Mast leak on 37.5

[garethreeves]

My 37.5 has quite a lot of water coming down the wires and thru the chase at the bottom of the mast.

I plan to unstep the mast, seal the chase with 5200 and add connectors for the wires above the deck.

However, some of the wires contain 2 wires in casing and the water is coming from inside the casing, so sealing the chase is not going to help. Has anyone seen this before? I'm guessing the wires are for one of the lights.

Any other suggestions for dealing with the problem are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[secondwind410]

mast leak quick fix

You can use "great stuff gap filler" the expanding foam stuff for windows and doors. It works great and will keep it dry until you want to tackle the project. You can get it from Home Depot

 

[garethreeves]

Re: mast leak quick fix

Thanks for the suggestion.

I climbed the mast last weekend and expected to find somewhere the water might be intruding from but am at a bit of a loss. I know many of the 37.5 and 35.5 have had this problem. Can anyone give me more insight as to where the water is coming from?

The wire casing that was weeping water at the rate of a solid drip every 2 seconds is for the anchor light and the anchor light seemed to be sealed up nicely. This made me think that maybe there is a splice somewhere (perhaps near the step and its sitting in water that collects at the bottom) that the water is coming in through.

Any other insights before I try to tackle this problem are much appreciated.

Thanks

Gareth

 

[artboas]

Some suggestions

Thanks for the suggestion.

I climbed the mast last weekend and expected to find somewhere the water might be intruding from but am at a bit of a loss. I know many of the 37.5 and 35.5 have had this problem. Can anyone give me more insight as to where the water is coming from?

The wire casing that was weeping water at the rate of a solid drip every 2 seconds is for the anchor light and the anchor light seemed to be sealed up nicely. This made me think that maybe there is a splice somewhere (perhaps near the step and its sitting in water that collects at the bottom) that the water is coming in through.

Any other insights before I try to tackle this problem are much appreciated.

Thanks

Gareth

I don't know if your 37.5 is like the 40.5 where the wiring comes out of the bottom of the mast & then through a hole in the step.
If this is the case, I completely understand your issue.
Here are your options:
Remove a section of outer jacket above deck level, and let the water drip out.
Next idea:
Get a small funnel.
Position it upside down
Run the wires through it
Pack the neck with silicone
Now, when the mast is re-stepped, have the upside down funnel over the wire hole entrance.
Don't use 5200 in the deck gland. You'll destroy the wires getting it out
Use silicone.
Now, if the wires don't go through the mast center, but through an external through deck point, get a proper water tight deck gland. You may need more than 1.
Don't drop the wires straight down. Have a small up loop
It is not unusual to have water running down the inside of a cable
You need to break the outer jacket so it can drain

 

[garethreeves]

I am pretty sure it's the same as on the 40.5. Definitely a chase that comes through the deck under the mast.

Thanks for the suggestions.

When you say to drill a hole in the jacket do you mean to drill a hole at the bottom of the mast just above the deck level?

Any idea where the water is actually coming from?

Thanks again

Gareth

 

[artboas]

Jacket

I am pretty sure it's the same as on the 40.5. Definitely a chase that comes through the deck under the mast.

Thanks for the suggestions.

When you say to drill a hole in the jacket do you mean to drill a hole at the bottom of the mast just above the deck level?

Any idea where the water is actually coming from?

Thanks again

Gareth

I wouldn't drill a hole in the jacket. I'd just split it. I.e. remove a small section
The problem is the cable is dropping straight down
If you make a loop inside the mast, with outer jacket removed, this will help.

The upside down funnel trick also works