Replacing mast-wiring connection

[BVLew]

After 6 weeks of rain, smoke, heat-dome, and out-of-town travel, finally got enough work done on the new-to-me 1984 Catalina 22 to launch last week, got my first sail earlier this week. Going well!

Next project: mast-wiring. PO ran new mast wires (4 of 'em), but never finished the deck connection. Looks like the original 2-pin female plug. All I need is the masthead light and forward steaming light. My thought is to replace with a 4-pin plug, but I know little about electrical systems. If I take out the original deck plug, what am I going to find underneath? Any wires with enough length to connect to new plug? (Inside the cabin, I can't see anything -- all the wires must be inside the head-liner.).

(I've seen earlier threads from @Rltgold and others.)

Thanks.

Bruce

 

[danooxnard]

A few words of advice. The 4 pin connector has very small screws to hold the wires in place. They are very small phillips head, easy to over tighten and strip out. Then you cant remove them. they are also easy to drop and lose. layout a terry cloth towel under them while working on the connector will keep them from getting lost.
Dan

 

[shemandr]

Since the masthead (Anchor light) and steaming light are used independently you need four wires. So that suggests a four pin connector. I don't think it's a violation to anchor with both the anchor light and steaming light. Or to motor with the steaming light and anchor light but I'm not current in those rules. That is likely how your boat was wired. If so, to go to separate circuits you may need to run a new wire to one of the lights and add a circuit underneath to a switch. Does your panel have an extra switch? This seems to this lazy guy to be too much work for a small gain. How often do you motor at night?
BTW those thru deck connectors are notoriously unreliable. I had them on my first keelboat and there was no end to fiddling with them. On my second keelboat, a Ranger 29, I created a thru deck passage for wires within the footprint of the mast and using PVC pipe as a conduit standing proud of the deck by a few inches, The connectors were inside so I could do the disconnect when it was time to drop the mast. Otherwise the yard workers would cut the wires.

 

[AaronD]

A trailer connector worked for me for years, and I will likely do the same when I rewire the mast on our new-to-us boat. See my comment in the discussion at

Deck to mast electrical connection

Hopefully someone has already found a fix for this. I lost all but my anchor light on the last trip so now that the boat is back at the studio I started looking into the issue. It turns out to be the same problem for the 2nd time now . The deck plug and 4 wire line headed under the deck are...

forums.sailboatowners.com

Photos a few posts down from that comment.

 

[ambler]

I have the 4 pin deck connector from Catalina Direct. It's a beautiful piece of harware but Shemandr is right, it's hard to keep a good connection. Keep having to go back, clean contacts and wires and coat with dielectric grease. Danooxnard it right about the screws.
Practical Sailor liked this connector:

Sea-Dog : Quality Marine, Industrial and Rigging Hardware

Sea-Dog

sea-dog.com

I use it on my solar panel and have been happy with it but they don't seem to make a 4 pin version.
My 1983 Cat 22 has wiring and a switch on the panel for an anchor light but not a steaming light. You'd have to run new wire and a switch.

 

[Rltgold]

After alot of trial and error I found CNLinko connectors and after 3 years they still work great.They have very large soder connections. I did add heat shrenck tubing to the end for extra waterproofing

 

[...3TacksontheWater]

As far as I know, your model C-22 did run the wires in the head liner. My '74 C-22 did not have any lighting on the mast. I used a lantern as an anchor light. Your model year introduced a steaming light on the mast and had a two wire harness in thru the cabin top next to the mast step. I have the same connectors in my cockpit for my solar connections but I don't know how good they would be for a cabin top application. You can get a direct sized replacement mount in either two, three or four wire versions. I doubt that you have a three wire harness led through the ceiling. I would suggest that you check the female connector for continuity and if it's good, use that for your steaming light by installing a new male two prong connector. Then you can easily hang an LED anchor light off of your pig tail. This is what will get you going with the least amount of rigamarole.

Now, if you do want to go the Full Monty, I would suggest that you use fourplex wire and drill out your existing female connector and run the fourplex along the on the cabin ceiling. While your mulling this over IMO, the new style switch panels are really nice and you can upgrade your existing panel easily especially if you are still wanting to use the mast mounted anchor light. It's quite likely that the PO didn't complete this project because he realized that with only a two wire system, he would need to run new wiring to accomplish his goal. For reference this is a great video on the switch panel upgrade in your style boat:

After this video, jump to the rewiring video for more good stuff on the same channel. I hope this helps.

George

 

[dyelaine]

Gene Neill makes the case for using a trailer connector because the female plug is on top and the male on the bottom which means the plug sheds water instead of funneling water into the female plug. He has photos located about halfway down the discussion at Protecting the mast light connector and VHF connector. I plan to make this conversion after the end of this season.