loose wires in mast
Arlobird
Hi there all you talented sailors,
Does anyone have any suggestions to tame the electrical wires inside the mast
of my Pearson 39? We just bought her and the previous owner had new stuff put
on the top of the mast and a lot of rigging work done, and now when she rocks
there is very loud clanging of the wires. We need an idea of how to tame them
but still have the choice to run new wiring or change wiring sucessfully. All
I can think of is the liquid foam, but that would ruin any chances of an easy
wiring repair if needed. Thanks for any input
Arlo...@aol.com
SV Bluebird
Brian Grant
One solution is to run a conduit through the mast and install the wiring
through there. Another is to use the cylindrical foam insulation for
water pipes and force it up. The foam will fray and decay over time as
rubbed by halyards.
FREE66
Howzabout PVC pipe? Drill a small hole in mast every two feet or so, reach in
and snag pipe with a bent clotheshanger wire, pull it tight up to the inside
wall of mast and while it's there drill another hole an inch or so away and pop
rivet the pipe to inside of mast. Then remove wire and pop rivet original hole.
You'll then have to climb mast and rereeve the electric wiring. Tie a strong
cord to a motorcyle or bike chain (the chain helps to wriggle it around
obstructions), drop the chain down the mast, have somebody retrieve the chain
at or near base. Tie and tape the cord to your wiring and pull it through.
I saw a guy once tie two strips of closedcell foam to his mast wiring, making
an X a little bigger than diameter of mast with plastic wire ties. Did it about
every five feet. Claimed that this would keep the wires in the middle away from
the inner wall of mast. Don't know how it worked out though.
I would advise against spraying foam in there. It will decompose and make a
mess for years. Also will hold water. And it weighs a lot. And what if you need
to replace or upgrade sometime down the road? Good luck.
Mike Freeman
GOOSE
J. Cadien Johnson
> Arlobird wrote:
> >
> > Hi there all you talented sailors,
> > Does anyone have any suggestions to tame the electrical wires inside
> the mast
> > of my Pearson 39? We just bought her and the previous owner had new
> stuff put
I'd heard of making a "spider" of wire ties to keep the wire harness
centered. This is not easy to do - I tried it; but neither is attaching
a conduit to the inside with rivets - I tried that too. Both are much
easier to do and undo that removing urethane foam - I have done that
also. I did not try cutting up a plastic milk jug and attaching the
plastic disks along the wire to act as "centralizers" but I might try
that next time I run across this problem. Whether a centralizer or a
spider of wire ties - these fixes make pulling a single wire impossible.
Good luck.
Nicola Taylor
Arlobird wrote:
>
> Hi there all you talented sailors,
> Does anyone have any suggestions to tame the electrical wires inside the mast
> of my Pearson 39? We just bought her and the previous owner had new stuff put
> there is very loud clanging of the wires. We need an idea of how to tame them
> but still have the choice to run new wiring or change wiring sucessfully. All
> I can think of is the liquid foam, but that would ruin any chances of an easy
> wiring repair if needed. Thanks for any input
> Arlo...@aol.com
> SV Bluebird
S'easy. Drill out the rivets from the shoe at the foot of the mast,
remove shoe, slide foam insulating tubes up offending cables, refit shoe
and re-rivet. If it needs doing again in five years or so, do it again!
Good luck
Derek Taylor
--
Home page - http://freespace.virgin.net/nicola.taylor/anbothan.htm
Toolowd
Drill hole in the mast about 3" apart. Then take cable tie poke it through on
hole to the outside of the wires. Take stiff wire and make a loop(dont fold too
tightly) stick middle of the loop through other hole. capture cable tie in
loop. pull through. connect cable tie. Slide the part that connects them into
hole. Move up do it again, and again, and again, and again.........
this way internal halyards will still work
Rich
Eric Beaumont
Arlobird wrote:
>
> Hi there all you talented sailors,
> Does anyone have any suggestions to tame the electrical wires inside the mast
> of my Pearson 39? We just bought her and the previous owner had new stuff put
> on the top of the mast and a lot of rigging work done, and now when she rocks
> there is very loud clanging of the wires. We need an idea of how to tame them
> but still have the choice to run new wiring or change wiring sucessfully. All
> I can think of is the liquid foam, but that would ruin any chances of an easy
> wiring repair if needed. Thanks for any input
> Arlo...@aol.com
> SV Bluebird
fitting from the mast and push up three or four shuttlecocks - the
plastic ones, at different heights. They will allow cables to be
replaced and the joints should slide through the "skirt".
--
Eric Beaumont
Willow
Ipswich UK
(Remove .xx for e-mail)
Tom Timmons
The easiest way to resolve this is to pull the wiring out and wire tie it every 6
inches or so with a 8"-10" length wire tie. DO NOT cut off the tails of the wire
ties. Pull the wiring, ties and all into the mast. The tails of the wire ties
hold the wiring away from the mast and keep things quiet. Doesn't need to be done
every 5 years, the good quality wire ties will last nearly forever, doesn't require
that you drill any holes in the mast or fasten anything in. If you like, you and
attach the wire ties in threes an the tails stick out in three different directions
to hold the wiring, quietly, in the center of the open mast space. I tried it last
year on the CAL25 rig on my wooden sloop, and it quieted things right down.
