Mast unstepped, how do I wire mast for mast head light?

[Mike Davis]

The mast on my cd31 has been unstepped, new standing rigging replaced throughout. Now I would like to install an L.E.D. mast light but am not sure as what to do. There are two wires at the bottom of the mast, one white one that leads to a steaming light half way up the mast. The other wire has seven small wires with leads that connects to a box near the base of the mast in the cabin. This wire leads to the top of the mast where a windfinder plugs into it.
My problem is I don't know how to wire the mast for the mast light. Has anyone done this wiring on their boat. Thanks,
Mike

[MFC]

Hi Mike -
Now a good time to take your time and figure out all of the things you might want to run through the mast. Once you know all of the wires (or other things like internal halyards) which you might want to run in the mast, take a look at the base end of the mast. Inside, you should see a couple of tracks which run up the mast much like your sail track does on the outside. You can purchase slugs for those tracks to help you feed your wiring up the mast (and keep it from flopping around inside the mast after you have finished the job). Alternatively, if you have no tracks) Don Casey describes ways to run a PVC tube up the inside of the mast to use as conduit. Either way, you'll need to set up a feeder line -- where you tuie your new wires to either an old wire or something else run from the head of the mast (maybe a fishtape from home depot). That will help you pull the new lines through (since you only have 2 internal tracks -- at most -- you'll want to bundle all of your new wiring). IIRC, there are some decent threads on the list about mast rewiring. Read up and ask if you have more specific questions!

Best,
Matt

[Squid]

What Matt said…!
I did this last winter. Replaced all the mast internal wiring. The motivation was that the original termination spot was at the base of the mast. I brought "All" the terminations, to include the NMEA 2K lead from the Anamometer into the head and terminated inside the boat, labeled them all inside a water tight small box. Also used a PVC pipe mounted forward in the mast to protect the wiring and ran all the halyards inside the mast with allowed me to free up enough on the top to allow for two additional halyards (one fwd, one aft as the pulleys were used differently while mounting the lines inside… ). I use the new line aft as the new toping lift. My thoughts, were as long as it's down, get it all done. I also replaced all the light fixtures as the old ones were very brittle. Then installed LED replacement bulbs. I know of no unique wiring requirement for LED bulbs vice regular bulbs. Good luck…

[Gary M]

I would explore this.

If your wind indicator does not use all 7 small wires and if the wires aren't too small, you maybe able to use two extra wires at the wind indicator to power your LED mast head light.

LED's do not need a lot of power.

The mast head light instructions should tell you what gauge wire you need and how much power the light takes.

Gary

[Paul D.]

I would add to all these comments to think about quieting the wires from slapping the insides of the mast while this job is being done. This is not needed if you have the PVC tube mentioned earlier.

After you figure out your wiring plan whether using new wire or reusing the old or a combination, a good way to make sure the wires don't slap is to tie groups of plastic wire ties along the wire bundle before you pull it through. Use large plastic ties and tie four or five of them around the same spot every 18" on the bundle with the ends sticking out in different directions all around to keep the wires in the middle of the mast. Use a messenger line to pull the bundle back through. Hardest part of the job for us was getting the old wires out. They were somehow attached to slugs and an interior track which was all stopped up; it was a terrible business.

I have external halyards, just the way I like them, but internal halyards should not be bothered by this method. Sorry not to have a photo but Good Old Boat had an article some years ago on this subject. If you have questions feel free to PM me.

It is really hard to describe the value this has added to our experience whenever sleeping aboard. We anchor very often in wilderness anchorages in Western Lake Superior and there is nothing like being anchored in a cove of glass, with the sun in a blaze of setting color and absolute silence. Maybe only the sound of a bald eagle's wings as it flies overhead.

[barfwinkle]

Mike below is what the inside of your mast should look like. The internal tracks should run along side the external sail track.

Fair Winds

[Jim Walsh]

Sailrite sells the slugs for 42 cents each. That's where I bought mine.

[Maine_Buzzard]

Hi Mike,

A few clarifying questions:

What kind of light do you want to install? A deck light, a new steaming light, or a tricolor masthead light?

Where do the wires currently exit at the base of the mast? Down near the keel, just below or above the cabintop?

Each will have slight differences, but the wiring is simple.

All of the lights on a boat usually have two wires running to them- a switched and fused 12V positive wire, and a return wire (ground) that connects to the negative of the battery.

To wire a new light, say a masthead one, you need to find or install a switchand fuse or a circuitbreaker to your electrical panel. For a masthead tricolor, you could piggyback off the nav light breaker.

That wire needs to route along the cabin, and over to the mast step or out the deck where the other wires enter the mast. Near the mast, a terminal block gets mounted, so the cable that will run in the mast will not be more than a few feet beyond the mast base.

Along with the switched wire (usually color coded red), you need to run the return wire (usually black) from the terminal block near the mast to a common grounding block which might be at or behind your electrical panel.

So now we have + and - 12v near the mast, and we have to get the juice up high. The best thing to do is to get two conductor marine cable in the size needed, and fish it through the mast as others described above. At the top of the mast, you will mount the light and fish the cable into the light base where it will connect to two screws inside to make the bulb light up.

Is that your original question? Some more details about what needs to go in will help the discussion.

I will suggest NOT using the wind indicator wiring. You will find that there are no spare wires and getting one loose will destroy any waterproofing.

James

[CD30C]

I had exactly the same question of how to fix wiring inside the mast. Multiple excellent suggestions. Thanks

[moctrams]

I finally found a LED bulb to replace my steaming light bulb. Only $15.00 too.

http://store.marinebeam.com/bayonet-90- ... nment.html

[Steve Laume]

The steaming light on Raven is the only running light that does not have a LED bulb. My reasoning is that whenever it is lit the engine will be running and the alternator will be generating enough energy that I don't have to worry about it.

There is getting to be a better selection and the prices are going down on LED bulbs. I used to worry about power consumption from lights and now they have become a non issue, Steve.

[frankfurder]

Please excuse my late reply/questions, but here goes;

1. is the internal mast wiring secured to slugs in an internal track as Barfwinkle's mast section would indicate?

2. does the internal light wiring have to be replaced to fish up/down new wiring?

3. Is the VHF coax secured to the internal mast in any way?

4. How important is it for the mast to be down for this operation? I know it would improve access.

I need to replace internal mast wiring and antenna coax on my 25d but would like to know what i am getting into, Thanks!

[Paul D.]

I think you could never be 100% sure how your mast wires are rigged without looking in there. Some may be attached to slugs in a track or in a PVC pipe or just pulled through. Do you have any banging within the mast at actor or at the dock when rocking? Can you look into a hole if you have internally rigged halyards?

If you truly planning on running all new wires I would consider doing it with the mast down. That way you can do a complete inspection on the spreader, mast crane and shroud tang fittings. If you do, I would consider quieting the wires as discussed earlier in this thread. The way I describe has worked very, very well for over a decade.