Running Wires Down The Mast of a '78 Catalina 30

[eyevandrago]

Hi all - I own a 1978 Catalina 30 -- Standard Rig. The Steaming and Anchor Lights do not work. I climbed the mast thinking I could just change a bulb but with a volt tester figured out I wasn't getting power up there at all. I had a mechanic look at it and he confirmed I had good power at the switch board, and then traced the wires as far as he could before they went up into the headliner. He told me that to continue tracing the wires he'd either have to rip out the headliner or unstep the mast. Neither of these options sound appealing.

Here's my question: Should I be able to run new wires down the mast to the bilge, then back through the cabin to the switchboard? Is there anything inside the mast that is going to prevent the passage of new electrical wires? My friend who is an electrician and I are planning to go down on Saturday to attempt this, but I wanted to see if anyone could tell me if it's even possible before we tried.

Thanks everyone!

[Squidd]

If you can find the old wires in the base of the mast...you can tell if you lost power in the headliner or further up..

If you have power to the base, use the old wires to "fish" up the new... If you don't have power at base, leave the old wires in the mast (they're probably fine) and just run new from switch board to mast...

[eyevandrago]

The base of the mast where the mast meets the deck? Any tips on accessing this/getting inside there?

[Squidd]

I don't have a cat,but if the wires disappear into the headliner (as opposed to the bilge) I'd be looking where the mast goes thru cabin either on ceiling or up on deck...

Remove trim look for connectors...

[Squidd]

Might not hurt to look in bilge as well.. even though wires "dissappear" in the headliner, they may go to a bulkhead and then down to bilge/base of mast...