Tom in Saginaw
Martin
Toolowd wrote:
> Slide the part that connects them into
> hole. Move up do it again, and again, and again, and again.........
and finally plug the holes!
Dave Hord
Arlobird <arlo...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19980312155...@ladder03.news.aol.com>...
> Hi there all you talented sailors,
> Does anyone have any suggestions to tame the electrical wires inside the
mast
> of my Pearson 39? We just bought her and the previous owner had new
stuff put
> on the top of the mast and a lot of rigging work done, and now when she
rocks
> there is very loud clanging of the wires. We need an idea of how to
tame them
> but still have the choice to run new wiring or change wiring sucessfully.
All
> I can think of is the liquid foam, but that would ruin any chances of an
easy
> wiring repair if needed. Thanks for any input
> Arlo...@aol.com
> SV Bluebird
>
I lowered my mast, added long thin strips of foam ( water pipe insulation)
and that took care if it. But, I have a 25 foot mast and use a simple
method
I devised with a winch and short line, and the jib halyard to raise and
lower it.
Yours may not be that easy to lower, so, the best advise would be to climb
the mast, remove the head cap, and start stuffing. Sounds like fun, EH?
Good luck and good sailing.
(for pics and text of the mast raising system :
http://members.tripod.com/~DaveHord/)
Edward O'Rourke
Here is one more solution that I used on my J36 with excellent results and LOTS
less work than some of the other proposals mentioned:
Get from a hardware store some of the split foam tubing used to insulate hot water
pipes. This is a closed foam and usually comes in 4 or 5 foot lengths with a split
running down the length so you can fit it over pipes. It is about 2 inches in
diameter. Next, take your bundle of wires as they come out of the mast base
(obviously the mast needs to be off the boat to do this), and put them inside the
foam tube. At intervals of about 1 foot, use duct tape to "seal" the foam tube
containing your wires by wrapping circumferentially (keeps the wires from falling
out of the split in the foam). Just keep pushing the foam tubes up the mast one
after the other until you hit some sort of obstruction you cannot get past. You
don't really need to get the foam tube all the way to the top of the mast. Half
way will make a huge difference. Make sure you have not blocked any sheves etc.
The wires are still technically loose in your mast but when then swing around the
foam will "hit" the mast walls and make no noise. Worked perfectly for me. Good
luck.
Elaine Little
J. Cadien Johnson wrote in message <35085881...@concentric.net>...
>> Arlobird wrote:
>> >
>> > Hi there all you talented sailors,
>> > Does anyone have any suggestions to tame the electrical wires inside
>> the mast
2 yrs ago I unstepped the mast and rewired. I ran all of the wire inside
sections of the foam plumbing insulation, about every 6ft I attached a
tennis ball using the nylon ties that you use to bundle wires etc. I cut 2
small holes ( really just stabbed them with a knife) slipped the nylon ties
thru and then around the foam tubing. After that I wrapped all of the foam
with electrical tape. Nice and quiet, an occasional dull thud when it's
really rough, but hardly noticeable.
Elaine Little
S/V Blue Dolphin
Vaughn
Tom Timmons wrote:
>
> The easiest way to resolve this is to pull the wiring out and wire tie it every 6 inches or so with a 8"-10" length wire tie. DO NOT cut off the tails of the wire ties. Pull the wiring, ties and all into the mast. The tails of the wire ties hold the wiring away from the mast and keep things quiet.
>
little negative If it doesn't work or you don't like.
Ralph Mudge
Tim
FWIW... We used a slight modification of this technique when rewiring the
mast of our Cal-27.
Wire tie a large sponge about every 5 feet. The sponge keeps the wires away
from
the inside of the mast, to minimize any clanging...
Ralph Mudge wrote in message <350BF0...@pop3.frontiernet.net>...
Robert Bethune
OK, we have the wire-tie solution for keeping in-mast wiring quiet. Now,
how do you keep halyards that run inside the mast quiet and contented?
--
-------------------------
Robert Bethune
Freshwater Seas (http://www.freshwaterseas.com), serving those who sail in
Great Lakes waters.
Ann Arbor, MI
"The more you know, the more you can imagine."(TM)
Tim <tfh...@bellatlantic.net> wrote in article
<6eh5or$i...@world6.bellatlantic.net>...
John Matott
I haven't had much luck at that. The new high tech lines don't stretch
much, so that could be a solution for you. Earplugs is another one, though
I always get a little restless when a sensor is cut off.
Time ago, halyards were lead outside the mast. I think that's the best
place for em.
Al Gunther
In article <01bd51fe$6ffc7140$8c68...@rbethune.dundee.net>, "Robert
Bethune" <reply.in....@please.net> wrote:
> OK, we have the wire-tie solution for keeping in-mast wiring quiet. Now,
> how do you keep halyards that run inside the mast quiet and contented?
