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well we have spent the last 3 weekends running down wires and removing wires that were just cut and go nowhere. As my friend says this is a cobbled up mess pieced together with tape. He thinks it would be safer if we rewire the whole boat. Has anyone ever done that. so many questions!
1. There is a little antenna on top of the mast this has a cable/coax that is in one piece is that for the vf radio
2. I have a white radar ( I believe) It has a cable about the size of your thumb that comes all the way to the panel.The end was cut off, is this still good. Can a new end be installed and reused.
3. The light halfway up the mast. One shines down and one shine out are these separate lights I looked for a new one and its 49.99 see pic 1 (light shining down is spreader light. light shining out is the anchor light???)
4. bow and stern lights were easy to find with led only 16.99
5. is it possible to rewire the mast while it is standing?
6. Does the engine panel have any wires that are connected to the main panel.

If I have to rewire the entire boat I'm not sure if I will be able to splash next spring.

Thanks Ben I'm googling already

does anyone have a part number to fuse caps I checked catalina direct but didn't come up with anything, In the picture Im missing 2 of the caps.

I am guessing that the connector that is on the floor is so you can take the mast down. I am trying to figure out how I can find out if the lights work without going up the mast. I think I might be able to use the ladder that I get up onto the boat with and try leaning against the mast to check the lightbulbs that are just below the spreaders.

Do you mean the blue plastic little squares it looks like where wires are spliced together. we noticed that when the were wiggled the lights flickered.
when I turned on the navigation switch the depth gauge showed a MSD on it and the wind gauge showed a 12 on it. I don't know what MSD means will lights turn on the engine dash light up or is everything on that dash operated by the motor.
I am guessing that the small lite bulbs I found that was wired with speaker wire is some thing for the engine dash.
I took a picture of one of the light bulbs do they make led light bulbs in that style?
Is there a place I can buy the caps to the fuses I'm missing 2

I wanted to start a separate topic and not ad on to my previous thread that way if someone was searching for lights.
Because I know very little about electric, I am learning as I have a friend that is an electrician for over 40 yrs. For the last two weekends all we have done is trace down wires and try to figure out where they go. For an update on my last topic my friend said that the connectors that I bought he would have no problem using them for exactly what I did connect lights, as for the rest he feels more comfortable using crimp connectors and shrink wrap. This is what we are using.
Now for the questions, I asked people in the yard and it seems not all boats are the same. They actually told me to ask someone that has a catalina.
So far we have been able to get the cabin lights and the stern light.We worked for hours on the bow light checking the bulb to make sure it would turn on, with no success. today I opened the anchor locker and found the wires to be disconnected.Picture 1 is what I found.
When I was trying to get the stern light to work I thought I had the right wire but  it was the wire to the second picture. I think that is a cigaret lighter The PO cut the stern light and scabbed a piece of extension cord, and left it disconnected.
If I turn on the steaming switch which lights should I expect to see turn on I am guessing that the stern and bow is there any other light that should be added to that switch?
My next question is there is a grey sheaved wire with three red wires in it at the back of the panel that all had been cut. we traced that wire to the mast. see picture 3, but the wires change color and then it goes to two wires We have not been able to get any of the lights on the mast to work. Im not sure if I have a light on the very top of the mast but there is a light just below the spreaders and I think it faces out and down.
Anchor light = light on top of mast
spreader light = light just below the spreaders on mast.
Steaming lights = bow and stern lights

Do I have the above correct
the last picture is of the back of the panel after we cleaned up the miles of speaker wire that was added to the panel

Well I knew there would be some things on the boat I wouldn't be comfortable doing The electric was the first thing. Plumbing was the second but with doing things in pex made things a lot easier.
The electric I brought in a pro. That is one nice thing about running job sites is there is always someone that wants to help out. I had a electrician of 40 years come in help chase the wires and make sure everything that I had done so far was going to hold up. The PO had sliced and scabbed so many wires onto the back of the panel and then just hack them off. We pulled almost half a small garbage bag of wires that went no where. They had a lot of things wired with speaker wire. I don't have any speakers on the boat. We were able to get all the cabin lites up and running and the instruments by the wheel working.
Does anyone have a switch in the little cabinet in the head. Mine had a red switch like the one that is on the main panel but noting was hooked to it. I think the 110 power from the shore plug maybe goes to the switch and then to the main panel. because nothing was hooked up were guessing.
I have to admit it was pretty exciting to see lites on in the boat. Next weekend He wants to tackle all the 110 and check all the outside lighting like the bow and stern and see if we can get the light on the mast working.

