[Public-List] Frustrating Mast Wiring Issue on Alberg 29

[Glenn Brooks]

I was thinking the same thing. Dissolve the foam and run new wiring- with a harness to string additional new wiring at a future date. You could drill 1/4” or 5/16” holes through the mast at each blockage point and inject solvent directly into each block of foam. The problem with acetone is it will leave soggy lumps of residue. Not sure how to neutralize or remove what’s left…or even if this is an issue. Just something to consider.

Note- test a piece of foam outside the mast. Some foams are chemically resistant to acetone… you don’t want 1/2 gallon acetone sloshing around the middle of your mast- eating away at the wiring insulation or other needed stuff. 

 Btw, Whidby used horrible two strand brown speaker wire on mast head wiring on my A30 and elsewhere in the boat also. I think I used  a long run of small diameter PVC pipe-1/2” Od maybe 🤔, to run a new wiring leader up to the masthead- as the mast was lying horizontally on saw horses.  

I was younger then and these things seemed more like high adventure than they do today.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 22, 2022, at 2:21 PM, Anders Bro via Public-List <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> 
> I had the same issue in a 32' mast. All of the expanded foam was soaked
> with water, making it very heavy! I used a 2" diameter PVC pipe attached to
> a shop vac (or whatever conveniently fits the shop vac hose). It took quite
> a while to bash and loosen the foam and then suck it out, inches at a time.
> As I got 10' in, I needed to add additional lengths of PVC pipe. Sometimes
> I had to take out bolts that penetrated into the mast interior to allow the
> PVC pipe to pass the bolt/machine screw location. I vaguely recall having
> serrated the end of the PVC pipe to help dig out the foam.
> I hope this helps.
> Anders
> 
>> On Wed, Jun 22, 2022, 3:59 PM George Dinwiddie via Public-List <
>> public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Bill,
>> 
>> Ugh! Foam in the mast--how awful!
>> 
>> I can't imagine anything in the mast that you're likely to damage other
>> than the existing wires. The mounting bolts for the winches and
>> spreaders should be rugged enough.
>> 
>> I think as you try to punch through the foam, you're probably getting
>> more and more resistance. I wonder if you could fasten a garden auger
>> bit onto the end of your length of conduit, and using that to drill into
>> foam blockages and then pull out bits, a little at a time. Just a
>> thought, and not something I've done.
>> 
>> BTW, an easier way to keep the wires from slapping inside the mast is to
>> put a trio of plastic wire ties around the wiring bundle at intervals.
>> Put the tail of one wire tie into the hole of the next, and leave the
>> tails long. They'll push against the mast and hold the wires relatively
>> still against the side.
>> 
>>  - George
>> 
>> 
>>> On 6/22/22 12:31 PM, vinegar joe via Public-List wrote:
>>> Sorry to bother the Alberg 30 folks, but I'm hoping someone here will
>> have some insight into this aggravating problem.