Mast rewire pros,cons aaahhhh

[noswellplease]

Having replaced the VHF aerial at the top of the mast and also replaced the cable, a small problem has developed regarding the navigation lights on top, aaahhhmmmmm, well they dont work and neither are they likely to as the cable broke in a pull through. I've got port starboard lights at deck level and steaming light half way up the mast. Thats it for now anyway.

My qestion is this, I take it that in the perfect world the electrical cable in the mast should be replaced I would think every 10 to 15 years but to do this is far from easy ( I know) . The light fittings seem to say leave me alone I hate human hands yours anyway and 35 feet up above the deck is not exactly the easiest place to work.
Do some owners unstep the mast for a major mast re-fit and change light fittings and any other mast support fittings that need to be replaced at the time? It beats me why a simple conduit cannot be provided in the mast which makes routing wires straightforward. Is there something I am missing, is this just part of the sailors lot?

Views much appreciated as always, Russ

 

[RufusM]

Hmmm yes - despite lots of advice on here about dropping threads through the top of the mast with a load of nuts on, fishing wire coat hangers through holes and the fact that masts have a conduit to run cables down (mine doesn't) it's a bitch of a job. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Only managed to rewire mine after removing the foot of the mast and getting physical with it.

Just thinking about it makes you thirsty! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[john_morris_uk]

I tend to be more pragmatic than many people about work on the boat. It probably helps that I quite enjoy working up the mast!

I have rewired or run new halyards many times using a small line and a weight on the end to drop through from the top. A small length of old bicycle chain is very effective. Sometimes you have to jiggle it a bit to get it past minor obstructions, but its always worked for me so far.

Prepare all you need before you go up the mast. Have another lightline attached to your bosun's chair so that you can pull any other tools up to you if you have forgotten anything.

Lots of mast extrusions have a conduit for wiring. Its much better to use it if its there as it reduces the chances of the cable slapping the inside of the mast when you roll around at anchor.

And when you've finished, how about leaving a mousing line in the mast for the next time you need to reeve a line through it?

Alternatively, a rigger will do it for you!!

 

[vyv_cox]

In some cases it depends! One of my Kemp masts needed to have the casting at the top removed before the wiring could be renewed. This was not possible when erected as the shrouds and stays are attached to it.

I must say that the anchor/tricolour at my masthead is the least reliable component of the whole boat. It has been off several times for maintenance but this is not easy from the masthead as the screws are usually seized and the wires are short. Although I have replaced antenna cables from the masthead several times, if I was going to rewire the whole thing I would much prefer to do it on the ground.

One alternative that was available to us in Holland is to use a yard that has a crane basket to provide the working area for you to work at the masthead. This is a far easier way to work, with the cost only being the crane driver's time. You may be able to find a yard that can provide this for you.

 

[Gargleblaster]

I completely rewired my mast this year and replaced my tricolour as it was the only thing on the boat that had not failed me last year. But I did have the mast down over winter - something I only do every 2 years or so. I had to rewire as I had had a junction box just below my steaming light that had terminations for steaming light, deck light, tricolour and anchor light. My baby stay had decided to rip it off the mast and it was only being held in place by all the wiring. Every time I tacked my genoa would reposition it. but through all this my tricolour continued to work. But now I have a new tricolour and anchor light all fitted with LEDs. The other thing that I had to do was replace my VHF aerial as the soldered terminal had given up the ghost. Interesting when I went to buy a new VHF aerial this year, I was told by the chandler that there had been a real run on them this year. And when asking around the boatyard I found about half the people there this year had had to replace their VHF aerial this year.

 

[wingdiver]

Silly suggestion possibly but why don't you pull a line up to the top with the new VHF cable and then pull the VHF and a new tricolour cable back up together using that line?

 

[Richard10002]

[ QUOTE ]
It beats me why a simple conduit cannot be provided in the mast which makes routing wires straightforward.

[/ QUOTE ]

My mast has 2 conduits, but wires still get stuck on rivets or whatever inside the mast. Also the conduits get full and it's hard to get more wire down/up.

I used a 20m length of rigging wire, (probably 3 or 4mm), which the yard loaned to me, to feed down the mast and pull a couple of mice through.

This was with the mast unstepped.

 

[john_morris_uk]

[ QUOTE ]
Silly suggestion possibly but why don't you pull a line up to the top with the new VHF cable and then pull the VHF and a new tricolour cable back up together using that line?

[/ QUOTE ]If people do use a mousing line I always use a couple of rolling hitches to tie the light line to the cable and put electricians tape over it all to make as smooth as 'cone shape' at the join as possible. If it starts to snag don't pull too hard, but pull the cable back down and see if the tape has rucked up or something. Smooth it out and try again.

 

[davidwf]

I managed to loose both vhf and tricolour cables in my mast, turned out after I took the foot off that the conduit was in two parts and they didn't align so cables were snagging. However managed to rethread it using a £5 nylon mouse thing from B&Q. Best £5 I ever spent.