Replacing mast conduit

[dvreyn]

Thanks to all who contribute to this forum- it is a wealth of information & new ideas.  After too many years of having the wires and conduit keep me awake by slapping around in the mast, I've decided to pull the mast this weekend and replace the broken conduit.  I think the factory used thin wall PVC for the conduit and it apparently broke in several places (guessing at the rivets) when the boat was moved.  I'm considering using larger, sch 40 (tougher), PVC attached to the mast through the original mast holes with alum. rivets.  Does anyone have any suggestions or tips they could pass along who might have tackled this opportunity before? 
Thanks,
Doug Reynolds
'89 C34-tall rig     

[Ron Hill]

Doug : I suspect that you may find that not all of the wires are in the conduit !!  Hard to believe that the conduit broke.  Especially the VHF coax, TV and the wind speed wires may not be inside that conduit!!
A thought.   

[Stu Jackson]

When we bought our boat in 1998 (from the original owner) the anchor light wiring (!!!) was NOT in the conduit.  I have NO idea how the PO managed to put up with that for 12 years!

[RV61]

I will third that!! The conduit was fine but PO did not put VHF coax thru it. First year I pulled stick and put new coax in it as well as new wind indicator wiring.   

[Jon Schneider]

I will fourth that: PO didn't pull the wind instrument through the conduit.  Drove me crazy for three years.  It made such a racket that I thought there was no conduit, but it was just one wire.  When I pulled the stick this year, I was all prepared to install a conduit.  Just pulled the one wire.  I sleep easily now (well, I actually haven't slept aboard this season yet, but I'm sure I will).

[dvreyn]

Thanks to all who responded.  I pulled the mast and discovered that yes, the VHF coax was not in the conduit (it even had a female to female connector between two short pieces) and the conduit was broken in half at the bottom set of rivets.  The broken section slid down the wires to almost the mast step where it's been happily "clanging" for four years.   I plan to install new coax in the conduit and drill for new rivets just above the braking point and encase the exposed wiring below the brake with foam pipe insulation.  The first night on the boat, with the mast removed, was so quite I almost couldn't sleep!