Broke my mast foot...

J

jBlaze3000

.
Jun 19, 2014
33
Hunter 23 Twin Cities
First time sailboat owner here. Realizing that maybe I shouldn't have picked the windiest day of the year to step my mast for the first time...;) Mast went up fine but on the way down we had some issues getting the pin out (must have gotten bent somehow). One big gust of wind later and I have a broken mast foot!

The only one I see for my boat on the shop Hunter site is this one:



http://shop.hunterowners.com/fisco_img/52464.jpg

Mine looks like this:



Can anyone confirm whether this is the right one? My main concern is that I don't see the notches to run the two cables out on the new one. Other than that it seems like it should work...

Speaking of which, I know one cable is for the mast light. What is the other one for? Steaming light? When I bought the boat the wires were in need of repair so figure I will fix those while replacing the mast foot.

Thanks in advance.
 
D

DJN51

.
Oct 26, 2009
377
Hunter 23.5 East Chicago In
Actually your cables should come out side of mast thru holes with rubber grommets to prevent chafe.At least on my 23.5 Hunter the do.
 
J

jBlaze3000

.
Jun 19, 2014
33
Hunter 23 Twin Cities
DJN51 said:
Actually your cables should come out side of mast thru holes with rubber grommets to prevent chafe.At least on my 23.5 Hunter the do.
Click to expand
I agree that they should, in that it should have been designed that way. You can see though from the notches and the holes in the bottom of the foot that the cables are intended to come out the bottom. If I can use the new designed foot I willl drill holes for the cables and put a grommet in the holes, instead of the notches where the wires can just fall down and get pinched when stepping the mast.

May have to give the parts department a call and see how knowledgeable they are.
 
J

jBlaze3000

.
Jun 19, 2014
33
Hunter 23 Twin Cities
After taking a second look I think I found the answer to my own question. The new style foot pictured above is used with a different mast base which is a little wider than the old style. I am going to assume that because of the different base dimensions these are NOT interchangeable.

I was able to find my part though:

 
J

jBlaze3000

.
Jun 19, 2014
33
Hunter 23 Twin Cities
cephius (Dave) said:
What lake do you plan on sailing? I'm out of Rochester, MN and have a slip on Lake Pepin.
Click to expand
I'm in the Twin Cities. Have looked at Lake Pepin, Hudson, Minnetonka, and Mille Lacs. Will probably just trailer this year and decide on a slip next season.

Will be trailering to Lake Michigan in August.

How do you like Pepin?
 
isaksp00

isaksp00

.
Apr 27, 2010
1,279
Hunter 23 Lake Wallenpaupack
My H23 foot is just like the one in your photo, and the wire (singular) comes out the bottom and feeds through the slots in the foot. Did the foot actually break, or did it pull out of the mast tube? I had a mishap like yours, but the foot itself did not break - it just pulled out of the extrusion. I was able to rivet it back.

I only have an anchor light at the masthead - I assume if you have two wires one is for the steaming light. Remove the one (or two) lamps and see what color wire goes to what.
 
J

jBlaze3000

.
Jun 19, 2014
33
Hunter 23 Twin Cities
Well here it is. Think I'll try screwing a piece of 1/8" aluminum to the inside (over the broken piece) and then drill a new hole for the rivet. Worth a shot vs paying $60 for a new one that ships in 5-30 days...

 
GeorgiaBII

GeorgiaBII

.
Jun 14, 2011
277
Hunter 22 Fin Keel Lake Martin
any decent welding shop could fix that right up for you. Fill in the area and then you just grind it down to fit and redrill the hole.


the white co ax is probably for a radio antenna.
 
Chris14830

Chris14830

.
Dec 1, 2007
74
-Hunter -23 Kenora, Ontario, Canada
Yes, the white cable is for the radio, typically 50 ohm coax leading to a marine band whip antenna at the top of the mast. The connector you see is called a "PL259" which then plugs into a female "SO239". They are also referred as UHF connectors (even though the marine band is VHF, go figure). There will also probably be a PL259 at the top of the mast attached to an antenna.

While the mast is down, if possible, disconnect at the antenna and then have someone short the center pin to the outer shield part with a screwdriver while you measure with an ohmmeter at the other end. You should see a short. Then when they remove the screwdriver you should see an open circuit. If either test fails, the connector repair can be a bit of a tricky soldering job. If you aren't into soldering, find a ham radio guy, we typically work for beer.

Then I would clean both center pins with a pencil eraser. Corrosion on the pin of the PL259 is a typical failure and easy to fix. They can be silver plated, don't scrub the plating off.

My cables exit the side of the mast just above the base plate. Good luck.
-Chris, VA3ECO
 
C

Crazy Dave Condon

.
Jun 8, 2004
10,531
-na -NA Anywhere USA
On the Hunter 23, I remember as a former dealer who outsold every other dealer on this model, the mast was a Z Spar mast. Z Spar for reasons I will not go into, no longer exists in the U.S. but you can buy thru U.S. Spars as those masts and castings are actually Z Spar. I believe you can purchase them thru this site but U. S. Spars should have a website with the various fittings and they are located in Gainesville, Florida. For reference, measure the casting.

