Loose ground wires chain-plates

paddlingctdoc · Nov 29, 2020

The refit continues for my '86 Ericson 30+. Now am above the headliner and found one loose single wire on either side of the cabin just aft of the main bulkhead. Both wires are white and have the kind of connector that can go around a 1/4" screw. I haven't yet been able to trace them back. Thinking that these may be for grounding the standing rigging through the shrouds. Can't otherwise figure out what they might be. Inclined to attach them to the screws holding the U bolts on. Pics are attached.

First is port side looking forward. Second is starboard side looking forward and to starboard.

Interested in your thoughts.

Marlin Prowell · Nov 29, 2020

Since the wire is white, I don’t think this is a ground wire. I’d expect a ground wire to be black. It might be some abandoned circuit.

Find a ground connection somewhere nearby. Turn on all your circuit breakers on the electrical panel. Using a voltmeter to measure the voltage between the white wire and ground, do you see any voltage on this wire?

Christian Williams · Nov 30, 2020

White, or tan, perhaps? Check colors against Ericson electrical plan?

Ericson Document - E30Plus Electrical Plan

E30Plus Electrical Plan ---------------------------------------- Thank you for your interest in downloading this document from the www.EricsonYachts.org Resource Center. We hope you find it useful in the on-going maintenance and care of your...

ericsonyachts.org

goldenstate · Nov 30, 2020

You could test it with a voltage meter.

1. Turn everything on at your panel.
2. If it has voltage, start turning things off at the panel and see which circuit the wire is on.
3. Then, if it isn't live with all of the panel on, a circuit tracer tool can help find the other end. This is the one I have:

Amazon.com

Guessing here: That's kind of what my mast wires look like under the headliner. Could also be for your overhead cabin lights.

paddlingctdoc · Nov 30, 2020

Second pic.

Christian Williams said:
White, or tan, perhaps? Check colors against Ericson electrical plan?

Ericson Document - E30Plus Electrical Plan

E30Plus Electrical Plan ---------------------------------------- Thank you for your interest in downloading this document from the www.EricsonYachts.org Resource Center. We hope you find it useful in the on-going maintenance and care of your...

ericsonyachts.org

Thanks. The plan document is helpful. One of the POs has done a fair amount of electrical work so not everything lines up with the plan. They replaced the wiring to the mast. Based on the plan you sent, looks like I've been able to sort out 4 unused wires in the head as the original mast wiring.

I don't see the black mast ground that the plan calls for. Wondering if the white wires replaced that ground when the other mast wires were redone. I will see if they tie back to ground with an ohm-meter. Can't imagine they are positive (although I will check) as there is nothing nearby for them to connect to.

Do you know if the original mast wiring went through the mast step? Currently, there are through deck fittings for each of the three mast cables (anchor, foredeck/steaming, antenna).

The good news is that I should be able to use the old mast wiring to wire in a shower sump if I end up doing that.

Loren Beach · Nov 30, 2020

paddlingctdoc said:
Do you know if the original mast wiring went through the mast step? Currently, there are through deck fittings for each of the three mast cables (anchor, foredeck/steaming, antenna).

On our '88 Kenyon thru stepped spar all of the internal mast wiring exits just above the inside headliner. Accessable via a zipper on either side of the mast penetration. Remove the teak trim ring (usually by sliding it down) and there may be some staples or screws holding the headliner in place. Under the headliner there should be a terminal strip where the wiring for the steaming light, anchor light, and foredeck light meet up. Also the coax from the masthead should have a screw-on connector in that area.
All this wiring then goes to the area where your electrical distribution panel lives.

I had to put some silicone around all those wires coming out of the mast because the first owner had ignored the rain water coming out and this moisture had followed the headliner to the side and stained the teak veneer. Luckily we were able to refinish the teak.

goldenstate · Nov 30, 2020

paddlingctdoc said:
Second pic.

Thanks. The plan document is helpful. One of the POs has done a fair amount of electrical work so not everything lines up with the plan. They replaced the wiring to the mast. Based on the plan you sent, looks like I've been able to sort out 4 unused wires in the head as the original mast wiring.

I don't see the black mast ground that the plan calls for. Wondering if the white wires replaced that ground when the other mast wires were redone. I will see if they tie back to ground with an ohm-meter. Can't imagine they are positive (although I will check) as there is nothing nearby for them to connect to.

Do you know if the original mast wiring went through the mast step? Currently, there are through deck fittings for each of the three mast cables (anchor, foredeck/steaming, antenna).

