Hunter Horizon 27 - mast wiring

[mogmog2]

Hello, a fellow club member is looking at getting a wind toy and I have offered to help them fit it at the masthead.
Any experience of getting wiring through the mast on this boat?
Can it be done with the mast up?
Any other gotchas?
Should I make my excuses and quietly back away
Many thanks.

 

[wallacebob]

Are they Hunter assoc members? Asking on the forum there will get info quickly. Lots of H27 owners

 

[mogmog2]

Are they Hunter assoc members? Asking on the forum there will get info quickly. Lots of H27 owners

Yes she is, but I'm not & I offered to look into it as she's not up for going up the mast and I have climbing gear...

 

[B27]

I think it's quite likely a Zspar mast.
These generally have a conduit running inside for the cables.

A lot of these boats had some element of DIY fit-out, and production was over quite a few years, so I expect they will vary.
If there are only a few small cables in the conduit, it might be quite easy to add another one.
I think one would need to get up the mast and have a look!

With LED nav lights it should be possible to down-size their cables, as the current is less and most only requite 10V for full brightness.

OTOH, dropping the mast is supposedly a DIY operation, but rather you than me!!!!

 

[mogmog2]

B27 thanks for your thoughts, unfortunately she only contacted me last night and is off to the boat show today, with her buying hat on, so I won't get the chance to look at the mast beforehand, unless there aren't particularly any good deals there and she doesn't buy immediately.
At least the wind unit cable will be thin.
I think after buying a windometer, a nav light upgrade would probably have to wait (assuming there's a masthead light) but that's interesting to know about the 10v threshold.

Dropping the mast may be an option later as there is an A frame at the club and we dropped our Centaur mast two winters ago, which was not overly terrifying and I suspect it's rather heavier than the more modern H27 one.

Thanks for your information and at least it's not definitely "the mast must come down" .

 

[Gixer]

I have one of these boats and have done it.

Unless there's another cable in there you could use as a mouse line I would say its pretty much impossible due to the size and angle of the holes. As others have said there's a channel inside the mast for the cables although I guess you could get away with not running the cable though it as long as it doesn't foul the halyards. Personally I wouldn't do that.

I changed all my cables in my mast but used the old cables as the mouse. Even then I did it with the mast down and the foot plate off. The mast is pretty easy to get down with the right gear due to the swept spreaders and tabernacle this will allow you to do a 'proper' job.

 

[B27]

The 10v threshold is not just for expensive new LED fittings, but also for many LED 'bulbs' which incorporate an IC regulator, including those from the likes of 'Boatlamps' and many (not all!) sold for vehicles. Often sold as 12V/24V compatible for trucks etc.

Other LED bulbs may just be a few LEDs and a resistor in series. These are common in domestic 12V fixtures. These can be quite voltage sensitive. I have some on my boat, they are great and were inexpensive but require a regulator to avoid either going POP! or blinding you when the engine is charging at 14.4V.

The posh answer is a solar powered wireless wind meter.

 

[B27]

I have one of these boats and have done it.

Unless there's another cable in there you could use as a mouse line I would say its pretty much impossible due to the size and angle of the holes. As others have said there's a channel inside the mast for the cables although I guess you could get away with not running the cable though it as long as it doesn't foul the halyards. Personally I wouldn't do that.

I changed all my cables in my mast but used the old cables as the mouse. Even then I did it with the mast down and the foot plate off. The mast is pretty easy to get down with the right gear due to the swept spreaders and tabernacle this will allow you to do a 'proper' job.

Likewise, I think mast down and change all the cables is a proper job, I may do the same this winter as I suspect the VHF cable is past its best and I'd like some different nav light options.
I doubt the last two previous owners checked the halyard sheaves etc either.

 

[mogmog2]

Thanks for that - from doing my own mast, entry/exit angles is what I feared. I have just come from messaging her, suggesting that she view the mast wiring as a package (which is how I did mine), especially as her VHF doesn't work. That's really useful info. Dropping the mast is a club event and very doable with the kit available.

 

[ProDave]

We have the HH23, the smaller brother to this, and dropping the mast by hand is what we do, needs about 4 people. We will be rewiring our mast this winter. I would not personally choose to do it with the mast up.

 

[Gixer]

I'll let you in on a embarrassing mistake I made. When I replaced the 12v cable I bought oval not round. Didn't realise my mistake until I passed it through the deck gland and tried to tighten the seal, Doh.....

 

[mogmog2]

The 10v threshold is not just for expensive new LED fittings, but also for many LED 'bulbs' which incorporate an IC regulator, including those from the likes of 'Boatlamps' and many (not all!) sold for vehicles. Often sold as 12V/24V compatible for trucks etc.

Other LED bulbs may just be a few LEDs and a resistor in series. These are common in domestic 12V fixtures. These can be quite voltage sensitive. I have some on my boat, they are great and were inexpensive but require a regulator to avoid either going POP! or blinding you when the engine is charging at 14.4V.

The posh answer is a solar powered wireless wind meter.

Thanks, a wireless wind unit is an option. This was all sparked by her being given a suite of ST60 head units including wind with no MHU, but I mentioned she could get the Nasa wireless for less than the cost of the Raymarine MHU and (I know people are sniffly about Nasa, but they do a reasonable job IME).

If it was me, I'd drop the mast and look at everything together. We'll see.

I wasn't going to mention that I fitted a tricolour led to my Aquasignal masthead light, from Furneaux Riddall, in case it opened the floodgates... However, colour rendering looks good to my eyes and I am happy with it. FWIW, I got two runs of twin 2.5mm*, rg58 and the Nasa wind wire inside the ca 21mm ID conduit I put in our mast, so unless the z spars conduit is tiny, I feel hopeful. *Probably overkill, especially in the light of your 10v info.

 

[mogmog2]

I'll let you in on a embarrassing mistake I made. When I replaced the 12v cable I bought oval not round. Didn't realise my mistake until I passed it through the deck gland and tried to tighten the seal, Doh.....

Easily done.
I skipped the whole gland thing & went for a swan neck on mine.
I see you're just along from us at Littlehampton - Hi.

 

[B27]

The old Nasa Clipper wind system only seems to measure wind angle to the nearest 5 degrees or so.
I think that is less than useful if you should wish to steer close hauled by the instruments/autopilot?
I don't know if their new stuff is any different.

These things are very impressive, but I don't know if they are intended to be left outdoors 24/7

Calypso Ultrasonic Portable Solar Powered Wind Meter - Bluetooth

Uses the GPS on a phone to display true wind on the phone.

 

[Gixer]

I see you're just along from us at Littlehampton - Hi.

Yes, I'm over in Southwick. SYC are racing down do to you guys this Saturday I believe.
I actually bought my Hunter from Littlehampton 15 odd years ago, feel free to give me a shout if you have questions on the Hunter 27.

 

[[193211]]

On our 23 with Zspar mast, similar vintage, there’s a conduit that runs down inside of the fwd face of the mast. Suspect yours will be the same. Mast head off unless you can mouse with old wire. 6mm Monel rivets.
On ours, previous owner ran the mast head light cable outside of the conduit and it’s noisy af in any wind. Winter rewire job with new vhf aerial, etc.