If a casting is broken in any manner, replace it and forget about welding as previously mentioned as you are dealing with pot metal. I am not an advocate of welding pot metal or trying to glue.

As for the wires, you need to reroute them for a couple of reasons. First to keep from pinching and second to allow the mast going further on the mast step without any
binding. Not sure who put them there to begin with but unsafe in my books. The wires originally came out the side of the mast with those black grommets for protection from chafing. You can buy them at a good hardware store too.

hope this helps you sir.
 
J

jBlaze3000

.
Jun 19, 2014
33
Hunter 23 Twin Cities
Chris14830 said:
Yes, the white cable is for the radio, typically 50 ohm coax leading to a marine band whip antenna at the top of the mast. The connector you see is called a "PL259" which then plugs into a female "SO239". They are also referred as UHF connectors (even though the marine band is VHF, go figure). There will also probably be a PL259 at the top of the mast attached to an antenna.

While the mast is down, if possible, disconnect at the antenna and then have someone short the center pin to the outer shield part with a screwdriver while you measure with an ohmmeter at the other end. You should see a short. Then when they remove the screwdriver you should see an open circuit. If either test fails, the connector repair can be a bit of a tricky soldering job. If you aren't into soldering, find a ham radio guy, we typically work for beer.

Then I would clean both center pins with a pencil eraser. Corrosion on the pin of the PL259 is a typical failure and easy to fix. They can be silver plated, don't scrub the plating off.

My cables exit the side of the mast just above the base plate. Good luck.
-Chris, VA3ECO
Click to expand
Well the wire at the mast foot was shredded so I just snipped it. Can I just splice a new wire in (I'm not familiar with VHF radio wiring)? Was thinking about trying to find a right angle bulk head connector to run out the side of the mast for this.
 
J

jBlaze3000

.
Jun 19, 2014
33
Hunter 23 Twin Cities
Crazy Dave Condon said:
On the Hunter 23, I remember as a former dealer who outsold every other dealer on this model, the mast was a Z Spar mast. Z Spar for reasons I will not go into, no longer exists in the U.S. but you can buy thru U.S. Spars as those masts and castings are actually Z Spar. I believe you can purchase them thru this site but U. S. Spars should have a website with the various fittings and they are located in Gainesville, Florida. For reference, measure the casting.

If a casting is broken in any manner, replace it and forget about welding as previously mentioned as you are dealing with pot metal. I am not an advocate of welding pot metal or trying to glue.

As for the wires, you need to reroute them for a couple of reasons. First to keep from pinching and second to allow the mast going further on the mast step without any
binding. Not sure who put them there to begin with but unsafe in my books. The wires originally came out the side of the mast with those black grommets for protection from chafing. You can buy them at a good hardware store too.

hope this helps you sir.
Click to expand
$31.00 and in stock at US Spars. Just placed my order (at that price and lead time may as well buy new).

I called them to get availability and the guy said he'd box it up ahead of time so it was ready when my order came through online. Great service.

Thanks for the advice!
 
Chris14830

Chris14830

.
Dec 1, 2007
74
-Hunter -23 Kenora, Ontario, Canada
jBlaze3000 said:
Well the wire at the mast foot was shredded so I just snipped it. Can I just splice a new wire in (I'm not familiar with VHF radio wiring)? Was thinking about trying to find a right angle bulk head connector to run out the side of the mast for this.
Click to expand
I think a SO239 bulkhead connector would work fine, and a lot easier to solder than a PL259 connector. The only concern will be the slightly bigger hole in the side of the mast. They typically require a 5/8 inch hole. Your thoughts, Crazy Dave?

I would separate the center conductor from the shield and do the ohmmeter check first, as the cable could be damaged elsewhere.
-Chris
 
C

Crazy Dave Condon

.
Jun 8, 2004
10,531
-na -NA Anywhere USA
I do not know what that connector looks like and therefore, I will not comment on it. Can you provide a photo?

Where chaff occurs is when the wire is bent 90 degrees coming out. I use to start drilling and then turned the drill bit upward at an angle so the wire would come out straight. After drilling, I took a small file and filed smooth, thus no grommets or protection was needed. The key was to have the wire come out in a straight line.
 
SeaTR

SeaTR

.
Jan 24, 2009
408
Hunter 22 Groton
jBlaze3000,
I used this for my mast head light cable:
Sea-Dog Polarized Cable Outlet
Deck Cable Outlet
2 conductor 12 volt plug
Defender.com Item #: 203630
Brand: Sea-DogModel #: 426142-1
 

Attachments

isaksp00

isaksp00

.
Apr 27, 2010
1,279
Hunter 23 Lake Wallenpaupack
That looks exactly like the plug set on my circa '91 H23. If yours looks like that and you have a good deck socket, I'd consider buying just the male plug (if you can) and try it. The wires go into holes in the plug end and are fastened with small set screws.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top Bottom