In-mast wiring

[Elmer Martinez]

Recently purchased a 1978 30 and need to replace the wiring for the steaming light, however the old wiring does not pull out easily, is there a specific way of removing the old wire and is there a separate channel for each wire run (anchor and steaming)?.

 

[Henry Weber]

H30 mast wiring

Last summer rewired the steaming, anchor, and spreader lights(new) plus new VHF coax. Did it with mast in place. Here is the problem: The old wires are routed through a plastic PVC conduit attached to the inside of the mast at the sail track. On my boat '77H30 it was not possible to remove the old wires and install the new ones in this conduit. Perhaps it would have been had the mast been down. There were no particular problems other than the unrestrained wires do make some noise inside the mast. Also they end up being self supporting which may cause premature fatigue failure. Hope this helps. Contact me if you want more details.Henry

 

[Fred]

Quieting mast wiring.

If you do go the route of non restrained mast wiring make it into a bundle with wire ties, find some pillow type foam and tape it on the bundle at three foot intervals as you pull it from the mast bottom. This will keep it quiet.