Mast Wiring - How do I ID the wiring for lights?

[Sailor-man]

I want to do a continuity test on all my mast lights before stepping .... Does anyone have any advice on how to ID the wires for each light. I assume each are grounded separately. There's both 3 core and 2 core wires. I don't want to mix up with transducer wires ... Any suggestions on how to ID the wires for the lights.

 

[Ferg]

Start @ the bulbs!

First save yourself a little grief. I assume the mast is down, so pull the bulbs, test them and get spares. Since you've got screws out, you can now see the wiring and that'll give you a hint as to what's what at the bottom of the mast. I use a standard tester and my portable 12V power pack. My C27 has the 3 plug wire, with a shared ground for the mast light and anchor light. I use the tester to determine the ground, then the power pack to test the system. If the light comes on, it works. (I have to do that each year because I never remember to simply mark the ground plug). It's worth pulling the bulbs first just to check thier sockets for corrosion. While your at it, check around your spreaders for wear or cracks. Lube your halyard shieves, check the connections for radio antenia and your wind indicator. A friend has his wind vane mess up after the mast was up, after a high climb on a breazy day, he found a glob spider web had jammed up the works.

 

[Neal4200]

9VDC transister battery

is my quick way to test bulbs and wiring on the mast. It's light and easy to connect to the wiring. The hard part is walking 50 feet to see what lamp is glowing.

 

[Gary Kunkel]

We used a jump start battery

With our mast off recently, we checked all the wiring by using 12 volt "jump start" battery. We just clamped the starter battery leads onto small screwdrivers, touched the neg to the common ground, touched the positive side to each of the other wires in turn, and had a friend see what light came on. Worked great and we were able to confirm the continuity (and bulb) for the anchor light, steaming light, and deck light.

 

[sailme2]

Label them

Get yourself a booklet of wire marker labels. Thomas & Betts EZ Code markers are great. They have a white area to write on, and a clear area to cover up and protect your label. You can find these at most Home Depot or any electrical supplier.As for checking the lights, each spring before the mast goes up, I use a couple of jumper wires from an extra battery and make sure each lamp lights. Much easier to change them with the mast on saw horses rather than climb the mast.