Recabling Masts - all help appreciated

[philmarks]

I've bitten the bullet and got the masts down to check. I want to re-cable them (cables 20 yrs old) but masts are filled almost completely with urethane foam. I can't pull the cables out. At a pinch I can leave them in, but would need to run a couple of cables down the oputside of the masts, which I don't really want to do. And yes, my halyards are external up and down on aluminium masts. Anybody got any clever ideas out there?

 

[Strathglass]

Borrow one or two sets of drain rods. Then, if possible, take the top and bottom fittings off the mast. The next stage depents on which fittings you have with the rods. You effectively ram the rods right through and then pull several lengths of 22mm plastic pipe through the hole each one being glued together prior to being pulled up. They are pulled through by passing a line through each tube such that the joints are in compression when being pulled in.
22mm is only a nominal size it depends on the wires in the mast. I don't think you would get away with 15mm continuous plastic water pipe.
That's one possible way depend on obstructions at spreaders and access at ends.

Make sure you leave spare pulls in the tube.

Iain

 

[AndrewB]

Why recable?

If bedded in foam, its likely the cables are still in perfectly good condition inside the mast, even if the exposed ends are bad. Would replacing the ends be an option?

I'm a bit surprised the cables will not draw through the foam. You have removed the mast cap and heel, haven't you, because the entry and exit points may constrict a direct pull. Cables can get trapped by internal corrosion, which tends to occur at the ends of the mast, or where there are holes for fittings. Could they be fixed anywhere internally? If there are through bolts for the shrouds or spreaders sometimes internal cables are attached there. It might be worth withdrawing the bolts and peering inside.

 

[Avocet]

Re: Why recable?

I had this a couple of years ago -unfortunately it was self inflicted because i injected the foam to stop the cables banging! My mast is about 30' tall and the bottom fitting at the heel is an aluminium casting which comes off easily. The top, however, is welded so I only had access from one end. I bought several lengths of 1" diameter 16swg steel tube and hammered them up the mast through the foam bit by bit. Every few inches, I had to take them out and oush the foam out with a length of solid bar (a bit like an apple core). As I got further up the mast, I joined them together like drain rods. As the mast was lying horizontal at the time, the rod always tried to run along the lowest edge. This was a problem because when I got to the spreaders (one of which was pointing downwards) the rod fouled on one of the rivets holding the spreader abutment to the side of the mast. I had to start another hole having rotated the mast round a bit. The whole thing took ages but it worked in the end!