Mast Wiring

[Barnegut]

Hello,
My Mast has a tube with a slot running inside the mast. This is on a Pearson 33 circa 1970 & the mast is down. I want to run new wiring for the Spreader, Steaming, & Anchor Lights. I am being defeated by not being able to pull the wire from the combined Anchor & Spreader Light Bundle which is "hung" in the slotted tube. Is this bundle secured in some simple way? It appears to me that I have to remove the Mast Cap to find out what is going on. Stainless Steel Screws in 40 plus year old aluminum are effectively welded, so I would prefer not to drill out the screws.

[skipmac]

Might not be too helpful since my Pearson is a 1984 and also has no internal slot for the wires. I wanted to replace just the spreader lights but discovered all the wires were wrapped together: masthead, steaming light and spreader lights AND the VHF antenna coax. I was going to replace the coax anyway so I ended up pulling the whole mess and now it's done I'm glad I did.

Could it be you're dealing with the same issue?

You have probably already thought of this but just in case, when you do pull the wires make sure you attach a heavy cord or something to pull in behind the old wires and use that to pull the new ones back up. I actually pulled three, one from the masthead, one from the spreader lights and one from the steaming light. Made the rewiring pretty easy.

[hellosailor]

No real way to tell what was attached, or stuck, where or how. Or if a PO did something. Heck, the wires could have been dabbed in glue before they were run, you just never know what a PO did. Or tied together, and "stuck" where the steaming light is split off and secured.


I'd hit the screws with PBlaster, give it a half hour and do it again. Then come back with an impact hammer (one of the manual ones) and see if they budge. If not, get a can of freeze spray and see if they like getting iced down. And of course, wear goggles before using the impact hammer, metal splinters in the eye are NOT fun.


Or you could just try cutting the wires at the steaming light and seeing if the rest will pull either way, but that leaves junk in the mast & the need to run new ones if the old ones won't get clear.

[alctel]

PB Blaster + Heat. I bet you can get them out. Are they slotted? (of course they are)

[cabo_sailor]

I just replaced two cracked chain plates. I agree PB Blaster is great but even with blaster and the longest socket wrench I had, we couldn't budge those nuts. Depressing.

When some people are depressed they buy a new outfit or shoes or some such. When I'm depressed, I buy a new tool. 😎

I bought a 20 v Porter Wagner Li battery impact driver. Put a socket on it and the nuts came flying off. The guy helping me and myself had eyes as big as platters. What we were trying to do for 2 days took less than 10 minutes.
Sure helped my depression!!!

Just be sure the sockets and drivers are the right size or you will spend forever with a set of EZ Outs.

I'm using it now to assemble a set of patio furniture with 3 zillion nuts and bolts.

What was really surprising was how tiny the little rascal is

Rich

ps: first thing I had done to my boat after purchasing was to have the mast pulled and rewired. Turns out there were two wiring conduits and NEITHER was being used. Drove me nuts at night.

It cost me a bundle due to yard fees but some of the best money I spent.


Sent from my iPhone using Quantum Entagelment

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Barnegut.