Wiring Up an Anchor Light on the 26M

[Russ]

Nice work. Hole through the wire to feed pull string? I have to remember that trick.

14/2 is some hefty wire for such a tiny load. Marine grade so that is the right way to do it.

[Jimmyt]

Nice work. Hole through the wire to feed pull string? I have to remember that trick.

14/2 is some hefty wire for such a tiny load. Marine grade so that is the right way to do it.

Thanks!

Yeah, calculates to about 0.27% voltage drop for that distance. 14 is about as small as I like to run for stuff. It’s stout enough to take a bit of abuse without breaking.

[tuxonpup]

So I'm a big fan of convenience and having a permanent anchor light is an easy switch to flip. One night we were sitting in the cockpit anchored in a remote cove when we heard a boat approaching. The were headed right for us. My anchor light was on. They didn't see it because, I assume, it was high up and they weren't looking or thought it was a star. I grabbed flashlight and lit up out boat and I heard "There is a boat there".

My dad always had this lantern style anchor light because he felt mast lights look like stars. He would hang the lantern off the boom or some low place. I'm thinking that experience was affirming. In the future I may keep the mast top anchor light and some other low light that people might find easier to spot.

I'm headed up to Lake Powell later this week for our first splash of the season and will be dropping the mast for some jobs. Need to replace the VHF whip, add a Windex and replace the broken luff on the rolling furler. I thought about installing an anchor light while it's down, but decided in the end it would be safer to suspend a 360 degree light lower as it's 95% motorcraft on the lake and as you said, nobody is looking 30 feet up.
AZ regulation is the anchor light should be at least 3'3" above the running lights so now I'm pondering a good location near vessel center...

[NiceAft]

That’s long drive. Do you stay on your Mac, or are there places to stay in the area? As you can tell, I have never been there.

[tuxonpup]

That’s long drive. Do you stay on your Mac, or are there places to stay in the area? As you can tell, I have never been there.

Our 26X is stored at Wahweap dry storage, which is in the same park as the Wahweap Resort, Wahweap Campground, Wahweap Marina, Wahweap boat ramp, etc. Same access fee covers them all. So far we've stayed at the resort the first night, they have full boat trailer spaces in front, and then spent the following nights on the boat. This weekend will be the first night time temps over 50 degrees since November, so we'll probably get a room after the 6 hour drive, then splash the boat the next morning again.

[Jimmyt]

After I finished my chores, I got started on my new steaming light mount. I need more room in the mount to deal with my anchor light wire, wiring connections, and possibly the diodes. The stock mount is tight against the mast where the wiring exits the mast. I had to quit after a short time as the Admiral has guests coming tonight.

A few pics.

[Jimmyt]

Getting close. Diodes still haven’t arrived yet.

[NiceAft]

You’re doing amazing work, smile

[Russ]

Wow, that's a nice fit. Envious of talents.

So you are going to splice into the steaming light wire?

[Jimmyt]

Wow, that's a nice fit. Envious of talents.

So you are going to splice into the steaming light wire?

Thanks, Russ!

I’m going to put my diodes and connections inside of the new steaming light housing. Once I get the diodes, I’ll figure out how I’m going to put it all together so that it fits in the housing. Yes, the power will come from the steaming light wire. I’ll put the dpdt switch in the steaming light circuit, in the cabin next to the fuse panel.

[Russ]

I mounted the anchor light on top of the mast cap and wired in a diode under the cap.
The steaming light LED respected polarity, but my anchor light did not.
I don't remember where I got the diode. Probably cannibalized one from some old electronic device.

[Be Free]

Russ (and any other would-be wire pullers),

I used a washer on a piece of fishing line and a strong magnet while pulling new wire through the liner ceiling. I didn't trust the fishing line to be able to pull the actual wire so I pulled a smaller intermediate wire first, then pulled the actual #12 I wanted.

[Russ]

Russ (and any other would-be wire pullers),

I used a washer on a piece of fishing line and a strong magnet while pulling new wire through the liner ceiling. I didn't trust the fishing line to be able to pull the actual wire so I pulled a smaller intermediate wire first, then pulled the actual #12 I wanted.

I've seen this technique and tried it. No joy. The magnet would pull just so far and hit something. I REALLY REALLY wanted to pull a wire through the liner., It just didn't work out. So (Mac 26M) has that cable run in the head up to the space next to the dagger trunk. I used that to pull wire down into the "bilge" and then to where I needed it. I also simply ran wires (speakers) along the bottom of the interior liner under the windows, above the carpet to the aft.

It's not elegant but was the only way I could do it. The under windows liner route seems to fall out and I have to tuck it back under. Small price.

What I have in wires running forward is LED strip lights in the head and forward berth.

[Be Free]

Russ,
I had the same experience hitting stuff in the ceiling. Places that looked like they should be a straight shot sometimes had stuff in the way. I just kept trying different routes until I found one that gave me a (reasonably) straight pull for the wire I was running.

Sometimes it involved pulling out some of the plugs and running straight from one to the other. The whole run might not be straight but it was straight between access points allowing the wire to be pulled easily.

[Jimmyt]

Diodes came and I noodled through a plan to finish up the outside work. Soldered the connections together, then potted them in clear 5 minute epoxy.



A few minutes in, I was reminded that a thick blob of epoxy gets really hot. So, finished the cure under water. I was a little nervous about slow roasting my diodes.



Got it all hooked up and tested it with my 12 volt drill battery. Used 1/4” blade connectors for the hookups to the new “module”. Miraculously, it works fine. Now, I just have to add the switch to the interior wiring and we can call it done.