Mast electrical and VHF connections

[kclancy]

Hello All!
I am continuing to work on my 1972 C22. I removed my mast electrical and VHF antenna connections yesterday. I wasn't using either, at this moment, but will probably at a later date. I am doing some deck work which involves rebedding and new anti-skid paint. Now I have additional problems....

1. I was thinking about epoxying the holes for now. However, these holes are located in the interior of a "channel" in the hull liner. As a result, there is a gap of about one-inch between the deck and the liner. This is going to take a of epoxy to fill.

2. The electrical is only a two-pin. There is a black and white wire only. This wire seems to be molded into the liner because I can't find access to them. This limits me to the existing option of a steaming light only. I am not sure that I will have a need for an anchor light or an additional deck light. I am considering just replacing this connection with a new two-pin from CD and calling it good for now. This is the simple fix.

3. I am not planning on reinstalling a VHF base mounted radio. I have a hand-held VHF radio and it works fine for how I use my boat. Therefore, I would like to close this hole in the deck. Should I tape the hole from inside the boat and begin to pour in epoxy until I fill in the channel or is there another way that I can close this hole in the deck?

Suggestions and advice are solicited.

Thanks!
Kevin

 

[Jacktar]

Quick solution for not sure if you want to use the hole again but need to plug it= measure hole and purchase a couple of rubber corks at ace hardware etc. Trim so will fit in hole with maybe 1/8 inch protruding. Slather with good quality adhesive. even if you want 5200 or something really rugged. Later you can cut it out and clean hole and reuse. If you decide to just finish it off and seal just cut down to 1/8 inch below deck surface and fill hole with gel coat repair resin or epoxy.

 

[kclancy]

Thanks Jacktar. I'll give that some consideration.

Attached are some pics I forgot to attach with the original message.

 

[LakeShark]

I too wanted a temp fix that would be easily undone. As opposed to epoxy I just used a clear silicone on the VHF antenna hole that can easily be poped back out if I want and I replaced the deck plug for the electrical. Getting back to the wires after filling the hole will be a problem no matter what you use. I recommend just replacing the plug for the electrical in case you ever decide to rewire the mast.

 

[topcat0399]

Some thoughts:

I don't think you want to be trying to fill the space between the liner and the bottom of the deck with epoxy.
Whats to stop it from flowing away along the inside of the liner as you fill? You can shove something like a piece of squishy foam covered in wax paper or something inside the hole in the liner to stop up the hole in the underside of the deck. Fill from there.

On the topside be sure to bevel your fiberglass 12-1 around the hole. Personally I would be using both thickened filler and some glass on holes that big. CSM would probably be ok. Some in the bottom of the hole and some on the top to finish off the bevel. Easily sanded to flush and painted. If you just fill that those holes as they are you are asking for the fill to crack around the hole and let water into your deck core. Don't ask me how I know...

For the holes in the liner you can surely find snap in plugs for a hole that size.

 

[Gene Neill]

I'd pump a full tube of West Six10 into that hole, and say goodbye to it.

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=52008

Silicone will leak. Just a matter of how much and how soon.

 

[topcat0399]

I'd pump a full tube of West Six10 into that hole, and say goodbye to it.

https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=52008

Silicone will leak. Just a matter of how much and how soon.

That would be fine too but he will still need to block the hole under the deck so as not to be trying to fill the space between deck and liner....

 

[Gene Neill]

Maybe I'm looking at it wrong, Topcat. Why NOT fill that space? I was thinking of doing exactly that: sealing off the bottom temporarily (helper's thumb?) and plugging the snot out of it with Six10 from the top. What am I missing? Flex issues maybe?

 

[greg_m]

Maybe I'm looking at it wrong, Topcat. Why NOT fill that space? I was thinking of doing exactly that: sealing off the bottom temporarily (helper's thumb?) and plugging the snot out of it with Six10 from the top. What am I missing? Flex issues maybe?

