Running Cables In Mast - Need Some Advice

[capricorn]

My boat is ashore and the mast has been taken down.

I intend to take advantage of this to actually fit some of the new gear I've been accumulating in my spare room over the last few months.

I've got to fit the following new items to the mast.

- Radome
- Steaming Light
- Replace Anchor light with combined tricolor/anchor light
- Wind instrument transducer (subject to obtaining SWMBO budgetary approval)

I'm not relishing the prospect of feeding the cables through the mast and I'd appreciate any tips of how to do this.

Mast is already cabled for VHF/Anchor light cables so I guess I could use either of these to pull cables through to the masthead unless anyone can advise me otherwise.

Not at all sure yet how to feed the thick radar cable from the hole I'll need to drill in the mast down to the mast foot, some have said to run it through conduit attched to outside of the mast but I don't like this idea much.

Any words of wisdom/advice much appreciated !

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[bruce]

local electrical supply should have a 'cable puller' which is a reel of stiff flexible wire that is used to pull wires in houses, run the wire thru and tie wires on end and pull. handy tool to have when doing rewireing or new wire.

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[jimbouy]

I had to do similar on my Centaur.

I removed the mast foot and from there on in it was fairly straight forward.

Lower the foot so gravity is on your side and be patient. You may find the cables will push down themselves.

Other wise stiff garden wire.

Once the wires were down the mast i drilled the exit holes fitted grommets and pushed em thru.

Depending on the mast you may be able to incase the cables in pipe insulation to stop them banging about. Push the insulation up once you have run the cables.

Mine had too many obstructions along its length to do this. I used a set of drain rods to shove a large quantity of car wash sponges up the mast..... not ideal i know.


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[Colvic Watson]

Don't forget to use grommet's - even a thorough and patient sanding of the entry/exit holes will still leave a hard edge for the cables to chaff on.

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Are we nearly there yet?

 

[Roberto]

Once read an interesting way of avoiding electrical cables banging inside the mast: before sliding them into the mast, bundle all the cables together, joining them with cable ties every half a meter or so, but without cutting the part of the cable tie which is left after having tightened it, and putting each ties at about 90 degrees to the following one

then pull everything inside the mast: the cable tie "tails" will prevent all the cable bundle to bang into the mast inside wall



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[silverseal]

I would suggest a multi strand 7 core cable for all the lights, and feeds for the wind transducer. If you source automotive trailer cable in copper, it is ideal, capable of 8 amps per core witha common (white) core which takes 27 amps. That means you only have to feed 2 cables - the trailer cable and the radar coax

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[scarlett]

Whilst down I pushed some halyards through with some scrap standing rigging. Easily 'steerable'.

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[mirabriani]

Sparckies on site frequently use electrical conduit to push or pull cables under floors. It now comes on a roll 10 or 20 metres long with a separate cap.
You may consider using the white oval conduit inside the mast to contain
everything, cable tie idea should still work with this.

Hope this helps

Regards Briani

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[roger]

halyard avoidance

Is'nt one of the problems avoiding halyards running through the mast? Given the opportunity they could get fouled on the cables and break or at least chafe them.

<hr width=100% size=1>Roger

 

[simonfraser]

you could put the wind bits on a pole at the stern, perhaps not so accurate, but at least you can get at it, when it breaks

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[hightech]

Worth while leaving a spare cable or some spare cores in there too, you never know when you need a spare wire or one breaks down.

Clamp the radar cable off at the top and use a decent grommet or a cable gland, if you dont clamp it off the weight (fat heavy cable usually) gradually pulls the whole thing down inside the mast and you end up tugging at the connections inside the radome, cable tying to the radar mounting plate is fine. Also leave a small loop up the top after tying off to allow for installation and servicing.

Whilst your at it, leave a decent mouse in there so you can pull a cable in from the mast foot at a later date when the rig is back upright.

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[Piere]

I have only a vhf ariel and tricolour at the top of my mast , plus genoa ,spinnaker,mainsheet ,topping lift and spinnaker pole halyards in the mast and they make so much noise when at anchor . No amount of tuning stops it completley. You may consider this when putting yours in.

if you pull one of your exhisting lines thru with 2 messengers lines attached ( strong thin cord) you will be able to pull all your cables thru and return the exhisting line.