Per ABYC (E-11.16.3.7), "Solder shall not be the sole means of mechanical connection in any circuit�". Further, crimping provides a solid mechanical connection resistant to "cold joints"� breaking under fatigue and removes strain.
Guys I got it I did the research You can beat the subject to death my point was giving a reasonable answer such as the code and good advice is what a lot of people come to this site for, If I have a question about anything I come to this site and start searching articles. I absolutely knew that it had nothing to do with the Cold weather in my typing I didn't put in the word solder so it says cold solder, I went back and edited it.

One of the reasons that I like this site is there are people willing to give ideas and reasons why. You are correct I know absolutely nothing about Marine wiring. I read on this site that the solder connector were great to use. Simply stating that the ABYC doesn't approve or is not the code leave a question as to why? So I did research and those that are following here is the reason
 Per ABYC (E-11.16.3.7), "Solder shall not be the sole means of mechanical connection in any circuit�". Further, crimping provides a solid mechanical connection resistant to "cold joints"� breaking under fatigue and removes strain.
With that answer it makes sense they want a mechanical connection because solder can crack from cold or movement. Now anyone that is reading this thread can make an informed decision. I have been using this forum to help refit my entire boat. The comments and information I have searched on this site has been outstanding. I hope that maybe someone will get something out of my learning and thanks to the folks that have help from this site
Noah your comparison between the two gave no reason to not use the solder only, and that's the point, if there is a solid reason state it for everyone to learn by. Had you stated solder might crack because of the cold solder or fatigue and this is why its code everyone reading would have gotten something out of conversation. Again the reason I read this site is to learn and help refit my boat, I am hoping to splash next spring but I know that I will have a lot more questions and will be reading this site for answers and help.

Well from Noah's last post you can see there isn't much difference between the two connections. But for guys that don't work with wires much I can say for 8 bucks and a heat gun (or lighter) the heat shrink solder connections were awesome and very easy to work with. I get the ABYC doesn't approve of these connections but from Noah's post you can see the only difference is that one is crimped and one is soldered, both make a good connection if it's done properly.  Thanks Noah it's good to hear more than one side of an idea.

A butt joint you can easily take apart where the soldered one you can't. I certainly took enough of those apart installing the ones I did. Same Principle, but thank you for the information.

That standard is no different than the electrical code that now says you have to have a plug on a range hood or a dishwasher. They want it to be able to be unplugged and replaced. How many times do you replace your range hood or replace the dishwasher in your home.  The difference is that these LED lights last a long time If I have to change them Ill cut the wire and use another shrink wrap.

well I only have a few more weekends before I have to close it up. So far this weekend I wired all my lites to the existing wires( I hope they are good) I read an article on here about a shrink wrap that had solder in the center and when you heat it the solder melt and make a good connection I bought kit with a 120 pieces in it and it really works awesome. The black lights I had to add a piece of wire to to make them long enough to reach the existing wire. You need a little bit of room to heat the shrink wrap.
I am still waiting for my countertops to be completed so I can get them installed before I close the boat up for the winter.
A couple of people asked me what Im going to do in the winter, Im going to learn how to sew and make all my cushions.
I also drilled a 3/4 hole for the vent But I found out its really thick right there and I have to get a longer threaded vent so I can put a nut on it.

This weekend I finish all the plumbing with the exception of the aft tank supply. I need to find a filter that is small enough to fit under the sink. I had every intention to reuse as much as possible but as you see from the pictures I had to install new ball valves. I saw that I had a 3/4 line coming out by the toilet, so I was getting ready to run new when I traced that hose back to a thru hull Is that the way all boats feed the toilets either lake water or salt water? not quite sure what I'm going to do with that situation.

my left one was the higher of the two. but just out of curiosity is there a reason why the hot is always the higher one?