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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Deck Connector for Mast Wiring

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fredhillmann
Deckhand

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USA
15 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/10/2005 : 21:30:41

I'm finally getting around to re-connecting the wiring to the mast, and I have a question. The wires from the battery are red, white and green. The last seems to be the ground and the other two positive. On the mast side, I have green, white and black. How do I dtermine which goes with which?

Fred Hillmann
C25 #3385

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 05/10/2005 : 21:54:59

FULL STOP!!!

The wire colors at your mast plug are the colors from your control panel. They are not related to the battery colors. Look at the back of your switch panel to see the color code of your mast plug. There is also a very good chance that the colors in the mast don't match the deck plug either. You may need to confirm the color code of the mast by looking at the terminations at the lights.

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lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 05/11/2005 : 08:25:50

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by fredhillmann
 The wires from the battery are red, white and green.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

There should be four wires, not three. 1. Ground 2. Anchor light, 3. Deck light 4. Bow (steaming) light. The Bow and Deck light wires go halfway up the mast, and the Ground and Anchor light wires go all the way to the top. The deck plug should have 4 connector pins in it. Does your switch panel have separate switches labeled "Anchor", "Bow", and "Deck"?

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fredhillmann
Deckhand

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USA
15 Posts

Response Posted - 05/11/2005 : 11:06:30

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by lcharlot
 <blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by fredhillmann
 The wires from the battery are red, white and green.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

There should be four wires, not three. 1. Ground 2. Anchor light, 3. Deck light 4. Bow (steaming) light. The Bow and Deck light wires go halfway up the mast, and the Ground and Anchor light wires go all the way to the top. The deck plug should have 4 connector pins in it. Does your switch panel have separate switches labeled "Anchor", "Bow", and "Deck"?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Nope. My panel switches are labeled "Running" , "Bow light" and "Anchor" (in addition to "Cabin" which works fine). I'll probably have to wait until sunset some day to see which is which.

F.

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 05/11/2005 : 12:20:09

Bow light = steaming light, faces forward on your mast close to the spreaders.
Anchor light = masthead light with 360 degrees of visibility.
Running = hull navigation lights, stern white and red + green on the bow

You have the old stock configuration. I think most boats were probably ordered with the upgrade for a deck light. Do you have blanks on your switch panel?

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lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 05/12/2005 : 08:29:17

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by fhopper@mac.com
 
You have the old stock configuration. I think most boats were probably ordered with the upgrade for a deck light. Do you have blanks on your switch panel?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

So, the deck light (and the wiring for it) was an extra-cost option from the factory? Now that I think back, when I first got #1205, it had only a 3-pin deck socket! I added a circuit for the deck light, installed a new 4-pin socket, and re-wired the mast and upgraded all the nav lights. That was 9 years ago; I spent the whole summer of '96 working on that boat, fixing and replacing worn out equipment. Adding a whole new wiring circuit is a pain on these boats since the factory wiring is sandwiched between the inner and outer deck shells, forcing the owner to run any new wiring wherever he can.

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bbriner
Captain

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349 Posts

Response Posted - 05/14/2005 : 11:08:12

My '84 has a 3-prong fitting and no deck lights. I have an Anchor light and a Steaming light only. Because of what Larry said I decided against re-wiring.

Bill B
Wind Dancer
SF Bay

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deastburn
Captain

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USA
334 Posts

Response Posted - 05/15/2005 : 23:55:15

My 81 has a four-prong deck connector. You can purchase an identical one new from any marine supply store. One of the prongs (the ground) is slightly fatter than the other three. On my boat the wire colors never have matched. I just experiment and when the various lights work, that's the way I go. The actual lights never matched what the panel said, so I simply re-labeled.

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Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2005 : 07:51:53

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Gambit
Navigator

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USA
160 Posts

Response Posted - 05/18/2005 : 09:41:07

The electical panel and lighting configurations vary somewhat by boat and year and factory options. There was a good thread in April that helped me quite a bit, see it at:

http://www.catalina25-250.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8881&SearchTerms=wiring

One post there gets you to the Catalina 25 manual in pdf version that gives the wiring schematic as well as the different bulbs used in fixtures.

I hope this helps you.

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/18/2005 : 22:22:10

My connector is 4-prong plus a wedge-shaped plastic peg. I got a precise replacement from Catalina Direct. I'm going to put the wires on it exactly as they are on the old one without worrying about what's what.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2005 : 19:25:51

I just finished my deck connector installation today and hopefully it will hold up better than the previous one.

I used the standard 4-prong connector as a replacement, but I made a modification to prevent water infiltration and corrosion which plagued the previous connector.

The first mod consisted of routing the mast wires through a foot long piece of automotive rubber tubing. The function of this hose is to provide both a grommet for the mast hole and to help protect the wiring between the mast and connector.

Since the wires wouldn't fit through it anyway, I removed the top cap and rubber grommet of the new connector and discarded them. In its place I used a small piece of automotive fuel line that was large enough to snugly accommodate both the hose on the mast wiring and the threaded top portion of the new connector. (When I say it snugly fit, I mean I had to use a little liquid soap as a lubricant)

I finished the installation with a boot fashioned from a dishwasher/garbage disposal adapter. This adapter fits snugly around both the connector and the short fuel line.

With the snug fit of all the pieces, I'm sure that this setup is weatherproof and will provide additional protection and strain relief for the mast wires and connector.

The best part is the tubing cost only a dollar or two and the dishwasher adapter I think was 5 or 6.

Edited by - dlucier on 05/19/2005 21:14:10

Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 05/19/2005 : 21:31:27

Nice job, Don!

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 05/20/2005 : 19:31:12

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Leon Sisson
 Nice job, Don!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Thanks!

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