Removing Compression Post

[Joe Walworth]

302 Owner

Hey Dave,Sorry I don't have any advice for you. Except for the concern of any wires soaking in h20 for awhile.However, I assume you are a relatively new owner of a 302. I have a 1988 and love it. Feel free to drop me a line if you want to talk. express898@hotmail.comJoe

 

[Joe Walworth]

302 Owner

Hey Dave,Sorry I don't have any advice for you. Except for the concern of any wires soaking in h20 for awhile.However, I assume you are a relatively new owner of a 302. I have a 1988 and love it. Feel free to drop me a line if you want to talk. express898@hotmail.comJoe

 

[Dave C.20477]

Hey NnE and others

Thanks again for the suggestions. I found the photo forum, it was under HunterOwners.com and I come to the site through SailboatOwners.com. It's a little different and I could not find the Photo forum at first. The pictures show pretty well what I need to do. I think it's doable. I understand NnE's concerns and I hadn't thought about breaking a chainplate or turnbuckle. Gonna have to make sure I have just the right amount of slack, not too much, not too little. For the floor, I can place the jack on top of where the keelbolts are. It's pretty beefy and should hold the weight no problem. The deck is cored with either balsa or plywood. But Fred and Ross suggested that I only need to lift it a 1/4", maybe 1/2". So I think I'll be okay there.I don't want to replace the wiring in the mast, because that entails removing the mast and that gets expensive and time consuming. I'd rather attempt to fix the wiring where it is bad and go from there. 'Splicing' is probably the wrong word to use for repairing the coax. I'll use the proper connectors for the job.BTW: NnE, last year I found some old paperwork on the boat that said it was once located in Slidell. It's now on the Chesapeake.Thanks again,Dave

 

[Dave C.20477]

Hey NnE and others

Thanks again for the suggestions. I found the photo forum, it was under HunterOwners.com and I come to the site through SailboatOwners.com. It's a little different and I could not find the Photo forum at first. The pictures show pretty well what I need to do. I think it's doable. I understand NnE's concerns and I hadn't thought about breaking a chainplate or turnbuckle. Gonna have to make sure I have just the right amount of slack, not too much, not too little. For the floor, I can place the jack on top of where the keelbolts are. It's pretty beefy and should hold the weight no problem. The deck is cored with either balsa or plywood. But Fred and Ross suggested that I only need to lift it a 1/4", maybe 1/2". So I think I'll be okay there.I don't want to replace the wiring in the mast, because that entails removing the mast and that gets expensive and time consuming. I'd rather attempt to fix the wiring where it is bad and go from there. 'Splicing' is probably the wrong word to use for repairing the coax. I'll use the proper connectors for the job.BTW: NnE, last year I found some old paperwork on the boat that said it was once located in Slidell. It's now on the Chesapeake.Thanks again,Dave

 

[Bob7099]

coax connection

As a ham operator I have installed 259 connectors on my coax cables, there should be no problem in you doing this Dave. When your done soldering your connector, you can take your elec multi meter and put it on the ohm setting if you dont have a meter you can buy a very cheap one for this at Radio Shack. Set one lead on the ground side and the other on the load side of the connector you just soldered. If you did a good job on soldering the connector, your ohm setting will not register a reading.

 

[Bob7099]

coax connection

As a ham operator I have installed 259 connectors on my coax cables, there should be no problem in you doing this Dave. When your done soldering your connector, you can take your elec multi meter and put it on the ohm setting if you dont have a meter you can buy a very cheap one for this at Radio Shack. Set one lead on the ground side and the other on the load side of the connector you just soldered. If you did a good job on soldering the connector, your ohm setting will not register a reading.

 

[sailaway78]

Dave

You shouldn't have to pull the mast to rewire it. If you can get to the bottom ends of the wire, make a splice and pull them through from the upper end. You will have to go up the mast to do this, but it shouldn't be that much of a problem. If you splice on to what you have, make some really good splices. Be sure to do a good solder job, and insulate, then heat shrink. There is some heat shrink with an adhesive/sealer inside it that is supposed to be good, but I have never tried it. I use liquid tape over the splice, then heat shrink and then another coat of liquid tape on top of the heat shrink. You certainy don't want any moisture in your splices. Once again, good luck and keep us posted.

 

[sailaway78]

Dave

You shouldn't have to pull the mast to rewire it. If you can get to the bottom ends of the wire, make a splice and pull them through from the upper end. You will have to go up the mast to do this, but it shouldn't be that much of a problem. If you splice on to what you have, make some really good splices. Be sure to do a good solder job, and insulate, then heat shrink. There is some heat shrink with an adhesive/sealer inside it that is supposed to be good, but I have never tried it. I use liquid tape over the splice, then heat shrink and then another coat of liquid tape on top of the heat shrink. You certainy don't want any moisture in your splices. Once again, good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Dave C.20477]

Update

It was a no-go on removing the compression post this weekend. I prepped the boat and used a car jack and 2x4's to lift the deck, but the deck would not flex enough to move the post. In fact, the deck didn't flex at all (which might be a good thing about O'Days). All hardware, turnbuckles, halyards, etc were loose. I know how much force I have to use to jack my car up and when I started getting near that amount I decided it would be best not to continue.Plan B is to splice in new wire and go up the mast and try to pull it through as suggestion by NnE. I have a feeling this isn't going to work though, because, if the through-deck holes are anything like the holes throughout the rest of the boat, they are just barely large enough to accomodate the wire. I think the splice will be too large and get caught on the hole and pull apart. Plan C would be to pull the mast. I really don't want to do this and have to decide whether anchoring at night would be worth the effort. The whole point of this is to be able to legally anchor out for a weekend. And to have my vhf working with the mast antenna.Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions.Dave

 

[John]

anchor pole

I lost my anchor light mid season and used a broom stick on my hailyard to pull a led light up with a batteryI use a loop on a line tied to the broom stick about 1/3 from the top then tie the line to the bottom end of the stick.I hook the loop to the main hailyard and pull it up tight with the lite on top .it works good .I would take the mast down in the fall and do the job right John

 

[LancerDude]

better idea..

..is to fabricate a new harness for the mast on the dock where you have plenty of room to work,make it long enuff to go to the switch box.Check your local Home Depot as I found the one here in Kemah stocks Ancor Marine Grade Wire at less than $4.00 per spool for 14 ga.Anyhow,go up the mast and drop it in from the to or some suitable fitting.The problem with splicing,especially in a tight spot is that you likely will not get good results and then you'll have lights that work sometimes....and sometimes not.Do it right the first time and it wont come back to haunt you..dont and,sooner or later..you will go back and do it right. GOod Luck >>> David

 

[steve rainey]

Move Pressure Post

The mst step is screwed to the top of the pressure post on mine. No way I can lift the deck area around to move the post. I took down my mast.