Hi,
i am in Australia and have purchased a Catalina 36 MKII 2006yr.
I want to drill near the front mast section near the spreaders to drop radar cables down. Can anyone help me as i am asking the following.
1. Will the cables drop down inside the mast to the inside of the cabin, or will they stop where the mast meets to roof of the boat.
2 .Is there conduit inside the mast section, and when i drill the leadinf edge of the mast can i access the conduit etc.
Would appreciate some information or even photos.
Regards Paul
On my boat the PO did just that. The cable is just in there banging around! The noise is unbelievable. I understand there is a conduit that all cables should be run in. This the first thing that gets fixed when I pull the stick.
Chuck Lennox
97 MKii Ventura Ca
Island Girl Hull #1611
Paul - I ran wires several years ago - down the mast - outside the conduit. I installed the radar with the mast up and could not find a way to get the wiring into the conduit. I placed plastic zip ties in a star pattern every 4 feet to help with the banging. It works pretty well but with the right rocking motion I still get that loud banging mentioned. I think the mast will need to be down to get your wiring in the conduit and it may still be a challenge.
Unless the PO filled the mast somehow and your mast is keel stepped - the wire can fall to the base and be fished out there. I had to drill an addition hole in the mast base to allow the connector through.
_____________
Harold Baker
S/V Lucky Duck
Duncan Bay Boat Club
Cheboygan Michigan - Lake Huron
1989 C-36 mkI TR/WK M25XP
Another thing to think about is to mount a pole on the stern.I have a Garmin HD radar on a pole on the stern and it picks up objects great and if I have to work on the radar I can lower it I used a PYI seaview pole.Very easy to run wires and no noise
Bill Miller
S/V Lorraine
Pacific Northwest,Sound Sound
Grapeview,Wa
1990 Mk1
I have hull 1384, and I have a PVC conduit in the mast for the cables. When I relpaced my radar a few years back I had to run a new cable. It was a bit of a bear, but I got it done. I needed to enlarge the hole in the mast a bit and was able to get a zip tie around the cable connector to pull it out of the conduit. I would also highly recommend using cable pulling wax. Here is what I used: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Wire-and-Cable-Lube-Synthetic-Po...
Expect this to take a few sessions to get done and take your time. I think it is far better to have the cable in the conduit as opposed to having it loose in the mast with the halyards.
Ron St. Onge
C36 MKII Hull 1384
Ron St. Onge
1995 Catalina 36 MKII Hull 1384
Attached are a few pictures from when I did my electronics upgrade.
Ron St. Onge
C36 MKII Hull1384
Ron St. Onge
1995 Catalina 36 MKII Hull 1384
When you cut the hole in the mast try to line it up between the pop rivets that go up the mast. Use a very short pilot drill on your hole saw and remove the pilot when outer hole is established. When you get to the pvc don’t press hard on the drill or you may push the conduit off the pop rivets. Now you can feed your wires directly into the conduit and if careful haven’t damaged any insulation one the wires currently in there. If you damage the insulation liquid electricians tape should fix it.
I
on my Mk1 you have to pull themast to access the exit hole. It may be different for MK2’s
les
Les & Trish Troyer
Mahalo
Everett, WA
1983 C-36 Hull #0094
C-36 MK 1 Technical Editor.
Commodore
Another option to keep the hole saw from walking, even after you get the profile established (you are up the mast at the time after all) is to use a drill bit with a stop collar to drill the pilot hole, then replace your pilot bit in the hole saw with a piece of steel rod with a rounded off end (my pilots are all 1/4" so it was easy to work out) to keep the hole saw centered without the pilot chewing up wires. The electrician that showed me the trick used to just turn his pilot bit backwards when cutting into a crowded box or conuit.
Dan & Amanda Reed
1989 Catalina 36 #947 Miss America
Fin Keel Std Rig
FL Panhandle
Thanks so much, i have just joined and over whelmed by the support and info, as i am in Australia. All your info has helped me.
I am now proposing to remove the spreader light and feed power cables only for thr the new radar, no radar data cable required., Raymarime offer a radar with thin power cables that should drop in through the spreader mast conduit area. The new Raymarine Axiom chart plotter then WiFis to the new radome.
I will try this and post pics on website for future info,
cheers from Australia
Just bought a 2005 - and also updated the electronics to Axiom and wifi quantum radar, autopilot, AIS - everything... love the new electronics...
Installed the mast wires from a bosuns chair. In my case the radar was a replacement, so I cut the cable for the old radar and fed the power for the quantum radar down. You will see the rivets that hold the plastic conduit to the mast just off to one side slightly- I think it's about a 2" conduit - so you can drill a sizeable hole.
Also added a wind instrument, fed the wire down from the top of the mast. You'll find the conduit starts about 18" down from the top. I used a multi section fiberglass fish from Harbor freight as recommended somewhere on this site. 60+/- feet of 4' sections - you assemble them as you feed the wire.
You can remove the spreader light wire - use the existing wire as your fish and feed both the new radar cable and a new spreader light cable so that you can retain the spreader lights - and if the lights are not LED, change them to LED and use a smaller gauge wire - makes it easier.
As for the wire exit - look at the base of the mast near the head bulkhead, you should see the wires for the lights and whatnot. In my boat the factory lights were a small hole with wires leading out from the port side (kind of hidden). The previous owner drilled an additional hole in the front of the mast at the base for feeding the additional wires (large old radar cable!) and made it much easier. It's a decent size hole, but not visible with the vinyl mast cover in place.
Paul
In addition to the info you already have, have a look in the Technical Articles - Manuals Section of the C36 Website.
You'll find a diagram of the mast section with the intrernal conduits.
Also if you search "Mounting a Radome", there's a commentary on exaclty what you are trying to do.
Your plan is probably the best approach.
Peter Taylor Melbourne Australia. Altair #2227 2005 C36 Mk11
When we replaced my radar (1999 MkII hull #1810), the conduit was too tightly filled with wires to fit the new radar cable. To make more room, the technician removed the mulit-conductor cable from the masthead and replaced the conductors with individual wires. Quite a bit of work, and much easier to do on the hard with the mast down, but it worked!
Joe & Patti Worth
"Tehani"
1999 C36 MKII #1810
Atlantic Highlands, NJ