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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

re-wiring mast

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Rick Heaverly 86 C25 5382
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206 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/17/2002 : 19:51:30

re-wiring mast next saturday. how much wire do i need? 33ft for anchor and 21ft for steaming light? i was going to use 14/2 for anchor and 16/2 for steaming. sound right?

thanks

Rick Heaverly

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Ben - FL
Admiral

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880 Posts

Response Posted - 03/17/2002 : 20:06:38

How are you planning on pulling the wire through? There is a maze of screws and halyards inside. I tried putting an antenna wire up my C-22 mast and it was a real chore. Took three times longer than I had expected. I finally ended up snaking two pieces of PVC pipe up the mast as far as I could and pushing the wire through it.

Someone suggested to me about putting plastic bags up the mast to keep the wires from slapping around and making noise. The trouble with that is of course if you want to pull other wires in the future the bags are in the way.

Safe voyages,
Ben, FL s/v Chick-a-pea C250wk

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Rick Heaverly 86 C25 5382
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206 Posts

Response Posted - 03/17/2002 : 21:04:14

ben,

actually a friend of mine who works on boats for a living in annapolis is helping me with the project. or will i be helping him.....

Rick Heaverly

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Douglas
Master Marine Consultant

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1595 Posts

Response Posted - 03/17/2002 : 21:18:44

Don't use anything smaller than 14 gage and use the smaller gage for the shorter run. The groung wire should be 12 gage minimum 10 gage optimal. Steeming light 14 gage and mast head 12 gage. If you use smaller gage the power drop over distance will give you a dim light. There is more resistance over a long run so if you use a larger wire ther wont be as much amperage drop. Use the old wires to pull in the new ones.

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eric.werkowitz
Captain

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USA
283 Posts

Response Posted - 03/17/2002 : 22:38:16

You may want to install conduit if you don't already have it in the mast. It's really needed if you want to convert to internal halyards. I think I worked out a good method. First, I drew straight lines down the mast and the conduit where I wanted the line of pop-rivets to hold the conduit. I put the mast on saw horses and drilled the holes for the pop-rivets through the mast. I turned the mast so these holes faced down. Then I used a small sand bag, pushed with a piece of plastic pipe, to weight down the conduit while I drilled holes (upward) through the mast holes and into the conduit. To get the conduit in position I used an ice pick throught the hole, moving it until the line on the conduit could be seen. Then I pop-riveted the conduit to the mast and drilled the next hole.

By the way, the fore stay makes a good snake to fish wires through the mast.

Eric Werkowitz
C25 #4969

have

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Rick Heaverly 86 C25 5382
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Response Posted - 03/18/2002 : 07:47:29

douglas and eric,

thanks for the responses. so, i assume 16/2 is smaller than 14/2. still wondering what length i need. i already have enternal halyards. in fact i replaced them saturday and it was a snap. i stitched the new halyard to the old then wrapped some electrical tape around where i had sewn them together and pulled them through. the only time i felt any resistance was when the taped portion was coming through the bottom pulley at the bottom of the mast.

Rick Heaverly

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LeighMarie
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188 Posts

Response Posted - 03/18/2002 : 10:45:43

I have a crazy question about this topic. I have a "new" 1985 C25, swing keel that I now have had about 6 weeks. This past Saturday I got to the wiring for the mast as the old connector coming down from the mast is gone and it has a black, green and a white wire coming out. The green is the ground on a mast fixture (according to the manual), the white one must be for the anchor light as it lights when I have the green one and white one in two of the holes of the connector on the deck next to the mast, so the black one should be for the masthead light? Is then the masthead light called the steaming light? I have heard about 3 light names on a mast, but I only have 2 lights.

I also can't get the masthead light to work - I don't know which toggle switch on the electircal panel it is attached to. However, even when I have all of them turned on the masthead light still doesn't work. I would like to know which one should work it ("Running Lights" mayber?) so I can begin to trace it.

You can tell I'm new to this - our old 14 foot Rascal didn't have lights so I never learned all of this stuff.

Thanks!