Hi guys... I did exactly that while rebuilding the mast post support area! The huge gap between the lining and the deck can easily be filled with "expanding poly-urethane foam". I got mine from the local hardware supply store. Although you do want to block off holes where the liquid could run out of you do also want to allow for excess to squeeze out of so avoiding any bulging deformations of inner lining - the deck laminate is way thicker. A little goes a long way!

 

[rpludwig]

3. I am not planning on reinstalling a VHF base mounted radio. I have a hand-held VHF radio and it works fine for how I use my boat.

nothing against a hand-held vhf, that's all I presently have till I install a mast head antenna and base mounted one this year. BUT, unless your sailing is limited to smaller lakes or line of sight to shore, you need a base unit. Hand-helds and cell phones do go over the side, batteries go dead, signal range is limited, etc. especially when the sh!t hits the fan. Redundancy is a good thing. I'd definitely hard wire for one now while doing your deck work, you'll be glad you did. JMHO.

 

[kclancy]

nothing against a hand-held vhf, that's all I presently have till I install a mast head antenna and base mounted one this year. BUT, unless your sailing is limited to smaller lakes or line of sight to shore, you need a base unit. Hand-helds and cell phones do go over the side, batteries go dead, signal range is limited, etc. especially when the sh!t hits the fan. Redundancy is a good thing. I'd definitely hard wire for one now while doing your deck work, you'll be glad you did. JMHO.

Good idea. I have a base mounted VHF and will probably keep it (once I get my electrical running...).

 

[kclancy]

This "little" project began when I removed the teak handrails and cabin top guides. I thought to myself, why not take care of these two spots while I am at it... Isn't this how project-creep sets in?

I began filling the existing handrail and cabin top guide holes with epoxy. All the holes were taped from inside the cabin. Some of the holes were taking a lot of epoxy. I figured I had some open void issues. Then a drip caught my eye thru the cabin window. I went inside to look. The epoxy was finding its way thru the port side window frames and dripping into the cabin. The epoxy was all over the windows, the port cabin sides, the dinette table, the area under the table, and the dinette seats. I think that neighbors two streets over heard me screaming. What a effing mess!

 

[Brian D]

Even if you don't mount the base radio in the boat, at least get the antenna back up on the mast. You can always route the RF cable to the cockpit and connect it to the handheld. This will at least get you some assurance you will be able to get out if the handheld antenna is not working well.

 

[topcat0399]

Maybe I'm looking at it wrong, Topcat. Why NOT fill that space? I was thinking of doing exactly that: sealing off the bottom temporarily (helper's thumb?) and plugging the snot out of it with Six10 from the top. What am I missing? Flex issues maybe?

I suppose you can fill the space between a liner and the underside of a deck -
I don't know, I've never had a boat with a liner.

But with all that I think filling a hole in a cored deck and filling the space between a
liner and a deck are separate issues. I can see that the holes that the OP removed
devices from were never potted properly from what I can see and hes lucky his cores didn't get wet.

How do you keep fill material from running everywhere inside the liner gap? Expandable foam I can see
but not something liquid or fairly liquid. You could end up pumping stuff in for hours?

What am "I" missing here?

 

[Gene Neill]

West Six10 epoxy is thick enough not to run or even sag at all.

 

[CloudDiver]

This reminds me that I need to fix all the pictures in my resto thread.... I covered this topic in detail. I had core rot around my electrical connector. I only had to cut out a 4x4 inch panel to get it all. Filled it with thickened epoxy and sealed the hole. Later, sanding off the non-skid, paint, and kiwi grip covered up the repair. I abandoned the two wire connection and put in a new 4 wire lead hidden behind the compression post (I over-engineer everything, so I must have all the lights/VHF/etc on my mast to include a part time Stripper on my pole while dockside... but I digress).
I would go with Gene's suggestion of Six-10 or just pipe some thickened epoxy from a Ziploc bag. I can tell from the pic you have a little core rot around the hole. Use the allen key method on a drill to see if you can clear it out and then a heat gun to make sure its dry.