Does anyone have any advice on how to get the antenna cable from the deck up the inside of the mast to the masthead ? I was planning on using the masthead wiriing as as feeder pulling through a new masthead light wire and the antenna cable at the same time but would like to avoid having to do this if possible. Thanks in advance !
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Mike Whalen
How about PVC
Darren, I haven't run anything new on my 25 but from what I've seen on this forum it seems most suggest running the wiring through PVC and attach the PVC to the inside of the mast so it doesn't move about. You might look at the archives. Good luck, Mike
Darren, I haven't run anything new on my 25 but from what I've seen on this forum it seems most suggest running the wiring through PVC and attach the PVC to the inside of the mast so it doesn't move about. You might look at the archives. Good luck, Mike
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Justin - O'day Owners' Web
Mast Wiring
Darren - First - leave yourself a whole day for this project. You'll be happy if it ends early but it can get frustrating, especially if you were hoping to do a lot of work. If you have only one set of wiring in the mast, it really should be possible for you to do this by simply taking off the masthead truck and raising the top of the mast. Then just snake the cable in. The stiffness of the wire will help. If not, you should be able to send an electrician's fish down the mast and use it to pull the coax back up. The conduit idea works really well but is probably unnecessary with only one cable. You might consider putting nylon cable tie on the wire every few feet and leaving the tail on. The tail will spring against the mast and will help prevent wire slap. Justin - O'day Owners' Web
Darren - First - leave yourself a whole day for this project. You'll be happy if it ends early but it can get frustrating, especially if you were hoping to do a lot of work. If you have only one set of wiring in the mast, it really should be possible for you to do this by simply taking off the masthead truck and raising the top of the mast. Then just snake the cable in. The stiffness of the wire will help. If not, you should be able to send an electrician's fish down the mast and use it to pull the coax back up. The conduit idea works really well but is probably unnecessary with only one cable. You might consider putting nylon cable tie on the wire every few feet and leaving the tail on. The tail will spring against the mast and will help prevent wire slap. Justin - O'day Owners' Web
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David Patelke
wire slap
I didn't do anything to prevent the wire from slapping when I ran my antenna wire and have found it to be very annoying, enough so I'm getting ready to redo it. Really ruins a quiet anchorage.
I didn't do anything to prevent the wire from slapping when I ran my antenna wire and have found it to be very annoying, enough so I'm getting ready to redo it. Really ruins a quiet anchorage.
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Stu Timm
Mast Wiring
Hi Darren, I rigged a masthead light, steaming light and antenna line thru the mast of my 22 footer while the mast was lowered flat during winter storage in 2000-2001. The antenna was a future operation, as the purchase of a new redio was not in my budget that year. I bought an electrician's snake, a very sturdy piece of wire with a loop at one end. The snake is able to push through the mast without buckling, HOWEVER,,,, that's not all I used. The mast already had a wire to the old steaming light that I used as a drag line to pull the new wires from the mast step to the hole where the steaming light is (near the spreaders). Once the new wires were there, I used the snake from the top of the mast, feeding it downwards to the mast step, and fetched it out of that hole where the steaming light was. Once I connected the snake and the new wires, I continued the pull, all the way to the top of the mast. I was unable and unwilling to remove the top fitting of the masthead (that contained the halyard sheeves and stay anchorages) so I ran my antenna wire through a hole just below the masthead. Be very careful about chafing when pulling the antenna cable thru the mast at the access holes. The edges are sharp and the outer cover of the cable is not that durable. Also, if the cable binds, don't pull it too hard as that may damage the innards of the cable. The rig came out OK, and so far (knock on wood) the antenna will work OK (as the mast light does) when I rig my new radio to it this summer. Good Luck! Stu Timm
Hi Darren, I rigged a masthead light, steaming light and antenna line thru the mast of my 22 footer while the mast was lowered flat during winter storage in 2000-2001. The antenna was a future operation, as the purchase of a new redio was not in my budget that year. I bought an electrician's snake, a very sturdy piece of wire with a loop at one end. The snake is able to push through the mast without buckling, HOWEVER,,,, that's not all I used. The mast already had a wire to the old steaming light that I used as a drag line to pull the new wires from the mast step to the hole where the steaming light is (near the spreaders). Once the new wires were there, I used the snake from the top of the mast, feeding it downwards to the mast step, and fetched it out of that hole where the steaming light was. Once I connected the snake and the new wires, I continued the pull, all the way to the top of the mast. I was unable and unwilling to remove the top fitting of the masthead (that contained the halyard sheeves and stay anchorages) so I ran my antenna wire through a hole just below the masthead. Be very careful about chafing when pulling the antenna cable thru the mast at the access holes. The edges are sharp and the outer cover of the cable is not that durable. Also, if the cable binds, don't pull it too hard as that may damage the innards of the cable. The rig came out OK, and so far (knock on wood) the antenna will work OK (as the mast light does) when I rig my new radio to it this summer. Good Luck! Stu Timm
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Rich
Conduit, anyone?