I have heard of people squirting expanding foam in to stop the clatter of lines but this becomes a problem if you ever ned to replace them.
Your views forumers?

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[Ardenfour]

Have tried a similar method to other posters - off with the mast foot, and then I ran my five cables inside 20mm plastic electrical conduit, with t-piece at the spreaders for steaming light. I've put 4 cable ties every 1.5 metres with the ends left on so the whole assembly should (hopefully) keep clear of the mast sides when it's back up. I can vouch for the racket of cables slapping the inside of the mast at mooring - the noise is unbelievable. My last boat I drilled a 20mm hole 2m down from the top - the boat was still on the water with the mast up. I got a beanbag from woolworths, inside is a large plastic bag full of polystyrene beads. I taped a hose to a hole in one of the corners and took the lot up and funnelled the beads into the mast. Took about 15mins to fill the mast. Worked a treat, but I didn't have internal halyards, and would make an unexpected surprise for the next owner if he takes the mast apart

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[Evadne]

Another trick I heard of, but haven't tried, is to thread badminton shuttlecocks over the wires and push them up the mast. Wouldn't work with large section masts though.

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[npf1]

Also, use shielded cable if you're going to attach any instruments to the mast (eg wind transducer)

<hr width=100% size=1>Planning to be cruising 2005 & might need crew.

 

[Thistle]

Caused much hilarity amongst our neighbours when we raised our 30' mast in the back garden and then, from an upstairs window, rolled a golf ball down the inside stapled - literally - to a length of whipping twine. The twine was then used to pull through an assorted bundle of running rigging.

With the golf ball replaced by a heavy shackle pin we did something very similar with a bundle or wiring through the built-in conduit.


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[MedMan]

You need Butterflies

You have already received some good replies about actually getting the cables through, but here's just a couple more things for you to think about.

I would very strongly advise you not to fit a combined tricolour/anchor light. So called anchor lights at the top of the mast are about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. They are much too high up and out of the sight-line of any other boat coming into the anchorage. Fit a tricolour only and use a proper anchor light hung in the rigging above the foredeck. If you mast is deck-stepped, fit a plug to your anchor light which will go into the socket for, say, your steaming light and you don't need to make any special provision for it.

Don't strap the cables together to stop them frapping. If you do, and one develops a problem, you will have to disconnect the lot to fix it. Instead, make up a chain of butterflies. Cut a number of chunks of soft foam about 25mm cross section and of a length to suit the cable conduit. Take a length of thin but strong cord several metres longer than your mast and tie it around the middle of each chunk of foam so that it pulls into a butterfly shape. Put a butterfly every half metre of so along the length of cord. Once all your cables are in place, use a messenger to pull the string of butterflies through. Hey Presto! Silent wires, but you can still withdraw them individually. Also, as someone else said, leave a messenger in and you can add another one later.


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[webcraft]

Re: anchor light

Is this some peculiar Med-specific blindness? I certainly notice masthead anchor lights 30 - 40ft above the water. In fact, they are less likely to be lost against any shore lights.

If you can't see the anchor light how come you can see the tricolour when the vessel is under way?

- Nick



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[poter]

Re: You need Butterflies

Yup agree with all Medman's reply and other posts.

HOWEVER.... make sure you purchase - Shielded wire for use externally. Go to a good electrical suppliers on your local buisiness park and get the wire from them. NOT you local B&Q etc.

have fun

poter.

<hr width=100% size=1> /forums/images/icons/crazy.gif Gonna buy a new boat

 

[MedMan]

Re: anchor light

It's all to do with how far away you are when you do the looking.

The main value of a tricolour is to make you more visible to other vessels half a mile away or more, particularly in a seaway when pulpit-mounted lights can be hidden for much of the time. In contrast, the main purpose of an anchor light is to enable other vessels to see you and, just as importantly, to determine which way you are lying, when 10 to 50 metres away. If you motor into a crowded anchorage at night and need to circle several times to find a spot, you will soon discover what I mean. Your eyes are fixed at low level peering into the gloom and you just don't see lights that are way up in the air at the top of a mast.

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