New Wiring at Mast Step

[Viesail]

Hello all,

looking to rewire the masthead light and add anchor light wire and vhf cable run up from the mast step on my Hunter 22. As you can see from the pic, the existing masthead light wire is frayed badly. I need to address this, so while I'm at it I'd like to install vhf antenna and anchor light.

Can't seem to access the wiring thru the deck as it seems to be sealed in there? Thinking about drilling a hole near the mast step and installing all three there through a connector.

Any experience with this?

 

[kpgraci]

Yeah, I did that not too long ago. I drilled 2 holes near the mast, one for the vhf, and once for the lights.

For the vhf I used a cableclam compression seal from west marine
http://www.westmarine.com/buy/popular/electronics-sea-fit

For the lights I bought a 4 prong connector from wm
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...toreNum=10109&subdeptNum=10611&classNum=10615

now...others had a good idea that may work for you - drill into the center of the mast step and run the wires from inside the mast straight into the cabin - not sure how to seal that, maybe with something like the vhf compression fitting. this way there are no external wires showing to look ugly or get caught on something and yanked out.

 

[Viesail]

Thanks Ken, I was thinking about taking apart the bulkhead and table to hopefully locate the wire run. But that started to look like way too much work.

 

[navigator97]

Viesail, You can put multiple wires/cable thru one Cable Clam. I have done that on our boat. Just drill the need holes in a pattern in a Cable Clam large enough for your needs. Then cut slits from the edge into each drilled hole individually. Drill the holes so that they are tight to the wire/cable going thru them. When you tighten down on the upper piece (evenly all around) it should seal tight to all wires/cable.