Hi, Darren, I very recently ran new wires inside the mast on my OD'22 (1975) as part of a nearly-total refurbish. My advice, first, is take the mast down and take the masthead fitting all the way off--it's not that tough. The masthead fitting (assuming yours is the original as I assume was mine)is held on with two (2) stainless bolts and nuts that pass all the way through the mast. If you remove the bolts and nuts, the entire masthead fitting simply pulls out of the mast tube (straight up the length of the mast). Once that is off, the mast tube is open with only a "cap" with slots riveted in place underneath where the masthead fitting was. The cap did not need to come off, as the slots/pre-made holes were more than adequate enough to allow wiring and conduit to pass through--I also ran my halyards internally and now have two (2) jib halyards, a main halyard and room for one more (maybe a real topping lift if I decide I need it)[I can give you info on that project, if anyone is interested]. With the masthead fitting off, I used two (2) ten foot lengths of 1/2 inch schedule 40 white PVC pipe and one straight pipe joint connector to join them together (about $5 altogether at Home Depot). I glued the pipe and connectors together with the proper PVC pipe glue (about $2 for a small can @ Home Depot). With the pipe glued and dry, I took the now 20 foot length of PVC pipe conduit and laid it up against the mast's outside, against the forward (bow side) part of the mast, about 45 degrees down from top center (i.e., if the "top center" is the part of the mast that faces the bow, I placed the conduit at about the "2 o'clock" position on the mast tube from that point). The reason: I did not want it to interfere with the internal halyards which would be running inside the mast just behind it and I did not place it at the "top center" position as I did not want it to interfere with the soon-to-be installed t-track on the mast for a whisker pole/spinnaker car slide ring (I'm racing oriented)or anything else that might one day be mounted on the forward-most outside of the mast. Now, here's the kicker--get some help if you can and, using duct tape, hold that white PVC conduit that you just made up against the OUTSIDE of the mast at that "2 o'clock" position, pulling it straight and parallel along the full length of the mast (that's why help would be useful). Position the top of the conduit about one foot below the mast top and the bottom of the conduit should fall about 2 to 3 feet or so from the bottom of the mast tube (where it mounts on the deck). If you have a hinged maststep, you're going to need to take the mast portion of the hinge off for this--my boat is older and uses the through-mast pin and aluminum deck casting step system. With the conduit in position, wrap duct tape around the mast and conduit to hold the condduit tightly in place OUTSIDE THE MAST--about every 3 or 4 feet down the mast. Once you're done taping, you'll need a pop rivet gun and some 3/16" long aluminum pop rivets and a drill bit that's the correct size for the pop rivet holes. Starting at one end of the mast, about 6 inches from the end of the conduit, drill (2) two holes STRAIGHT and SQUARE to the mast, ALL THE WAY THROUGH the white PVC conduit and the mast wall underneath that conduit--make the holes about 2 inches apart. Next, move down the mast about 4 feet and drill another pair of holes just like the first, and continue down the mast drilling the pairs of holes until you run out of conduit (i.e., about 5 pairs of holes altogether when you're done). Now, with a tape measure, carefully measure the distance from the top end of the PVC conduit to a reference point (you pick one that you can use) on the top end of the mast or cap. Remember or write the measurement down--I'll explain in a minute. Unwrap all of the duct tape, get your helper to help you take the PVC conduit to the top end of the mast (with the bottom of the conduit at the top end of the mast). Get your helper to help you position the mast tube so that the "top center" position is facing straight down and hold it that way. Start feeding/sliding the conduit into the masthead, with gravity helping now to keep the conduit against the now upside down "top center" position of the mast and, as a result, on the bow-side of the spreaders (whose bolt goes all the way through the mast tube)--I made certain that my conduit was on the bow side so that it would not touch or otherwise interfere with the internal halyard project since the halyards run down inside the mast on the back side of the spreader bolt. Now, before you push the conduit all the way into the mast tube, remember that measurement you took, take your tape measure and using some duct tape, tape the end of the tape measure up against and to the top end of the PVC conduit. With the tape measure taped in place, push the tape/conduit into the mast so that the measurement you took before lines up with that reference point you picked on the masthead or cap (this helps with aligning the holes you drilled before). Now get your helper to help you roll the mast tube a bit on it side-- so that the conduit and holes are now at the very bottom ("6 o'clock" position). Using a piece of wire, coathanger or other stiff wire--I used a hooked dental pick-- while wiggling and jiggling the counduit/tape measure a bit so that you can align at least the top set of holes, try to get the stiff wire/dental pick into ONE of the holes so that you can pull the conduit close to the inside wall of the mast. To make this easier, I supported my whole mast on sawhorses so that I could sit/crouch underneath