grn/blk, going to YLW/BROWN/BLK.
The anchor light is red/blk going to BLUE/BLK (looked closely and you'll see two black terminals stacked up--there are the grounds).
Disregard the red line drawn-in going to the speaker-wire terminal--that is from another project.


In my case, the rust/corrosion on the terminal block was from a leak under the headliner. After much, much head scratching, I found that water was actually leaking in at the steaming/deck light, traveling through the jacket of the 3-strand wire and exiting where the outer jacket was stripped back to the inner wires.

 

[ChrisInMaine]

Thank you @Kenneth K this is extremely helpful. I'll give it a shot and let you know what I find.

 

[goldenstate]

I agree with Kenneth. Stack your black wires for the common/ground (blue in my case), then solve for the other wires.
Here is what mine looked like before I replaced the OEM wiring. Same triplex and duplex wires:

 

[ChrisInMaine]

Just wanted to follow up on this. I was able to get the masthead and the deck light working but not the anchor light. Going to spend some time on that in the spring with the mast down. Thanks for the help!