Electrical Wiring in Headliner

[Chris Behre]

I am looking to re-wire much of my '78 Hunter 30 this winter (AC wiring is all romex! Yuck!) Much of the DC wire goes up inder the hard Head liner. These wires seem pretty firmly in place by iether glue or pressure. Does anyone have any experience or techniques for replacing these wires? I see two options right now:1. Abandon in Place; Replace all the wiring around the outside of the headliner. 2. Make a terminal junction at each set of wires going into the headliner, using the existing wire under the headliner only.

 

[Brett]

Limited choices

After a near complete meltdown at the inlet, I have completely replaced all of the original Romex AC wiring with proper marine cable. It could all be run behind panels and between the headliner and deck to get to the inlet. The DC wiring is as you described. In some cases I have been able to remove the old and feed new cable, such as for the mast wiring. I have had no luck removing the overhead wiring that is behind the headliner, and have tied into it for the interior lighting. For interior lighting and convenience circuits, it is probably OK to reuse the existing wire. If it fails it is a minor inconvenience, until you reroute and replace. For instruments and nav lights, etc. I would replace the old wire.

 

[Ed Schenck]

DC wiring is a problem.

On my H37C I lost the connection from the nav station light to the quarterberth light. The 12 volts then ran to the companionway light and on to the galley and all the way forward to the v-berth. Thus I had no lights on the starboard side whatsoever. I cut a couple of headliner holes looking to fix it. Tried to pull on the wire at both ends, would not budge. Ended up running a new wire from electrical panel, along the hull joint and into the quarterberth. Then ran the wire to the q-berth light and covered with one of those stick-on wire covers. Now I have 12 volts on starboard. Not sure how else it could have been done.