O'Day 192 Electrical System

[Birdseye]

Hi All,
New member, first post, first boat.

I just bought a 1988 O'Day 192 in very good condition and I'm very happy with my purchase so far (still need to get it in the water though).

While going over the boat I noticed that the masthead light is missing but I didn't notice any wires anywhere. How does power get to the masthead light and other running lights (I know my cabin light works)? There is a brass type fitting sticking out of the cabin roof with a small chain on it near the tabernacle. Not sure if this has anything to do with it. The previous owner said he thought it had something to do with a radio antenna.

Can anyone shed any light (pun intended) on this for me. Pictures below.

Thanks,
Nelson

 

[Joe11688]

Hi All,
New member, first post, first boat.

I just bought a 1988 O'Day 192 in very good condition and I'm very happy with my purchase so far (still need to get it in the water though).

While going over the boat I noticed that the masthead light is missing but I didn't notice any wires anywhere. How does power get to the masthead light and other running lights (I know my cabin light works)? There is a brass type fitting sticking out of the cabin roof with a small chain on it near the tabernacle. Not sure if this has anything to do with it. The previous owner said he thought it had something to do with a radio antenna.

Can anyone shed any light (pun intended) on this for me. Pictures below.

Thanks,
Nelson

The wires run along the Port side on the inside of the cabin under the head liner fabric in pairs of red and black. Red being the hot wire and black is the ground. The bow and stern light is coming of the running lights switch and the mast light is coming off a separate switch. It looks like there was a mast head anchor light on top of the mast. It may have got broken. That receptacle on the cabin top may be for the mast light. If there is no coax for the radio going to it from inside the cabin, it's probably for the mast anchor light. The best thing to do is check it for power with a volt meter and the breaker turned on. There should be a duplex wire inside the mast. To check it, just remove the mast head cap. If the mast has internal halyards by Z Spar, there will be a bail riveted to the inside of the mast near the top. The wire is attached to that bail and taped to it. This is what holds the duplex wire in place from where it enters the mast near the Tabernacle. The light connections are made just above that bail inside the mast head light. The O'Day 192 and the 222 didn't come with a radio coax, but they did come with mast lights.
Rudy at D & R Marine carries these anchor lights I think. He can answer any questions that you may have about the 192.
http://www.drmarine.com/
Joe

 

[Birdseye]

Thanks Joe,
Since I wrote this post I found that the fitting on the cabin deck is for the masthead light but I didn't see any coax. I'll have to check again. I'm hoping I don't have to re run it. D & R does have a mast head light so I will touch base with them. I also don't believe I have a stern light, if I do I don't know where it is and it doesn't look like anything is missing. Is it possible that I don't need one for my boat as long as I have a masthead light and running lights? I'm sure Rudy will be able to help me out and I have all winter to get things sorted out but I might as well do a little homework in the meantime.

Thanks again,
Nelson

 

[Joe11688]

Thanks Joe,
Since I wrote this post I found that the fitting on the cabin deck is for the masthead light but I didn't see any coax. I'll have to check again. I'm hoping I don't have to re run it. D & R does have a mast head light so I will touch base with them. I also don't believe I have a stern light, if I do I don't know where it is and it doesn't look like anything is missing. Is it possible that I don't need one for my boat as long as I have a masthead light and running lights? I'm sure Rudy will be able to help me out and I have all winter to get things sorted out but I might as well do a little homework in the meantime.

Thanks again,
Nelson

Nelson,
The stern light should be sitting on top of the Port side of the transom or stern. Look inside the lazarette for the duplex wire. It should be just under the latch for the cover. You need the stern light to go with the red and green bow light for night sailing or motoring. The mast light is for anchoring at night. The places where I anchor at night are all out of the way and in shallow water and I never use the anchor light. I have used it in the past for anchoring in unfamiliar places where another boat could come along and hit me though. At any rate though, a white stern light is needed along with the red and green bow light by law in most states if you're sailing or motoring at night.
If you remove that electrical receptacle, there should be a red and black wire going to it. You can find out if there is power going to it. If you want to run a coax for an aerial on your mast, you'll need to install a thru-hull coax fitting through the cabin roof near the electric outlet. Make sure that you buy a screw-on cap to cover it when you don't have your coax connector plugged into it, to keep out the moisture. You would need to install the coax up the mast. Most riggers will remove the electric wire from the mast and either tape the coax to it every 12" or use plastic zip ties to secure it. Then they feed it back into the mast. I tied a twine to the wire so that I could pull it back in again after I secured the coax to the duplex. Then all you need to do is make up your connections. Seal the thru-hull and the electric outlet with a good polysulfide caulking after you're done. One other thing you may want to do is buy a Davis Windex and a 12" extension to mount it on, facing aft. This wind indicator will literally teach anyone to sail. I drilled the holes into the side of the mast head for the bracket and tapped it for threads to screw the bracket on. Check out the pics. The stern white light is next to the stern cleat on the Port side.
Joe

 

[Birdseye]

Joe,
The pictures are very helpful, at least now I have an idea where to look for the coax. I checked again earlier and somehow I think it's not there.

I did find the stern light. Much smaller than I thought it would be and next to the swim ladder so I was probably thinking more about climbing aboard and never saw it.

I think I was confusing the masthead light with the anchor light. I believe the anchor light is what I am missing.

Thanks for all your help.

Nelson

 

[Joe11688]

Joe,
The pictures are very helpful, at least now I have an idea where to look for the coax. I checked again earlier and somehow I think it's not there.

I did find the stern light. Much smaller than I thought it would be and next to the swim ladder so I was probably thinking more about climbing aboard and never saw it.

I think I was confusing the masthead light with the anchor light. I believe the anchor light is what I am missing.

Thanks for all your help.

Nelson

They usually call the mast head light the anchor light. As I said before, I very seldom ever use the anchor light but I have one on my mast also and I want it to work just in case I ever have a need for it. Mine wasn't working for a number of years till I finally repaired it about a year ago in my back yard. I usually remove the spreaders and stays from my mast every fall when I get ready to cover my boat, so it was easy to work on my mast and do the wiring without all that stuff attached to the mast. I removed the steaming light plus the broken wire that fed it. Then I checked my anchor light later by connecting my 12 volt battery charger to the bare wires at the bottom of the mast while I had the electric connector off it. I wound up buying a whole new marine two wire polarized electric outlet with the connector for the mast wire. I bought it at "Worst Marine" in Fairhaven. When I opened the package at home, I discovered that the screws were defective in the socket and had to wind up going all the way back to exchange it. So when you go down there to buy one, bring some precision screwdrivers with you and make sure that the miniature screws are good before you leave the parking lot. A lot of that stuff is cheap junk that is made in China.
As for the radio; you could always use a hand held or buy a regular VHF and install the aerial on your stern rail. You won't get as good reception as up on the mast though. I bought my coax thru-hull connector at CE Beckman in New Bedford many years ago. The screw on cap is extra and it is needed.
The O'Day 192 is a nice little boat. Keep a close watch on the rudder blade. They are notorious for cracking and breaking on all the O'Days.
Joe