Mast wiring slap

[brackish]

Just back from a road trip/cruise, mast is down, might be a good time to address the issue of wire slap inside the mast.  Has anyone used that method where you use cable ties every couple of feet, leave the tails on and alternate the orientation.  Any other methods that work.  Shoving pipe foam up the mast without taking the wiring out?

[Billy]

you could try some spray foam insulation, but not sure that would go into the mast far enough. And it might make a mess. In fact, I wouldn't try it. Zip ties sound good except you will need to take the wires out.

[capt_nemo]

Another method, if there are no interfering obstructions inside the mast, is to run all wires inside the smallest diameter PVC Pipe that will accomodate the wires, after first attaching the PVC Pipe (with rivets) inside the mast at several points.

Feed a weighted "messenger" line down an inclined mast first, to pull the wires down through the PVC Pipe inside the mast. Be sure to include another "messenger" line with the wires for any future use. It will always be there when you need it. If, for any reason, you want to feed the wires down one at a time, include a "messenger" line with each successive wire fed including the last one!

capt_nemo

[TedW]

Brackish,  I went to Home-Depot and bought a few foam water pipe insulators.They are about 2 inches in diameter and slit from top to bottom.  I then grabbed the mast wires and fed them through the insulators while pushing them into the mast.  I also tapped the ends as I put each one on so they wouldn't slip off.   This worked great and I haven't had a problem since.  Good luck.
TedW.

[TedW]

Just read my own post.  I didn't tap the ends, I "taped" them.  Sorry.  Anyway, no longer any complaints from my dock mates about noise from my boat.   I also put a couple of bungee cords on my running rigging.  My neighbor adjusts them if need be,  while I'm gone. There's nothing worse than that constant pinging when the wind picks up at 3 am and you can't get back to sleep.

[kchunk]

I did the zip tie method. Used 12" zip ties placing two at a time about every 18" or so. When I placed the pair of zip ties I left the tales on and 180 degrees apart. No slap from these. The problem with this is, obviously you'll need to remove the wires.

[Tim22]

Don't do the spray foam!! On my last boat the previous owner had done this unbeknownst to me.  When I had to add a new electrical run up the mast it was a nightmare getting the spray foam out. Eventually I had to pour acetone down the mast to disolve the foam while poking at it with an old whisker pole. Several days later I got it cleaned out.

When I ran the new wiring I used the tie wrap method and it worked great.

Tim22

[Bob23]

I confess to having wire slap inside the mast of my 23. I call it music, akin to halyard slap.
Bob23

[skip1930]

I don't think the foam is a good idea either. I like the zip~tie tails idea. But mostly all my wires inside the mast have been wrapped fully with quality 3-M PVC electric tape and that wad was stiff enough to just push from top down the 22 foot [about] length of the tube on my Com-Pac 19 with the top pulley assembly unscrewed and removed. Obviously all wiring comes out under the plug-in pulley assembly at top and out of the mast above the tabernacle.

I can't hear them slapping inside. But then again the wife says I'm deaf. I call it 'selective hearing'.

From my waterline to the top-o-antenna is 25 foot. Too high to make it under the downtown bridges in Sturgeon Bay.

skip.