Mast Wiring Disconnect - Best Practice?

[Mickeyrouse]

I should clarify: when I refer to “spade terminals”, I mean the fork type. Apparently “ spade” can mean more than one kind.

[Ratty1978]

I really like the Deutsch connectors. The have O-rings to seal out moisture and are worth buying the proper crimping tool (although for limited use an aftermarket brand in the correct configuration works). You can disassemble to realign which pin / socket is where. Drawback is the physical size of the connector fitting through holes in extrusion or deck. Maybe having three 2 pin connectors would fit (separately) where one 6 pin connector might not. Have used for about the same length deck stepped mast in fresh water (Great Lakes) but stepped and unstepped every season because the water gets hard (literally) in the winter and the boat is hauled.

Originally Posted by Wotname

What is latest (best practice) in mast wiring (bilge area) interconnection/disconnection methods?

It has been some time (2 decades ) since I last installed mast wiring and maybe best practice has moved on and passed me. I will soon be rewiring a 12m deck stepped mast with all the usual stuff - tricolour / anchor light / steaming light / spreader (deck) lights / radar / wind transducer / VHF etc. All cabling is routed through the deck step into the compression post and exists near the bottom of the compression post under the cabin sole.

In the past, I has always provided a disconnect close by the compression post using either good old fashion terminals strips (with ring terminals) or MS circular connectors (except for the coax - which used coax connectors obviously).

Is there something better these days, say auto style Deutsch connectosr or some such?

BTW, I sort of like the simplicity of terminal strips but if there is something much better, I got to keep current...

And - tooling and hand skills aren't an issue!

[ctconyplex]

Might look into CPC connectors. They're plastic/nylon, have a rubber gasket to keep the mating side sealed and have threaded glue lined heat shrink strain reliefs on the wire side. You're not going to do much better in terms of waterproof characteristics. You can also get gasketed caps to seal the ends when they're disconnected.

[s/v Jedi]

Alternatively, you can just let the environment get to the contacts and use heavy silver contacts to avoid corrosion.

Anderson rules for these and the problem is knowing if they are genuine or knockoff.

Here is some info: https://www.andersonpower.com/us/en/...urcesPage.html

And I verified that these are genuine: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0070RUJ0M

[Goodxcharly]

I just installed a radar with new wiring, battery and CAT 5 cable. Didn’t make sense to put the diconnects in the bilge water proof or not.
The current disconnects for lighting and mast head instruments were in the top of the bilge. I moved those to out of the bilge as I could pick up a few feet of slack to do so.
Still user friendly disconnects when un-stepping the
Mast on a haul out.

[tdgaffney]

Mustang Sally has a keel-stepped mast, stepped adjacent to the Nav Table. The mast electrical wires exit the mast about two feet above the step, with four feet of electrical "tail." This tail comes out from the mast, through a hole in the wall right near by, to a terminal strip under the Nav Table. Access is available from a 12x18 small door to the main cabin. The terminal strip is near that door, so instl and maintenance is easy.

[nofacey]

Connectors fail, especially anything not mil-spec; the fewer of them the better, plus one dissconnect every 5 years doesn't really require them.
- Coax gets a connector, everything else a self glued heat shrinked butt splice, all in an under the bunk protected area above (not in) the bilge.

[Mrcruisine]

Nothing has changed, your use of terminal strips is still the best and most reliable, the proviso is having it in a small box if located near the mast step. The main point is that terminations are in a dry location. This is covered in the upcoming 4th Edition of my book The Marine Electrical and Electronics Bible. While some methods in posts are valid I also prefer terminal strips as it makes circuit testing a lot easier as faults on mast lighting is common. I have just overhauled and refitted my own masts (ketch) and in addition to using quality deck glands take the circuits across above the headliner to a dry area to make the connections.

[RaymondR]

Given up on connectors and "waterproof boxes" and now solder and un-solder the wires and enclose them in plastic water pipe.

The image shows a radio antenna cable but when I have multiple cables I just stagger the joins and cable tie the bundle so they cannot short.

I've only been doing it a few years but have not had a connection failure or open circuit so far.

[Nineteen]

We ended up making all wires long enough to run the wires and more importantly coax connector to the radios and breaker panel.
Improved VHF range and connectios are secure.
Cheers

[alexvk2zal]

Since I have no intention of pulling the mast except to replace rigging and even in that case I may do that one at a time with the mast up next time. I recently ran all my wiring up to the electrical panel with no joins. I did this on a 38' yacht with all the connections you listed and it was not difficult ... high and dry connection area in bilge area is not practical on my yacht .. I'm very happy with the setup and peace of mind.

[Nineteen]

Originally Posted by alexvk2zal

Since I have no intention of pulling the mast except to replace rigging and even in that case I may do that one at a time with the mast up next time. I recently ran all my wiring up to the electrical panel with no joins. I did this on a 38' yacht with all the connections you listed and it was not difficult ... high and dry connection area in bilge area is not practical on my yacht .. I'm very happy with the setup and peace of mind.

Ours is a C380 as well. Pretty straightforward running everything to the Nav Station/AIS/VHF.

[The Yacht Rigger]

I like terminal strips for ease of testing/troubleshooting, but I like heat shrink butt connectors for minimizing corrosion, and long term solid connections.

[sinnerman]

Originally Posted by Wotname

What is latest (best practice) in mast wiring (bilge area) interconnection/disconnection methods?

It has been some time (2 decades ) since I last installed mast wiring and maybe best practice has moved on and passed me. I will soon be rewiring a 12m deck stepped mast with all the usual stuff - tricolour / anchor light / steaming light / spreader (deck) lights / radar / wind transducer / VHF etc. All cabling is routed through the deck step into the compression post and exists near the bottom of the compression post under the cabin sole.

In the past, I has always provided a disconnect close by the compression post using either good old fashion terminals strips (with ring terminals) or MS circular connectors (except for the coax - which used coax connectors obviously).

Is there something better these days, say auto style Deutsch connectors or some such?

BTW, I sort of like the simplicity of terminal strips but if there is something much better, I got to keep current...

And - tooling and hand skills aren't an issue!

The most important thing is keeping the connections out of the bilge water if possible.

As one post stated, make the pigtail long enough to do this. Also , the longer pigtail (extra wire) allows for replacing connectors in the future.

You have different cables : COAX (VHF), network (wind), then electrical (lights).

If I were doing it , I would route them into a watertight connection box . One box for electrical, 2nd for coax (RF signals...) 3rd for network.

ANCOR heat shrink butt connectors for the electrical connections. ANCOR makes male/female disconnect fittings (bullet connectors) as well)
https://defender.com/en_us/ancor-mar...3718&615=23446


My mast is deck-stepped and I had the wires re-routed to exit the mast above deck level then ran them through a deck mounted water tight connector ("clam"). That way, I could seal the hole in the deck t oprevent water incursion into the cabin (and ROT of the plywood core).

Cheers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XGI3MLhrpo

[Winf]

Originally Posted by Mickeyrouse

I should clarify: when I refer to “spade terminals”, I mean the fork type. Apparently “ spade” can mean more than one kind.

Dammit, why didnt i think of fork terminals when i did my rewire with rings. Would have made things so much easier many times over making the connections in tight spaces.

My workaround many times was a blob of butyl bed-it tape on the screwdriver head to hold the screw on and free up a hand.

Next time!