to see and eyeball the holes from below, letting gravity help hold and position the conduit inside the mast. When you get the stiff wire/pick in the hole, make sure you can see the second hole in the conduit--if you can't, you've lined up the wrong two holes in the mast and conduit--recheck your original refence measurement and try again. Once you're certain you can see BOTH holes, it's pretty much downhill from here. While holding the stiff wire/dental pick to pull the conduit tight inside against the mast, insert a pop rivet into the other hole--you should feel it go through the mast wall and one side of the conduit wall. Put your rivet gun in place and install that rivet in place. Once that one is set, remove your stiff wire/dental pick and put a rivet in that hole and install it. Proceed on down the length of the mast, pulling the conduit up against the inside of the mast with the dental pick and installing one and then the second rivet in all the pairs of holes. When you're done, I put a dab of clear silicone on the head of each rivet just to keep extra moisture out (maybe overkill--but it's my baby...). O.K., this "nut" has talked me into doing all of this--what now? Using an electrician's fish tape if you can get one, fish it into the conduit and push it all the way through and out the other end of the mast. Tape your wires to the end of the fish tape (add an extra wire or two if you want for future projects) and tape all the wires together in a bundle every couple of feet using electrical tape--helps to prevent wire slap inside the conduit (maybe overkill, too). Pull the fish tape and wire bundle through and out the mast. You've now got your wires through the mast and eliminated virtually any chance of wire slap inside the mast as well as any chance of your wiring getting caught up in internal halyards or getting cut/punctured/chafed by an errant screw or fitting installed in the mast. On my boat, I went several steps further (not surprised, huh...) and actually drilled and tapped the maststep casting so that I could run all those wires internally into the cabin--no through-deck, exposed connectors or holes or wires on the OUTSIDE of the mast for me to trip on or break or cut or whatever. I left extra wire inside the mast at the bottom end and put a connector on it to allow for stepping/unstepping the mast and disconnecting the wiring harness for future needs/service. I have been VERY happy with my work and have encountered no problems. I have NO wire slap inside the mast and, when I installed my t-track for my whisker pole ring/slide on the mast, the conduit was safely off to the side and did not interfere at all with the installation. Good luck... Any questions, post it here and I'll try to respond timely... Rich s/v TIME BANDIT, OD'22
Hi, Darren, I very recently ran new wires inside the mast on my OD'22 (1975) as part of a nearly-total refurbish. My advice, first, is take the mast down and take the masthead fitting all the way off--it's not that tough. The masthead fitting (assuming yours is the original as I assume was mine)is held on with two (2) stainless bolts and nuts that pass all the way through the mast. If you remove the bolts and nuts, the entire masthead fitting simply pulls out of the mast tube (straight up the length of the mast). Once that is off, the mast tube is open with only a "cap" with slots riveted in place underneath where the masthead fitting was. The cap did not need to come off, as the slots/pre-made holes were more than adequate enough to allow wiring and conduit to pass through--I also ran my halyards internally and now have two (2) jib halyards, a main halyard and room for one more (maybe a real topping lift if I decide I need it)[I can give you info on that project, if anyone is interested]. With the masthead fitting off, I used two (2) ten foot lengths of 1/2 inch schedule 40 white PVC pipe and one straight pipe joint connector to join them together (about $5 altogether at Home Depot). I glued the pipe and connectors together with the proper PVC pipe glue (about $2 for a small can @ Home Depot). With the pipe glued and dry, I took the now 20 foot length of PVC pipe conduit and laid it up against the mast's outside, against the forward (bow side) part of the mast, about 45 degrees down from top center (i.e., if the "top center" is the part of the mast that faces the bow, I placed the conduit at about the "2 o'clock" position on the mast tube from that point). The reason: I did not want it to interfere with the internal halyards which would be running inside the mast just behind it and I did not place it at the "top center" position as I did not want it to interfere with the soon-to-be installed t-track on the mast for a whisker pole/spinnaker car slide ring (I'm racing oriented)or anything else that might one day be mounted on the forward-most outside of the mast. Now, here's the kicker--get some help if you can and, using duct tape, hold that white PVC conduit that you just made up against the OUTSIDE of the mast at that "2 o'clock" position, pulling it straight and parallel along the full length of the mast (that's why help would be useful). Position the top of the conduit about one foot below the mast top and the bottom of the conduit should fall about 2 to 3 feet or so from the bottom of the mast tube (where it mounts on the deck). If you have a hinged maststep, you're going to need to take the mast portion of the hinge off for this--my boat is older and uses the through-mast pin and aluminum deck casting step system. With the conduit in position, wrap duct tape around the mast and conduit to hold the