gutta
New Member
Posts: 7 
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Post by gutta on May 10, 2019 15:47:05 GMT
Good evening Sirs,
I’m about to install a radar on my 40ds and wuold like to be sure not to demage the mast by drilling the 16mm holes (13mm for the cable plus 3mm for the grommets), at the base and between the two spreaders, just over the deck light.
How may I minimize the risk of cracking the aluminium (thickness unknown) by drilling such big holes?
I also wonder if I will be able to pass the cable: maybe samoebody knows if there is a conduit in the mast |
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Post by MalcolmP on May 10, 2019 15:53:48 GMT
Worth phoning or emailing www.zsparsuk.com/They are very helpful and should be able to advise on both questions |
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Post by ianpowolny on May 10, 2019 16:32:37 GMT
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Post by cpetku on May 18, 2019 11:36:49 GMT
I have a 40DS as well and have previously dropped the mast for service as well as replaced cables in-situ. The cross-section pointed to by others is correct with a generous raceway in the front for managing cables and internal halyards. No risk of hitting the sail when drilling directly from the front of the mast, but be aware of the internal halyards.
Once upon a time I tried snaking a new TV antenna cable down the mast by attaching it to the old damaged cable and pulling from the base of the mast. It broke mid-way down. I pulled both ends out then tried to run a fish tape to pull the replacement cable. This was difficult with the fish tape getting hung up on other items. In my case, the original owner had used wrap around pipe insulation on cables to prevent noise at anchor and this is what caused the fish tape to keep getting hung up. Ultimately I dropped the mast to run the new cable and change the Anchor light fixture at the same time (the spring finger in the base went bad making for an intermittent connection.
I never considered that I could crack the spar when drilling to affix Z-SPars options for a whisker pole. I would just drill slow with a new bit. Like everyone else said, Call/e-mail Z-Spars if you have a concern, they are very helpful.
My only issue with the Z-SPars website is it shows my boat should have a 480 boom but what is installed appears to be a 3XX series (learned that by ordering sheaves for castings based on the search engine stating I had the 480...). When ordering replacement parts for castings, verify the part number of the casting first. You may also want to order a spare boom car (or at least bearings) as this is a wear item that will eventually need service.
Hanging from a halyard for 30+ minutes while fishing an old raydome cable is no picnic, but I've done it. In my case, the FAT 16+ conductor cable failed within days of drilling into the mast to add a whisker pole. The cable had no apparent damage, but the radar stopped working. Assuming you are installing a current generation radar the cable should be much easier to handle.
If you are installing a RayMarine system, I highly recommend running both a power and data cable and don't rely on Wifi. Experience in our marina showed the WiFi communications between the plotter and dome to be unreliable (but it did work on the open water).
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gutta
New Member
Posts: 7
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Post by gutta on May 29, 2019 17:09:05 GMT
Thank you very much for yuor contributions. I emailed Z-Spars and they kindly and promptly answered that there is no problem in drilling a 16mm hole in the front of the mast (and that larger holes are not recommended)
Nevertheless, I decided to avoid drilling the upper hole, by passing tha cable in the existing hole between the lower spreaders. My eye can stomach the one meter cable running along the mast, between the antenna and the spreaders.
The "Scandinavian way" never convinced me, both for the risk of radiation on the crew and for the radar view (although I have no scientific awareness on this).
Yes it's a Raymarine system with both power and data cables.
I've been thinking a lot about this work... but not enough to consider that it would have been more convenient to install the whisker pole rail first, that is may next work!
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