Can't get electrical wire to pass though mast

[zeilersailor]

Hello there,

I always use a thin line with a bicycle chain attached to it.
The chain is very flexible and has some weight. If the front end hits something, the rest wil bent over it and the weight pulls everything down.
Give it a try and good luck.

[Old Swampy]

I asked about whether the wires slap, because it indicates whether or no there is a bundle of wires going to the mast head that is restrained (connected a track with slugs) or otherwise damped by wrapping with some thing like foam pipe insulation. If you have bundled wires attached in a pipe or connected to a track, you would like to know on which side of the mast they are attached so that you can direct your efforts to another side.
Consider that there may be through bolts at the spreaders, and these can complicate matters as can internal halyards.

[exMaggieDrum]

OP, I can feel your pain! I used to tell customers that they could save half of my bill by pulling all the wires themselves but only about 1% took me up on that since they knew how hard it is. But masts are an order of magnitude worse than other situations. You do want to run wires in the channel/conduit provided for that if you mast has one. Would not want to wrap wire around halyards inside the mast.

The vacuum idea is something I never thought of or heard of in my years of pulling wire but can see how it could help in the right situation. But the air effects would be very localized and you would have to get the thread right near where you are sucking.

Which brings up the issue of knowing where you are with your fish, string, whatever. I can't imagine a long enough extendable fiberglass fish rod to work on a mast but that would be great as your helper could listen as to where the end is and then try to "imagine" what obstruction might be where and try to work around it based on that "info". The problem is that the farther away you are from the control end of the rod/string/whatever, the less effect you can make on changing direction of your probing.

Last resort is to take the stick down as noted by others above, and then look at improving/replacing all existing other wires at the same time. But - I have literally spent days (on my own boat) fishing lines through my mizzen mast and then finally got it. Persistence does not always work though.

If you do replace other wires, consider using a "signal" cable - a multi-wire cable with an insulation sheath for the masthead light circuits. It helps keep the rat's nest problem at bay.

[cabo_sailor]

When I got my boat the wire slap in the mast drove me crazy (that's why I'm still crazy).

I had the mast pulled and found two wire conduits that were empty, every wire was floating free. Had the riggers pull it all out and rewired with new wire through the conduits. When they restepped I used Spartite instead of the wood wedges.

It cost me more than I expected because of yard fees but it was well worth it.


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