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bow pulpit navigation light wiring

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monty0
1st Mate

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USA
51 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/20/2008 : 00:20:39

I bought the navigation light kit from Catalina Direct, which has a red/green light to mount on the bow pulpit.

I removed the pulpit and tried to drill the requisite holes in the stainless steel, but all I managed to do was dull a few drill bits.

Well, now I've got some new hard drill bits and will work the drill as slow as I can manage, with plenty of cutting oil. Hopefully that will get my holes in.

The next trick will be fishing the wires through. I imagine I can push the wires in from the bottom and hope they will make the turn into the top tube properly, but I'm not entirely sure that will work.

Anyone been through this before? Any advice on drilling through the stainless steel or fishing the wires through?

Thanks,

Monty

Monty

1977 Catalina 25 #66 SRSK "Prana"

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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3477 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2008 : 05:15:09

I have not done it...but perhaps you can push the wires thru and when it seems to be in the vicinity of the other hole, then put a thin diameter wire with a slight hook in it thru the other hole and fish the wire through the other hole. if it works...let me know....then i can learn from your experiences if the time ever comes when I do same thing.

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Happy D
Admiral

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921 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2008 : 06:33:52

Stainless will work harden, meaning that where your drills dulled, the stainless is probably very hard at that location. If you can't drill through the exact spot, you may have to move over 1/4" and try again.

To get the wires through, use a string and a vacuum cleaner hose and to pull the string through.

Get a small round file and clean the burs from the inside of the holes or your wires will short out forever.

Edited by - on

Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2008 : 08:00:04

I like the vaccum cleaner idea, but if it doesn't work, try coming up from below with a coat hanger loop. Tie a paperclip, nut or small washer to the end of a string, loop the end of the coathanger and use it as a pusher. Now, using a a magnetic pickup tool or a magnet on the end of a second wire, come in from above to the paperclip until you hear the "click" of success. The magnet will hold the paperclip to get the line out from your newly drilled hole.

I like the paper clip since it can be bent flat to fit through very small places. While I haven't done the mod you are, this technique has worked well for me fishing wire in many tight spaces.

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2008 : 08:05:38

Fishing weight on monofilement from the top? SS needs to be drilled quickly, not slowly, Leon taught me this.

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Downbucket
Navigator

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USA
188 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2008 : 09:15:07

Monty:

I will be doing the same mod shortly. Just received the light and bracket from Catalina Direct. Did you have any problem getting the bow rail off? Where on the bow rail are you drilling the hole? What gauge and how much wire are you using? Are you connecting the wire to the wires from the old nav lights? Any other tips?

Thanks and good luck.

Will

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Justin
Admiral

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502 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2008 : 09:18:58

I installed the new bow light last year.

Here is where it exits and re-enters the piping. I have since wrapped the exposed wire with rigging tape to protect it from the UV and weathering.

Here is the hole I drilled through the base with a matching hole through the deck:

As you see above, there is only one power lead run through the pulpit. For grounding, I grounded the circuit to the rail using the metal u-bolt seen here:

I then connected the ground to the pulpit inside the cabin with one of the bolts going through the deck. It was tricky fishing the wire through the pulpit, but I just fed it through and used a small piece of wired to hook it at the end. The plastic cap that covers the rail mount has to be filed to shape the curve of the rail. I then ran the new wire through the bilge all the way to the circuit panel. Flipped the switch and I have light!

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monty0
1st Mate

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USA
51 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2008 : 23:02:02

Thanks so much for the pictures. I had not realized I needed to drill the holes to exit and re-enter the piping.

Drilling the holes I used my drill press at its slowest speed, used plenty of machine oil, and sharp new bits. I started with a 3/16" cobalt bit and then widened up to 3/8". Then I filed the edges of the holes down the best I could.

I ran two wires instead of grounding to the rail (for no particular reason). Fishing them through was pretty easy. I taped them together, but let one wire extend 6 inches further than the other. When I saw the wire at the other hole I fished it out with some stiff wire fashioned into a hook.

I'm waiting for the sunny weekend before I bolt the pulpit back on, sealing the bolt holes with 4200.

Next I have to figure out where to mount the stern light because I'm replacing that one too.

Getting the bow pulpit off was pretty easy with some help. I needed a third hand in the V-Birth to hold a wrench on the nuts as I loosened them. I don't know what the original owner had sealed the bolt holes with, but it was still kind of gooey so that didn't present a problem.

I'm using 14 gauge marine wire because I have extra of it lying around from rewiring my mast. I came up the same rail as Justin did, which you can see from the picture. I'm planning to cut the wires to the existing bow lights, which are in my anchor locker, and wire them to my new wires with heat-shrink butt connectors. I haven't measured the wires because I know I have enough. You could just measure the distance along the pulpit & the extra for the light and the connection in the anchor locker. It would be best to run the new wire all the way to the panel, but that's too much trouble for me right now. We're off to the San Juans in two weeks for the very first time!

The main hole for the light I drilled right in the center on the top. I should have done it on the bottom, but I drilled that one before I saw Justin's post. It's encased in the light & mounting bracket, so it won't really matter, and I'm going to seal it with this black vinyl gummy stuff they have at my electrical supply house so it will be watertight.

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Downbucket
Navigator

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USA
188 Posts

Response Posted - 05/21/2008 : 07:48:59

Thanks Monty and Justin.

Monty, looks like we have the same projects. I too will be rewiring my mast light. How much wire did you use?

Thanks.

Will

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Justin
Admiral

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502 Posts

Response Posted - 05/21/2008 : 08:47:41

About the amount of wire... I originally was going to do as Monty did and solder into the original wiring. My wire was so badly corroded even after stripping off several inches and barely having any to work with in the anchor locker. I even tested the circuit with the original wiring and there was barely any current making it through. That's when I decided to go ahead and run new wire all the way back to the panel. I don't remember the length I used, but it may have been most of a 25' spool. By the time you hide the cable in edges and corners and make your way back, it takes quite some length.

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monty0
1st Mate

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USA
51 Posts

Response Posted - 05/21/2008 : 09:50:33

I ended up wiring my mast with a combination of 10 and 14 gauge wire because I had bought that wire from a friend after he had finished rewiring his boat. Having gone through that, I would recommend the wiring kit from Catalina Direct. I had a devil of a time cramming 4 wires into the deck connector, which I ended up drilling to make the hole bigger for the wires to fit in.

The amount of wire is just a couple feet more than the measurement from the base of the mast to the lights, but again I recommend the kit. My wife had a great idea for fishing the wires through. We had a bunch of that 3/4" black irrigation tube. After removing the masthead we fed the tubing through the top to the bottom of the mast, wiggling and twisting whenever it got caught up on a screw. We attached another line to the tube when it got to the hole for the deck/steaming light (at the spreaders). When we got the tubing down to the base of the mast, we attached the anchor light wires to it, and the deck/steaming light wires to the line. As we fed the wires in, we attached 3 zip ties with the ends radiating like a star and taped them in place. That keeps the wires from banging against the side of the mast. We did that every 16 inches or so.

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Justin
Admiral

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502 Posts

Response Posted - 05/21/2008 : 10:30:25

Ooops, I missed the word "mast light" and was thinking length of wire for the bow since we were discussing that. I second what Monty said about using the Catalina Direct wiring kit. That is what I installed last year and used the zip tie trick as well. It's a complete kit with plenty of wire combined together for just what we need. I also installed a new deck connector and new wire to the panel to replace the original mess.

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