Wind Instrument Wiring Question

Feb 4, 2020
10
O'Day 31 Long Island
When unstepping my mast last winter, the boat yard cut the wires for my masthead wind instruments. I used connectors on each wire and jumped the shielding wire. The display comes on but wind speed reads zero and the wind direction indicator is not functioning. What am I missing? Any thoughts
 

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Jan 11, 2014
12,878
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
The problem could also be at the masthead and a damaged wire or connection. The power wires were not part of the cable that was cut, so it is not surprising the unit powers up. The voltages involved in the sensor are pretty small, a poor connection somewhere might be the cause.

Datamarine ceased production in 2001. Your instruments are at least that old and may have reached end of life. DMImarine.com is run by the techs who worked for Datamarine. They might be able to help you. Needless to say, they're getting up there in age too.
 
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May 12, 2025
24
Macgregor 22 Silverton OR
Has the boatyard offered compensation? Did you verify voltage before you turned the power back on? It looks like the negative and shield conductors may be wrapped together at the shield side of the splice. Check the original wiring diagram you may need a bigger hammer.
 

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,923
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
As mentioned above, those instruments may have reached the end of their service life. However, before you go searching for something else (you may find used ones in a used boat parts place) you might want to clean up all those contacts and wire ends. Again, as mentioned above, with very low power through the contacts, even the tiniest bit of corrosion could create problems.
 
Apr 18, 2021
3
Hunter Passage 42 Olverson’s nnk VA
I am dealing with a wind instrument issue also. Raymarine 70S. This is only 3-4 years old. Previous Raymarine got to where the screens were hard to read (20years). Anyway I am out in heavy weather and the instrument stops working. I am checking for shorts to mast for leaking current and backbone connectors before I go up the mast and look at the sensor connection. When the mast was reset this time it was found that the rigger had stepped the mast on top of sensor wire. Did this happen again?
 
Apr 18, 2021
3
Hunter Passage 42 Olverson’s nnk VA
Your crimp connection looks good but I prefer to use a terminal block to make these connections. The connections are visible so easy to monitor