condduit tightly in place OUTSIDE THE MAST--about every 3 or 4 feet down the mast. Once you're done taping, you'll need a pop rivet gun and some 3/16" long aluminum pop rivets and a drill bit that's the correct size for the pop rivet holes. Starting at one end of the mast, about 6 inches from the end of the conduit, drill (2) two holes STRAIGHT and SQUARE to the mast, ALL THE WAY THROUGH the white PVC conduit and the mast wall underneath that conduit--make the holes about 2 inches apart. Next, move down the mast about 4 feet and drill another pair of holes just like the first, and continue down the mast drilling the pairs of holes until you run out of conduit (i.e., about 5 pairs of holes altogether when you're done). Now, with a tape measure, carefully measure the distance from the top end of the PVC conduit to a reference point (you pick one that you can use) on the top end of the mast or cap. Remember or write the measurement down--I'll explain in a minute. Unwrap all of the duct tape, get your helper to help you take the PVC conduit to the top end of the mast (with the bottom of the conduit at the top end of the mast). Get your helper to help you position the mast tube so that the "top center" position is facing straight down and hold it that way. Start feeding/sliding the conduit into the masthead, with gravity helping now to keep the conduit against the now upside down "top center" position of the mast and, as a result, on the bow-side of the spreaders (whose bolt goes all the way through the mast tube)--I made certain that my conduit was on the bow side so that it would not touch or otherwise interfere with the internal halyard project since the halyards run down inside the mast on the back side of the spreader bolt. Now, before you push the conduit all the way into the mast tube, remember that measurement you took, take your tape measure and using some duct tape, tape the end of the tape measure up against and to the top end of the PVC conduit. With the tape measure taped in place, push the tape/conduit into the mast so that the measurement you took before lines up with that reference point you picked on the masthead or cap (this helps with aligning the holes you drilled before). Now get your helper to help you roll the mast tube a bit on it side-- so that the conduit and holes are now at the very bottom ("6 o'clock" position). Using a piece of wire, coathanger or other stiff wire--I used a hooked dental pick-- while wiggling and jiggling the counduit/tape measure a bit so that you can align at least the top set of holes, try to get the stiff wire/dental pick into ONE of the holes so that you can pull the conduit close to the inside wall of the mast. To make this easier, I supported my whole mast on sawhorses so that I could sit/crouch underneath to see and eyeball the holes from below, letting gravity help hold and position the conduit inside the mast. When you get the stiff wire/pick in the hole, make sure you can see the second hole in the conduit--if you can't, you've lined up the wrong two holes in the mast and conduit--recheck your original refence measurement and try again. Once you're certain you can see BOTH holes, it's pretty much downhill from here. While holding the stiff wire/dental pick to pull the conduit tight inside against the mast, insert a pop rivet into the other hole--you should feel it go through the mast wall and one side of the conduit wall. Put your rivet gun in place and install that rivet in place. Once that one is set, remove your stiff wire/dental pick and put a rivet in that hole and install it. Proceed on down the length of the mast, pulling the conduit up against the inside of the mast with the dental pick and installing one and then the second rivet in all the pairs of holes. When you're done, I put a dab of clear silicone on the head of each rivet just to keep extra moisture out (maybe overkill--but it's my baby...). O.K., this "nut" has talked me into doing all of this--what now? Using an electrician's fish tape if you can get one, fish it into the conduit and push it all the way through and out the other end of the mast. Tape your wires to the end of the fish tape (add an extra wire or two if you want for future projects) and tape all the wires together in a bundle every couple of feet using electrical tape--helps to prevent wire slap inside the conduit (maybe overkill, too). Pull the fish tape and wire bundle through and out the mast. You've now got your wires through the mast and eliminated virtually any chance of wire slap inside the mast as well as any chance of your wiring getting caught up in internal halyards or getting cut/punctured/chafed by an errant screw or fitting installed in the mast. On my boat, I went several steps further (not surprised, huh...) and actually drilled and tapped the maststep casting so that I could run all those wires internally into the cabin--no through-deck, exposed connectors or holes or wires on the OUTSIDE of the mast for me to trip on or break or cut or whatever. I left extra wire inside the mast at the bottom end and put a connector on it to allow for stepping/unstepping the mast and disconnecting the wiring harness for future needs/service. I have been VERY happy with my work and have encountered no problems. I have NO wire slap inside the mast and, when I installed my t-track for my whisker pole ring/slide on the mast, the conduit was safely off to the side and did not interfere at all with the installation. Good luck... Any questions, post it here and I'll try to respond timely... Rich s/v TIME BANDIT, OD'22
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