Mast wiring

[OceanSprint]

The boat I purchased had the mast wiring exposed at both ends to the weather for more than a year. Bare wire ends at bottom and terminals at top end. It is mains cable for lights and coax for VHF. Cable also for wind instruments.

Should I replace all the wiring, or can I trim and clean up?

I won't have long between craning mast off deck and then erecting at launch (i.e. i am paying crane by yht hour) so could a wire replacement take long?

Thanks

 

[scotts_mist]

I did something like this earlier this year. In my case, I wasn't replacing all the wiring but was adding an anchor light as the boat didn't have one. I had to use an existing cable to pull up a mouse line and the new cable, then use the mouse line to retrieve back the old one.

It's probably going to speed things up if you have the new wires prepared, with the terminals already soldered on (e.g. for the VHF) as I reckon that takes longer than the mousing.

Then, you'd need to attach a mousing line to the old cable, pull the old cable out,attach the mousing line to the new, and pull it back down.

Assuming the mousing line doesn't detach/break (and no one has tied knots in the cable inside the mast - which they had on mine, both ends) - shouldn't take long at all?

I also found it handy to have a wire coat hanger with a small hook bent in the end prepared, just in case you need to retrieve a cable that disappears back into the hole!

 

[VicS]

The boat I purchased had the mast wiring exposed at both ends to the weather for more than a year. Bare wire ends at bottom and terminals at top end. It is mains cable for lights and coax for VHF. Cable also for wind instruments.

Should I replace all the wiring, or can I trim and clean up?

I won't have long between craning mast off deck and then erecting at launch (i.e. i am paying crane by yht hour) so could a wire replacement take long?

Thanks

You may be able to reuse the cables for the lights.. Strip some insulation off. If you find good clean conductors all should be well. As it is almost certainly not tinned you may well have to cut back so far to find clean non-oxidized metal that it wont be practical to reuse them.

Dont risk it with the VHF coax. The weather may well have penetrated so far along the path of the braided outer conductor as to make it unusable.

Similarly inspect the cable for the wind instruments. If the cable includes a screened conductor it will probably be better to replace it.

 

[nigelmercier]

You may be able to reuse the cables for the lights.. Strip some insulation off. If you find good clean conductors all should be well. As it is almost certainly not tinned you may well have to cut back so far to find clean non-oxidized metal that it wont be practical to reuse them...

I've been doing a few tests with corroded wire. Dipping in a 5% solution of Hydrochloric Acid cleans the ends, and doesn't penetrate very far up the wire. Rinse and allow to dry. Vic would probably be able to advise on a better solution (pun intended).