The good news is that I should be able to use the old mast wiring to wire in a shower sump if I end up doing that.

Sounds like mast wires. My keel-stepped boat works as Loren's.

There is a standard advisory here in the forum that will help you obtain more help from members. If you put your boat model, year of production, and engine in your signature line, it will be easier for others to know how to advise you.

Click on your username at top right and then, 'signature' to edit.

HerbertFriedman · Nov 30, 2020

Just for some more information on wiring, my "87E34 has odd wiring in the mast. As noted by Loren above, I too have a terminal strip in the headliner just to port of the mast and there are wires to the lights in the mast. But I do not have any UHF coax there, my coax exists the bottom of the mast, accessible through an access plate in the cabin sole just aft the mast. Also in that location is a cable with many small wires all of which are cut and not connected to anything. I do not know if that cable was EY original or installed by some previous owner. Next time I am at the boat, I will look to see if there are some wires in that sump location which were cut but went to the DC panel.

Loren Beach · Nov 30, 2020

HerbertFriedman said:
But I do not have any UHF coax there, my coax exists the bottom of the mast, accessible through an access plate in the cabin sole just aft the mast. Also in that location is a cable with many small wires all of which are cut and not connected to anything. I do not know if that cable was EY original or installed by some previous owner. Next time I am at the boat, I will look to see if there are some wires in that sump location which were cut but went to the DC panel.

Since the wiring access hole was visibly enlarged on our boat presumably for room for the exiting coax cable, I believe that the VHF was installed after the build-out, and was part of dealer commissioning in Alameda CA.
Back in the day, as the saying goes, they did install a very high quality radio, a Furuno. I only replaced it in the last few years, with a Simrad that incorporates AIS receiving and can feed info to our newer Lowrance plotter bus.
The '88 Furuno was working fine when I sold it to a club member.

HerbertFriedman · Nov 30, 2020

Loren, just a point of confusion, when you say that the hole in the mast was visibly enlarged, do you mean the hole at the headliner level or the hole at the bottom of the mast? And do you have any wires exiting the mast at the bottom or do all the wires exit the hole at the headliner level?

gabriel · Nov 30, 2020

goldenstate said:
Sounds like mast wires. My keel-stepped boat works as Loren's.

There is a standard advisory here in the forum that will help you obtain more help from members. If you put your boat model, year of production, and engine in your signature line, it will be easier for others to know how to advise you.

Click on your username at top right and then, 'signature' to edit.

is there a way to make the signature automatically insert into a post?

Christian Williams · Nov 30, 2020

Your Frost quotation appears below each post (and all your historical posts). Anything in the Signature line does. The boat model and engine is useful for responders. Was that the question?

gabriel · Nov 30, 2020

Christian Williams said:
Your Frost quotation appears below each post (and all your historical posts). Anything in the Signature line does. The boat model and engine is useful for responders. Was that the question?

kind of...really what I meant to ask (but was embarrassed to ask because it probably right under mt nose ) is how do i even insert signature line into post or reply? Which button in the toolbar?

Thanks.

Christian Williams · Nov 30, 2020

No worries, this comes up a lot. Click User Name (top of page, with avatar)/Signature. You should see the Frost lines there already.

For example:

...

gabriel · Nov 30, 2020

Christian Williams said:
No worries, this comes up a lot. Click User Name (top of page, with avatar)/Signature. You should see the Frost lines there already.

For example:

View attachment 36226...View attachment 36227

Thanks! Appreciate that.

paddlingctdoc · Dec 4, 2020

Issue resolved: Finally got an ohm-meter on the wires and was able to trace them to a wire attached to the keel bolt. Am assuming these are grounds that are intended to be connected to the chain-plate assemblies which is the only thing in the vicinity of the connector that they could connect to.

Frank Langer · Dec 4, 2020

Just thinking that if these were intended as lightening protection, shouldn't that wire be stronger/thicker/lower AWG than what it looked like in your pic?
Frank

Christian Williams · Dec 4, 2020

My lightning protection is a shrug. True, once off the New Jersey Coast in a crazy squall which filled the air with glowing, exploding blobs accompanied by what sounded like .50 cal machinegun fire, we did attach some automobile jumper cables to the shrouds and dangled them into the water. Felt much better.

But the chances of a strike are very low, even with crackling black clouds all around. And nothing much, in my opinion, we can do about it.

Of course there's no harm in worrying and spending money. Boat is safer than a golf course, that's for sure.

Lightning Protection: The Truth About Dissipators - Practical Sailor

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Loose ground wires chain-plates

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1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC

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