Masthead Light Wiring
NORMAN JOHNSON (NBARD@worldnet.att.net)
Tue, 22 Jun 1999 00:59:15 -0700
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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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All:
I too suffered with clanging wire through the night and took the advise
of a fellow P-19 sailing buddy: removed the base casting and all the
cross bolts from the horizontal mast to start, followed by filling the
mast with plastic popcorn, the stuff used for packing. After a couple
of hours trying to poke it to the head end with a long rod, which
resulted in snagging every burr along the way, I found that a handful at
a time zoomed to the far end with a blast of air from the shop vac.
Filled the last 15' in less than 1/2 hr. Everything was reassembled and
the next overnighter was nice and quiet.
If I were going to silence the wires again, I would go with the injected
foam. There are three sets of 3/8" bolt holes and some smaller screw
holes available for spot injection, just enough to tack everything in
place.
Oh, BTW, there are no intermediate fastenings for these wires between
the two ends. Also, check for insulation wear at the sharp edges of the
wire hole drilled through the masthead cap. Both P-19s that I have
checked have had wire insulation cut through to the conductors.
The pool noodles approach sounds like a winner too, but I think you will
still have to remove all the screws to get the sections to slide the
full length of the mast extrusion. The sheet metal screws and drill
burrs really like to snag everything.
Hope my experience helps.
Bard Johnson
P-19
San Jose, CA