Dave & Sharon on "Leigh-Marie"
Hull #5128

Edited by - LeighMarie on 03/18/2002 10:53:42

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OJ
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4382 Posts

Response Posted - 03/18/2002 : 11:12:22

Your wire colors won't mean much to us if the mast has been rewired since the boat was new. (1) Top light is an "anchor light" (2) Middle light facing forward is your "steaming light." Some people also place a miniature light at the base of the windex. Other people place lights on the spreaders to light the deck or there's a combo steaming/deck light.
Not sure this has been mentioned, but I would look for wire that has been tinned - less resistant to corrision.

Steve Madsen
#2428
OJ(Ode to Joy)

[url="http://catalina25-250.org/photo0.htm/"]<img src="http://www.catalina25-250.org/photo/ode075.jpg" border=0>[/url]

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Tim Colbert
Deckhand

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23 Posts

Response Posted - 03/18/2002 : 11:27:37

Rick

When I rewired my mast last year I bundled all of the wires together and then pulled them through foam plumbing insulation (1" ID). As I remember I inserted the whole package from the bottom of the mast with foam up to the spreader level. I then had to insert foam from the top over the wiring loom to the spreader level as there is not much room at that point. To fill up the extra room in the mast I inserted addtional foam tubes until everything was snug. It was a relatively easy install and did not have to drill holes in the mast.

Good luck
Tim Colbert
'79 SR SK #1363

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LeighMarie
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188 Posts

Response Posted - 03/18/2002 : 12:50:01

I think I understand better now. That which I thought was my anchor light was really not, and the masthead light is really the anchor light. Is that right? I got the light half way up my mast to work, but that really is my steaming light - is that more than likely hooked up to the "Running Lights" switch in the electrical panel?

The light half way up the mast actually lighted up two nights ago when I turned the Anchor Light on, but I had a number of combinations of switches on, it was dark, the wind was howling and it was only 30 degrees out and my ability to ponder was limited to the feeling I had left in my fingers - which was going fast!

Sorry to bug you all with such mundane questions, but I don't quite know how else to figure all of this out, and these forums are amazingly helpful!

Dave & Sharon on "Leigh-Marie"
Hull #5128

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Douglas
Master Marine Consultant

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1595 Posts

Response Posted - 03/18/2002 : 13:04:41

Just a quick reply. Yes the larger the number the smaller the wire. For example the big wires on your car battery are probably #4. The longest run wires need to be a larger size due to the distance they run eats up amperage.

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John Mason
Admiral

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687 Posts

Response Posted - 03/18/2002 : 13:20:02

Dave on Leigh-Marie,
The steaming light should not be connected to the "running lights" switch. When you are sailing at night, you want the red and green bow lights and the stern light on (the "running lights" switch), but if you are motoring at night, then you want the running lights AND the steaming light on - an additional separate switch.

John Mason - Ali Paroosa
1982 - FK/SR #3290

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OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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4382 Posts

Response Posted - 03/18/2002 : 13:29:40

Steaming light would have its own switch as that is turned on only when you're under power, or "steaming." Running lights would only include bow and stern lights - instrument lights would be good include with running lights to minimize number of switches.

Steve Madsen
#2428
OJ(Ode to Joy)

[url="http://catalina25-250.org/photo0.htm/"]<img src="http://www.catalina25-250.org/photo/ode075.jpg" border=0>[/url]

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Bristle
Admiral

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834 Posts

Response Posted - 03/18/2002 : 17:44:51

Dave & Sharon: I feel duty-bound to recommend that, if you haven't already, you pick up a copy of Chapman's Piloting or Annapolis Seamanship to learn about the appropriate lights and signals for various conditions and situations. A Power Squadron or Coast Guard Auxiliary safety course is also a good idea. Not knowing the rules can get you into a pickle... On the other hand, many rules (such as "day shapes" for steaming, etc.) are routinely ignored in many places.

Safe voyages,

Dave Bristle, 1985 C-25 SR-FK #5032 "Passage" in CT

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LeighMarie
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188 Posts

Response Posted - 03/18/2002 : 21:19:43

Dave Bristle: Thanks for that advice! I found an interesting site that addresses this, and will check into those books also. We do plan on taking the Coast Guard class this summer. We do want to go about all of this in the right way.

I also know that my boat has the Steamer light wired as the Anchor Light, (I just went outside, my boat is in my driveway, and checked it again!) so already I know that not everyone does things the right way. I will fix it and get it all set.

Thanks for your help!

Dave & Sharon on "Leigh-Marie"
Hull #5128

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