Anchor light working A25

[Dieselram94]

Just a quick question. Does anyone know where the wires for the anchor light and steaming light come out under the windshield? I need to replace all these wires in the spring when I mount the new wood mast I made for it. It’s covered up for winter right now so not easy to look it over.
Thanks

[dkirsop]

Directly beneath the mast mount under where the ceiling light for the wheel house is mounted. Under your mast, there is a terminal block tucked into a recess so you can disconnect and remove the mast from the mount. Disconnect the wires here and then remove the mount. You will see the hole in the roof and probably a lot of sealant. Remove the overhead light in the cabin and pull the wire through.

The wires are set in a small conduit that is laminated between the exterior and interior ceiling surfaces. Here comes the fun part. For each wire, solder the new wire to it before removing the old wire in the conduit. The idea is to pull in the new wire as you remove the old one. You can probably see the bundle of wires in the lower starboard corner of your windshield where they go down to the electrical panel. Gently prod, poke and pull at the individual wires until you find the one you need to pull through. Liberally coat the new wire with a pulling lubricant before start to pull it through. Then start to pull out at the corner while pushing in at the cabin light as well as pushing the slack down towards the electrical panel as work progresses. The conduit is tightly packed and there are wires for the wipers, cabin light and possibly fans in there. If things get bound up pull it back a bit and forward again until it frees up.

Use a wire diameter closest to what already exists, possibly 18ga. for the lights, there is no room for a larger size.

Where the wires pass through the roof is a leak point and it took several attempts to seal this before success was achieved. Use a non-adhesive sealant so you can remove it if you have to at a later date.

Good luck!

[Dieselram94]

Awesome!!!!!
Thank you for that info!!!
Can’t wait to dig into that wiring in the spring hen I remove the cover. I’m hoping to replace as much wiring in this boat as is feasible.

Here is a pic of the new mast, it will have separate anchor and steaming lights. Both being led of course. Right now it’s on it’s fifth coat of varnish. That’s why it’s hanging like it is.

[WillieC]

When I get around to it I plan on running a new exposed conduit that will take real wires. Nothing a little paint or trim can't hide.

How hard would that have been to do originally? Even our beloved A25s evidently had a "price point". (I haven't been able to make any of my wires in the original raceway even budge. Then one broke. Time's up! New conduit!)

I still have steaming light, but lost the anchor portion. I use the Davis portable light with photocell for my anchor light. Easy to use, low draw LED and it works perfectly on my mooring. And I don't have to turn it off every morning.

[DesertAlbin736]

Here you go Rick...

roundtuit.jpg

[dkirsop]

I have attached some photos to give context to my previous comments. I did my rewiring before joining this forum and did not take a lot of pictures. Like you, my boat is under wrap right now and even though we have no snow and it is in my yard things are kind of wet and muddy so I am waiting for better conditions before going inside. Next time I am in I will take some shots that may give you some ideas for your project.

Rewired.jpeg

Bridge Update.jpeg

The thick cable you can see running along the top of the windshield and also back along the bottom is for my radar.

The European wires have a smaller overall diameter and occupy most of the space in the glassed in conduits. The good news is that with LED lighting the amperage draw is almost non-existent so you can safely use 18ga. for for running wires to your lights. This is a good time to plan your project by developing a wiring diagram for the installation. Which reminds me that I have to revise my diagram to include a couple of upgrades I have since installed!

Wiring Diagram.jpeg

This will give you time to think about arrangements and spare capacity. When I took the old wires out I found some spectacularly burnt splices from the additions and modifications made by previous owners. Albin never envisioned the electrical loads that would evolve over the years.

[WillieC]

My wiper wiring is suspect as well, something else to deal with when you figure out access.

On a related note. My mast is "fixed", hard mounted, and I need to unfix it so I can fix it. (It is affixed to a wood plate that screws to the BC hardtop.) Could some of you snap a pic of your mounting fixture so I can get some ideas how to copy it? I'll just weld something up and paint it. Also, how do your wires reach the lights? Mine used to run down the middle of the mast which made for a leaker, at least on the WillieC.