You can sometimes quiet them by giving them either slack or more tension,
if slack doesn't work. I usually don't notice until I'm already
comfortable down below, so I just imagine that if I was home, I wouldn't
be hearing it. It's just one of the sounds of being on the boat. Once I
decided it was a reminder that I was where I wanted to be, I seldom notice
it anymore. Of course, I don't think this actually happened until after I
retired.
--
Al Gunther, Kingston, WA <---- 47° 52.7'N, 122° 30.9'W
Please remove the "X" in my return address to reply.
John Matott
That's a great way of looking at things, Al. My wife and I are going
through living hell trying to get our business affairs wound down before the
hull fabricator is done with Shenanigan, so that we can devote our full
attention to finishing her. I think an evening never passes without our
saying "remember...this is what we wanted to be doing".
David Spear
I've had the same problem with my recently-purchased CS-27... I posted a similar
request to this newsgroup several months ago. Among suggestions were: install 5
cable ties, close together, with the ends sticking out at different directions,
like spokes on a wheel, around all the wires inside the mast at periodic
intervals. This assumes that you can take the wires out, tie them, and put them
back in. In my case, what I did was do them at the top after removing the spin
halyard sheave to gain access, then pull them really tight at the bottom, tying
them with a riveting cabletie, which I then riveted next to one of the halyard
access openings in the mast. It made a huge difference, although when it's REALLY
windy at nite the wires still make some noise. 1000% better, though.
Arlobird wrote:
> Hi there all you talented sailors,
> Does anyone have any suggestions to tame the electrical wires inside the mast
Philip Hawkes
In article <6en9g1$5...@dfw-ixnews6.ix.netcom.com>, John Matott
<jo...@shenanigan.com> writes
could fill the mast with polystyrean balls of about 3mm dia., the stuff
used to fill bean bags.
Thay are very, very light, dont retain water, and will stop the wires
banging around.
All the best.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~|
Philip Hawkes /|\
/ ||\
Email ph...@thorpmod.demon.co.uk / || \
/ || \
Tomahawk 25 /____|| \
______||____)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(_Sioux __/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
// / /
/__/
Jerry Ewing
Another suggestion I heard was to slide those water toy tubes into the
mast, which has the added advantage of displacing enough water so the
mast wouldn't fill in the event of a broach.
Jeffrey M. Stander
Well I have one more method which I have just thought of and tried in our
59' mast. This is if the mast is off the boat and horizontoal on horses. I
used PVC conduit or Sched 40 water pipe to contain the electric wires.
Blobs of 5200 are deposited on the pipe every 18" or so. I shove it up the
mast until it is in place and then roll it over so the mast sits in the
blobs of adhesive. Once it is set it is there forever. Make sure that no
halyards, etc get trapped in the glue. I did it with the wires in place
with my partner keeping tension, but it could be done with a mouse line in
place as well (or fish a line later on).
Jeff Stander
jsta...@anzus-technology.com
Ed Wagner
Permanency of any kind inside of mast is inviting undoable and irremediable
trouble.
If you want to quiet mast wiring, suggest as alternative:
Acquire old tennis balls, cut slot in each ball and insert wiring through the
balls. Space each ball about each 2 feet. Compression of ball on wiring will
prevent it from moving. If one has internal halyards, no hang ups. Quiet. Easily
removable to add, change or to replace wiring.
Matt Koch
Another thing that works is to use water pipe insulation. This stuff is
closed cell foam and is available in 4' lengths at your local Home Depot.
Run the wires inside the insulation ans presto, peace and quiet.
Matt
Ed Wagner wrote in message ...
Philip Hawkes
In article <yKX51.340$zk7.6...@news4.atl.bellsouth.net>, Ed Wagner
<anch...@bellsouth.net> writes
>Permanency of any kind inside of mast is inviting undoable and irremediable
>trouble.
>
>If you want to quiet mast wiring, suggest as alternative:
>
>Acquire old tennis balls, cut slot in each ball and insert wiring through the
>balls. Space each ball about each 2 feet. Compression of ball on wiring will
>prevent it from moving. If one has internal halyards, no hang ups. Quiet. Easily
>removable to add, change or to replace wiring.
Shuttle-cocks work even better.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
~~|
Philip Hawkes /|\
/ ||\
Email ph...@thorpmod.demon.co.uk / || \
/ || \
Tomahawk 25 /____|| \
______||____)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(_Sioux __/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
// / /
/__/
Dawn & Tom
I have used plastic tie wraps spaced in a triangle, every few feet along
the wire. They bend as they go in the mast yet help the wire stand off and
not slap in side. Another advantage to tie wraps is that they do not get in
the way of internal halyards.
--
Dawn & Tom
S/V Hylas 44 "Warm Rain"
Seattle
Philip Hawkes wrote in message ...
Richard Misiurak
I had my mast unstepped, 2 25' lengths of PVC installed, and ran my cables
through the PVC. I can now sleep at night. I tried various others methods in
an attempt to not remove the mast but none of them worked.
Rick M. Endeavour37