Rewire Mast On HC33

[gigglingdolphins]

Since the mast is now off of the boat I figure that this is a good time to replace all of the wiring and radio cables. Has anyone else done this? Any tricks that I need to know?

Thanks

[mimoza]

I haven't done it. But might I suggest that you get a really good coax for your 2M radio? You'll be happy you did. LMR-400 or RG-213/U would be good choices.

[edelweiss]

We've done it twice. Definitely replace all the electrical wires with good multistrand tinned stuff. Use the tables to decide what guage and I would suggest the size that would give only a 3% loss vs 10% voltage loss. Think carefully about any extra stuff you might want to add such as foredeck light, hailer, TV antenna, ( yeah really ) and internet antenna. If you also have VHF and RADAR then the chase can get crowded so lay the wires in carefully so they dont "braid" around each other and take up more space. When you have them all in and you are trying to get the cover back on the chase there is a electricians product called "Slime" that is water soluable and will lubricate the wires so the cover will slide on easier. Be generous with wire lengths it might seem wasteful but it is incredibly more joyful to have a little extra wire left over inside the base of the compression post where all this stuff comes out than find out you save $2 and ended up short. You can ALWAYS cut it later. If you have done so run some strong cord down the compression post so the helper inside can pull the wires thru the compression post when you are stepping the mast. Feed from the deck and pulling from the inside.

It goes with out saying that you should change all the bulbs out for new ones. Any new holes for new stuff should be carefully deburred and it woldnt hurt to use gromets in the hole to minimize chafe. We changed out our spreader lights for a new model the nests inside the apex of the 2 lower shrouds mounted on the mast. They are awesome, bright and out of the way. We replaced the style that use automobile 35W bulbs and hang down about mid spreader.

It is also handy to take some photos of the top of mast from different angles and other items further down. Later when you are training someone else to go up the mast and do some maintainance you can pull out the photos and calmly point out the goal of the mission from the comfort of your setee.

Its not wiring but you should also inspect every fitting and piece of gear blocks, rigging attachments, sheeves for internal halyards etc but you're probably already all over that stuff. I also like to take detail pictures of these with a date tab on the photo. It is amazing how fast the time flies while youre out sailing or messing around with low altitude stuff like deck fittings etc you may forget what things looked like up there. One last thing measure everything and write down somewhere in your data files. Mast length, how far up the spreaders are, how long the spreaders are so on. While you are doing t hat you will find thigs you didnt notice before.

Mark of Edelweiss