Of course, the BC hardtop sits on top of the original Albin lid so that also complicates getting wiring to the mast. I want to make all this semi-detachable so I can at least have the possibility of "easily" removing the hardtop. You can begin to see my love/hate affair with the hardtop. Take my grab rails, please! They are screwed to the hardtop...wait for it...before the hardtop is installed. Inaccessible for rebedding or removing or splitting into kindling.

But I do love the hardtop...sorta.

[Plum76]

I had a hell of a time replacing that harness in the windscreen, I tried to pull back a few pull strings with the old wires, but the interior finish was really rough, so pulling in new wires was a pain. I ended up opening a hole to the 'conduit' in the upper helm-side corner of the windscreen, as that transition was especially difficult to navigate with new wires. Then I could pull from the center to the corner, then re-feed it straight down to the helm. My plan is to make that access permanent, clean up and seal the edges, maybe a simple cover. My future self (or any future owners) will appreciate that..

I did a dedicated ground to the mast assembly, a dedicated ground to the port side nav light, an extra dome light feed to the center, and I refed my wiper motor too, while I was pulling new wire. My wiper motor doesn't seem to work on the 'park' feature, so it's just on/off with a fused switch in my main panel..

Jason

[Dieselram94]

Thank you for the replies everyone! Sounds like pulling new wires is going to be interesting! But I’m still looking forward to getting this done.

[NickScheuer]

Hi dkirsop! Does your wire diagram show the circuit for the windscreen wiper switch? If so, I would like to obtain a copy if possible. I cut mine out too early (and too short) when I embarked on my conversion to circuit breakers instead of fuses. Now the WW are the last thing that needs to be connected thru the breakers and I can't remember the details. I see three wires to each ww motor, which goes along with the two-speed motors, and the wires to each are easy to see from motors, down the starboard side, to the space under the dash. I did not cut away the ignition and instrument wires as they will continue to be fused. The new wiring was rerouted quite a lot as the circuit breakers are mounted on the swing door instead of where the original fuse block is located.

[dkirsop]

Click on the diagram so it is bigger and then look to the top. My wipers are single speed with a 'park' feature. The positive lead from the fuse box goes directly to the + connection on the wiper motor. The 'S' lead from the motor goes to the dash mounted wiper switch which controls the ground connection for starting. The '-' is a direct connection from the internal park switch in the motor to ground that parks the blade before killing the connection.

[NickScheuer]

Thanks for the outline. I can see everything on your diagram by enlarging it. I've actually only used the wipers once in the rain on a cruise. Maybe mine have a park feature instead of two speeds.

[tribologist]

Just a quick question. Does anyone know where the wires for the anchor light and steaming light come out under the windshield? I need to replace all these wires in the spring when I mount the new wood mast I made for it. It’s covered up for winter right now so not easy to look it over.
Thanks

What happened to the cables? I was able to splice in new cables just where they came out.

[Dieselram94]

Just a quick question. Does anyone know where the wires for the anchor light and steaming light come out under the windshield? I need to replace all these wires in the spring when I mount the new wood mast I made for it. It’s covered up for winter right now so not easy to look it over.
Thanks

What happened to the cables? I was able to splice in new cables just where they came out.

Looks like years of neglect and half done repairs. Also the power is not getting through. So I figure the boat is approaching 50 years old, so I will end up replacing every wire in it I’m sure. Can’t wait until spring.

[Plum76]

That's what I did, no confidence in aging wiring being reliable after a good splice even.

My wires exit the windshield frame forward/starboard corner of the helm and pass through to the panel below, I have about an inch of space between the exit of the frame and pass-through on the helm.

At least now I have confidence there's nothing questionable between the fuse/breaker panel and the destination, no splices in there!

JP

Just a quick question. Does anyone know where the wires for the anchor light and steaming light come out under the windshield? I need to replace all these wires in the spring when I mount the new wood mast I made for it. It’s covered up for winter right now so not easy to look it over.
Thanks

What happened to the cables? I was able to splice in new cables just where they came out.

Looks like years of neglect and half done repairs. Also the power is not getting through. So I figure the boat is approaching 50 years old, so I will end up replacing every wire in it I’m sure. Can’t wait until spring.