I need help on electrical connection from mast to deck. Bought new plug and receptacle from bwy and now on to mast wiring which has 4 wires, 2 coming out from holes on opposite sides of mast near base. Both have male/female connectors to each other but how do you get 4 wires, two plugs into one plug for hookup to deck receptacle? I can’t find wiring details in owner manual, nor YouTube, nor google search. Very frustrating!
Wire connections from mast base to deck plug
- Thread starter CoyCaptain
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- mast base plate wiring
If I understand correctly, remove one plug from one side of the mast and route them through the mast to the other side. If there are 4 wires, one is ground and remaining are the light fixtures easily discovered by using a 12v battery
Just posted requested picture. The black plug you see on short strand of wire is what I obviously also need to replace but I inherited this along with all these wires. I am thinking former owner did some rewiring work/efforts but the plug was gone when boat bought.
Well put, see picture, I must have separate lines for steaming/deck and mast head lights and why they were separated, since plug to deck is only two prongs/male, baffled me, that and the plug to deck was disintegrated.
See picture posted, hope this helps, should have started request with that, sorry.
What lights do you actually have on the mast? You may have two power 12v+ and two negatives needed for lights. Or 1 negative and 3 positives as suggested above. what connections/fittings do you have at the deck? Could previous owner have been plugging and unplugging connectors depending what needed power?
I would start with wires coming out of mast -orange/orange and green/brown Once you know what fixtures you have you can start figuring out which wires go where. A portable 12v battery and multimeter can help you figure it out from there.
I would start with wires coming out of mast -orange/orange and green/brown Once you know what fixtures you have you can start figuring out which wires go where. A portable 12v battery and multimeter can help you figure it out from there.
Previous owner could have done just that! Masthead light, at top of course, and light about 8 ft up, which I refer to as steaming/deck light from BWY terminology. Maybe they did not want deck lit up? The old receptacle is in picture. Cabin lights work, running lights - stern and bow work, the lights on the mast I will check with 12v and multimeter as suggested. The fuse switches are cabin, running, masthead, auxiliary and the last two I can‘t determine If working until the 12v and meter tells me what’s up on lights Then I get “something” plugged in....novice as you can tell...boat in storage for 3 years....
Thank You!
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If you use LED mast lights you can run two circuits on just two wires using a dpdt switch to reverse the polarity. Works great. Google will show you how.....
Check if the deck socket has 2-3 or 4 wires running to it. If more than 2 you can use the multimeter to determine if the Masthead switch works and if the aux. Switch runs to that connector.
Based on your switches and only 2 connections in the deck connector I suspect it was originally wired just with the masthead light and not the steaming light. By plugging and unplugging the wires at the mast the configuration could be altered to show at anchor or steaming. (Or possibly both together ). Do you have a white stern light as part of your running lights? (There should be).
Based on your switches and only 2 connections in the deck connector I suspect it was originally wired just with the masthead light and not the steaming light. By plugging and unplugging the wires at the mast the configuration could be altered to show at anchor or steaming. (Or possibly both together ). Do you have a white stern light as part of your running lights? (There should be).
LED lights I have thought about as I looked, thought of the upgrades a 2010 Mac26 That has been mostly indoors most of its life, 32 hours on the engine! Going to LED may need to be a 2021-2 winter project but might look at it this year too. The refurbishment, rigging is taking longer than I thought, being a novice at this. I did google the didn’t switch, I followed you on that. Solid idea. Thanks!
TWalker, just 2 wires at deck plug. So maybe the plug unplug routine was being used by former owner. White stern light, yes, had one and always worked though I just replaced it as lens got broken. Multimeter will get some use in the next two days to figure this out.
It looks like you'll be running some new wire from your switch/fuse panel to your mast location to switch the lights appropriately. You could always leave it be for now and use it like the previous owner did if you don't mind switching plugs as you need the different lights.
When I rewired my mast I removed that old two prong fitting on the deck identical to the one you have, and replaced it with a watertight 5 prong connector. The five prongs were used for Ground, mast head light, steaming light, and spreader lights I added. One prong was left unused. Each is controlled by its own switch.
These might get you close
shop.sailboatowners.com
shop.sailboatowners.com
shop.sailboatowners.com
Sea-Dog Line Polarized 2-Pin Plug & Cable Outlet
Sea-Dog Line Polarized 2-Pin Plug & Cable Outlet
shop.sailboatowners.com
Sea-Dog Line 2-Pin Polarized Electrical Plug & Socket
Sea-Dog Line 2-Pin Polarized Electrical Plug & Socket
shop.sailboatowners.com
Sea-Dog Line Polarized Connector 2 Wire - Plug & Socket
Sea-Dog Line Polarized Connector 2 Wire - Plug & Socket
shop.sailboatowners.com
Mike - very much like that approach, an off season 20-21 project.
Sea Dog - yes, this looks like what previous owner was using, but the 4 pin looks like make that change for this season.
Today - a new headstay from BWY on to the Macfurler....crossing the fingers, following the directions...here we go
Sea Dog - yes, this looks like what previous owner was using, but the 4 pin looks like make that change for this season.
Today - a new headstay from BWY on to the Macfurler....crossing the fingers, following the directions...here we go
I've got the mast wired fine after drilling through the styrofoam but how did you guys get the wires and cable from the through hole fittings on the deck led back to the radio and electrical panel. The cavity, below the mast next to the dagger board on my 26M, seems to be sealed off from the headliner. Any suggestions would be appreciated, Thank You