Clanking Cables Inside My Mast

frankmitchell · #1 (**permalink**) 03-13-2002

Everytime I''m in a quiet anchorage, the slightest movement sets off an obnoxious din of coax cable and wires clanking inside the mast of my Cal 29. I''ve heard that riveting a pvc tube inside the mast to run the cable through is the prevalent fix. This is a difficult procedure with lots of holes drilled into the mast (one for the rivet and one to grab the tube every few feet). Has anyone tried pulling the noisy cables out (on retrieval lines) and at every couple of feet, firmly attaching heavy zip-ties cut off to 12" tails that will act as a spring to hold the cable bundle against the inside of the mast? Another quickie solution has been said to be attaching blocks of foam either to the cable bundle or on a separate line to limit the space for the cables to swing around insdide the mast. I''m worried the quickie solutions may not work well, but I''m not thrilled with the hole drilling & riveting either. Does anyone know how well these work or know of other solutions?

scnicklefritz · #2 (**permalink**) 03-13-2002

Frank, I wonder if there would be some way to run a bead of caulking along one side of a pvc pipe and then get the whole thing to stay in exactly the same place on the inside of the mast untill the caulking hardened? It would be difficult to do this with a standing mast. Maybe you could heal the boat over at a dock while you tried this???
I''ve tipped a hobie 16 over at dockside to clear masthead problems, but a boat your size is a different thing.
Yea, riviting the thing would be a huge chore.
I would think that the constant slapping of the wires in the mast would eventually cause the insulation to wear or chafe through???
Interesting problem...

Wega24 · #3 (**permalink**) 03-13-2002

zipties work for me .... You need to take LARGE ones though and than I have cut the excessive length off. They are just a little longer than the mast is thick. Otherwise they seem to point down and will still slap.

Thorsten

gershel · #4 (**permalink**) 03-14-2002

Thorsten;WOW! What a great idea. I''m impressed. Thank you very much.
Marc

goduke · #5 (**permalink**) 03-15-2002

Not to state the obvious here but some of this noise is probably from the halyards inside the mast. Whatever you do be sure not to foul them.

svdragonseeker · #6 (**permalink**) 04-11-2002

The last time that I pulled the stick I ran a stainless wire up through it with short lengths of foam rubber attached to it every 3-4''. I have done this to other boats as well and it seems to work well.
SV