Wiring Harness Replacement-Need Wire Source

[Dan VwnWinkle]

I have tracked a steaming light problem on my 25D down to a problem in the harness behind the liner in the cabin roof. Ofcourse it is embedded in expoxy and so far impossible to get at. Would like to replace it and that in the mast (3 wire) with a new 5-wire harness to accommodate some mast head lights. Have not been able to locate 4 or 5 wire (14 gauge, tinned wiring at Boat U.S., West, or Hamilton Marine in Maine. Found a 4-pin connector but no 5-pin connector. Can't believe some useable 4- or, hopefully, 5-wire cable is not out there somewhere. Anyone else wrestleed with this one? Is 14 gauge about right? Thanks in advance.dvw



dwinvan@aol.com

[Ed Werner]

DVW:

Suggest that if you want spare conductors, go with 6 conductors with a six conductor connector - 5 conductor wire is not easily available!

14 gauge is rated for 15 amperes - most mast lights are up to 50 watts which equates to 4.2 amperes. The only bad side of oversizing in gauge and conductors is the cable may get too big in diameter to fit existing pass thrus!

4 conductor 14 gauge cable is a standard - try an RV supply or electronics shop if your local yacht chandler doesn't carry what you want!

Good luck with the fix.

Ed



ewerner@erlu.com

[Paul]

I have tracked a steaming light problem on my 25D down to a problem in the harness behind the liner in the cabin roof. Ofcourse it is embedded in expoxy and so far impossible to get at. Would like to replace it and that in the mast (3 wire) with a new 5-wire harness to accommodate some mast head lights. Have not been able to locate 4 or 5 wire (14 gauge, tinned wiring at Boat U.S., West, or Hamilton Marine in Maine. Found a 4-pin connector but no 5-pin connector. Can't believe some useable 4- or, hopefully, 5-wire cable is not out there somewhere. Anyone else wrestleed with this one? Is 14 gauge about right? Thanks in advance.dvw

Why do you need a five conductor?

[Richard G]

I replaced the wiring in the mast with 14/3. I ran two lines, one for the steaming/deck light, and one for the tri color. Each fixture gets two hot leads (one for each of the functions), and one common neutral. Try to use the old wire to pull the new through the boat, or if it won't move, use the "old" wire as long as it is not broken or badly coroded. I used a bus bar at the base of the mast to connect all the various leads. Hope that this is helpfull. Make sure to use some form of dampening system to keep the wires from banging around inside the mast. I used foam tied off to the wires with cable ties every foot an a half or so. This if you don't have a tube inside the mast to run the wires through. I have heard of just using large cable ties and leaving the ends long so that they keep the wires from banging around as well.



Aldajon@aol.com

[Larry Austin]

One of the reasons I took down my mast this year was to do something
about the wires banging around inside the mast. I found that there is
a *sail slide track * that runs the leaghtof the mast inside the mast in that those nylon sail slugs slide right into. attach a slide about every 4 feet with a wire tie to the wire harness
and feed the harness into the *sail slide* and pull it all the way thru. i left about a foot of wire where it hanging from the part of the harness where it would meet the hole in the mast for the anchor light. put a hook in the end of a coat hanger to hook the wires and pull it thru the hole for the anchor light.

if you want to put form around the harness , the foam pipe insulation works good.

Larry Austin
CD30MKII
LAYLA



laustin@us.ibm.com

[Larry DeMers]

NO, DO NOT use RV or Hardware store wire aboard your boat! You must use a pretinned wire, such as you find in the marine catalogs. I know it's easy to say that wire is wire, but in this case..it won't be for long if you use untinned wire.
What happens is water, moisture, humidity get wicked up inside the wire wrap itself, lodging between the copper and the cover. This corrodes the wire absolutely..in fesh water, it takes 1-2 years before the ends of the wire turn black with corrosion..and this is an insulating corrosion too. In salt water, the process takes weeks or months depending on conditions. Corrosioin of any kind makes for a bad connection. Imperfect connections cause a voltage drop at the junction of the wire to the spade lug, and this voltage drop draws current (it's a resistance, and the voltage dropped across the junction will end up converting toheat. How much heat? depends on how much resistance there is.
But the danger is so real that Boat/US will not insure you if your boat is wired with non-tinned (and non-ABYC compliant)wire.
A junction that gets hot, will continue to get hot as long as you draw current. Enventually. the insulation could melt off the wire in droplets..

Use Ancor wire to be safe. Sizes are listed right in the West Marine Catalog. They also have 4, 6 and I think 5 and 7 conductor connectors..waterproof even. Not bad quality..I use them for the Loran antenna connections.

Be careful, you don't want a fire.

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 ~~~~~~Sailing Lake Superior~~~~

I have tracked a steaming light problem on my 25D down to a problem in the harness behind the liner in the cabin roof. Ofcourse it is embedded in expoxy and so far impossible to get at. Would like to replace it and that in the mast (3 wire) with a new 5-wire harness to accommodate some mast head lights. Have not been able to locate 4 or 5 wire (14 gauge, tinned wiring at Boat U.S., West, or Hamilton Marine in Maine. Found a 4-pin connector but no 5-pin connector. Can't believe some useable 4- or, hopefully, 5-wire cable is not out there somewhere. Anyone else wrestleed with this one? Is 14 gauge about right? Thanks in advance.dvw

demers@sgi.com

[john churchill]

for less expensive tinned marine wire, try jamestown distributors. e.g. 14-2 wire $30/100' roll. connectors, etc at big discount vs west, although not the brand name, but still good quality. not as big selection though. 1 800 423 0030

[Larry DeMers]

Good Idea. Also, Newark Electronics and Allied Electronics do list pretinned wire. However, the conductor count is lower (meaning they are larger individual strands which makes the cable much stiffer).
If the installation is just a straight run, tied down with wire ties or some form of restraint against vibration, the non-marine *pre-tinned* wire will work fine. But if there are tight turns, or if youare running into the breaker box for instance, the more flexible wire would be better. The danger (admittedly small and less worrisome than non-tinned wire being used)is that vibration is much more easily transmitted to the spade lug, causing work hardening, and eventual failure. ABYC standards require the higher strand count..but I have to admit that this is an expensive way to go.

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30

for less expensive tinned marine wire, try jamestown distributors. e.g. 14-2 wire $30/100' roll. connectors, etc at big discount vs west, although not the brand name, but still good quality. not as big selection though. 1 800 423 0030

demers@sgi.com