1981 C-27 ELEC. LINES TO THE MAST,HOW THE *#&%@?

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Jun 4, 2004
8
Catalina 27 Erie,Penna.
HELLO: NEED SOME HELP---I GOT THIS BOAT AND THE PAST OWNER MUST HAVE CUT OUT ALL THE WIRING TO THE MAST,I NEED TO RE-RUN ALL THE WIRES TO MAST AREA,HOW AND WHERE DO YOU RUN THE WIRES????? , ARE THAY UNDER THE FLOOR AREA??? AND HOW WOULD YOU GET TO IT???, NEED HELP. GREGG
 
Jun 3, 2004
145
Catalina 27 Stockton CA
27 Wiring

The 27 from the factory has the wiring leading up thru the mast step. It passes thru the mast compression post inside the cabin. It's virtually impossible to rerun these wires with the same method. If you need to re-rig the electrical, you'll need to re-run new wires from the electrical panel, thru the cabin, to the cabin ceiling at the base of the mast. Then get a "cable-clam". West Marine part # is #540740, 540732 or 540757, depending on the size you need to feed thru all the wires you want to go up the mast. Drill a hole to mount the cable clam thru the ceiling to the outside of the deck next to the mast, in front of the deck beam that passes laterally across the cabin top. Install the cableclam and lead the wires thru it. Drill a hole large enough to feed all the wires thru into the side of the mast just above the deck level. Now you'll need to drop the mast. Fish the wires thru the mast using an electrician's fish tape (a 50' one is available at Home Depot for about $15). It's a hassle getting the wires back to the outside of the mast at the spreader level for the decklight/steaming light, but just be patient and use your ingenuity. Be sure to use some sort of method to hold the wires away from the inside of the mast, otherwise they'll drive you nuts at night slapping the inside of the mast. I taped foam rubber around the wires every couple of feet. Also be sure to run a 3/16" dacron line thru the mast with the wires, and tape the wires to the line with electrical tape to take the pressure of gravity off the wires so they don't tend to pull off the connectors. OF COURSE, I'm assuming you don't have internal halyards. If that's the case, you'll need to rivet a PVC pipe up teh inside of the mast to act as conduit. Good luck. It's a lot of work, but you only need to do it once. PS, you'll probably also want to replace the mast step. They're available on the web from Catalina Direct. PPS As long as you have the mast down, drill a 3/8 hole at the base of the mast to allow any water that gets inside the mast to drain out. When I dropped my mast, it had about a quart of water inside!
 
Jun 4, 2004
25
- - kemah, tx
dental pick

when i need to fish a line out of a spar, i use a dental pick. you can also use a bent coat hanger. i think the dental pick is easier to control. rt
 
Jun 7, 2004
70
- - Deale, MD
C-27 wiring

On my '79 model the wires run from the electrical panel below the stove, under the port side dinette to the hanging locker then up through the hanging locker and out the top in the outer aft corner next to the side of the deck house. There is a header board that runs from just above the hanging locker over to the bulkhead between the saloon and the head. The folding door is attached to this and must be removed to get at the screws holding the board up to the overhead. There is a groove cut in the top of this board for the wires to cross from the hanging locker to the base of the mast. I removed the old feed through and installed a cableclam where they passed up through the cabin top. They then enter the mast. I used an Ancor 14 Gauge, 5 conductor cable that you can get from West Marine. If you don't have spreader lights a three conductor cable will do the trick. The cable runs all the way from the panel to the mast but the outer sheath had to be removed to fit the wires into the groove in the header board (I had to enlarge the groove slightly as well). There are conductors for the masthead light, anchor light and each spreader light and a ground. The mast has a large (2 or 2 1/2 inch) hole with a removeable covering disk on the port side near the base. I drilled a hole in the covering disk, installed a grommet and led the cable through the disk. These wires terminate in crimp-on bayonet connecters and the wires in the mast were also terminated in bayonet connectors. The wires were labelled on both sides with yellow plastic wire label tags from Radioshack. To remove the mast just pop off the removeable disk and disconnect the wires. Note that the wire connectors on each cable (i.e., the wires in the mast or the ones on the cable coming from the panel)are all of the same type (male or female) except for the ground which is reversed. That way I can't hook up the ground to a hot wire by accident. Your wires may run up the compression post but have a peek in the corner above the hanging locker to see if there are wires coming up and leading into the header board which supports the folding door. Wires up the mast are, of course, a pain but relatively easy to do with the mast down. And you can service all the lights and install new bulbs at the same time.
 
Jun 6, 2004
15
- - LGNY
C30 mast wire

I would use two long wire snakes bend hooks on both ends and work from top and bottom and you can hook the wires in the mast post and pull one throw to the other side then pull new wires throw with snake .Thats why they call It fishing a wire. JohnOlson
 
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