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E26-2 - Mast Wiring Sundries

KS Dave

Dastardly Villain
Blogs Author
Hey fellow E26'ers, have another question and hopefully someone has some pictures. I'm considering dropping the mast for various maintenance items at my upcoming haulout. There's no way my 250lbs is going to try and climb up it and we don't have an abundance of riggers in the area. So, I'm trying to prepare. I'd like to replace the steaming/deck light and add an anchor/nav light to the top of the mast along with a windex.

In emailing with Randall, he remembered the wires coming through the deck and into the area above the vinyl headliner above the wall where the door latches for the head. (lots of words) He also said it uses a trailer connector and coax butt connector that are available once you unstep the mast. A few questions:
  1. Does anyone have pictures of this on an E26-2/3?
  2. What wires are running through the mast by default? Obviously I have the steaming light and potentially two coax. Did they "stub" in anything else?
  3. Is this a time to replace all of the in-mast wiring? We have a hand crank crane at our club, so it's not a huge deal, but certainly a consideration.
  4. Anything I'm missing that I should do?
Thanks!
 

Brad Johnson

Member III
I will try to take a picture of mine, I have anchor light, steaming light, foredeck light , and a coax cable for the antenna . I have rewired the mast and used a trailer plug since 1988, coax connector for radio antenna.
 

KS Dave

Dastardly Villain
Blogs Author
Thanks, Brad. I appreciate it.

I'll add a picture of the top of my mast - maybe the post on the rear is a remnant of an anchor light. Or maybe it's something else. Nothing happens when I flip various switches.

MastTopFront.JPG MastTopRear.JPG
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
That little post with only a bit of a lump on the top might be the remnant of a (non electric) "Windex". (?)
 

acubria

Member II
Dave, pls take lots of photos once you start the project. I also need to install an anchor light (maybe rewire the mast). Will do after this season. Would you think the hanging a 360 white light from the backstay , 15-20 feet high, would do the the trick for 1-2 nights at an anchorage? I really want to do an overnight stay in a few weeks and was very disappointed to realize that the boat has no anchor light !
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Strictly in the "for what it's worth" dept.... we have used an old Guest brand anchor light that we hang from the boom or forestay, off and on, for 20 seasons. Fresnel lens, and bright... and it will eat up a 6 volt battery pretty fast if you neglect to turn it off at dawn without fail. :(
 

KS Dave

Dastardly Villain
Blogs Author
I will try to take a picture of mine, I have anchor light, steaming light, foredeck light , and a coax cable for the antenna . I have rewired the mast and used a trailer plug since 1988, coax connector for radio antenna.
@Brad Johnson - were you ever able to dig up any pictures on this? I'm trying to figure mine out this week. Unfortunately I won't be able to drop the mast this season - too much going on, but I'd like to figure out as much as possible. From what I can see, there is a conduit in my mast and there appears to be a multi-conductor cable running to the top along with two antenna cables. There's some random wires that are hanging out of the hole where the steaming light was that all seem dead. All the same color, so I don't have a great way to determine which was what.
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
One bit of historical trivia-- when we rewired our spar this spring, we removed the OEM white plastic tube that carried the wiring. It had a hole in it for the wires to the steaming and foredeck light fixture to exit. It had also come loose from the old (and too few) rivets that were supposed to hold it against the mast wall. That piece of plastic had been thumping when the boat rocked back n forth... for many years.

Now we have two pvc tubes inside. One that goes to almost the masthead, and the other to the new foredeck and steaming light fixture. More rivets with less spacing between them. We also sized it so that both tubes extend a bit below the exit hole for the wiring that is under the headliner when the spar is stepped. This provides a "drip loop" so that a lot less water tries to enter the headliner area.
Like most 80's EY boats we have a Kenyon spar.
 

KS Dave

Dastardly Villain
Blogs Author
One bit of historical trivia-- when we rewired our spar this spring, we removed the OEM white plastic tube that carried the wiring. It had a hole in it for the wires to the steaming and foredeck light fixture to exit.
This is consistent with that I could observe. I didn't note the material, however. Plastic does make sense.
Now we have two pvc tubes inside. One that goes to almost the masthead, and the other to the new foredeck and steaming light fixture. More rivets with less spacing between them. We also sized it so that both tubes extend a bit below the exit hole for the wiring that is under the headliner when the spar is stepped. This provides a "drip loop" so that a lot less water tries to enter the headliner area.
This sounds like a really good idea. I have a deck-stepped mast, so as I understand, the connector has to be undone once you lift the mast a bit. I think having an access plate of sorts at the bottom of the mast would be beneficial as it would allow access to this mess without having to un-step the mast. No small feat where I'm located.

The wires enter the cabin in what seems to be above the ceiling in the head or maybe just outside the door? It's hard to tell. It is a little wet up there, though, I discovered. :( It seems poorly designed for the long-term.
 
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