If it were me, I would drill and tap one of the backing plates. However, if you want a simple solution, just strip a bunch of the wire, coat it with TefGel, wrap it around your keel bolt threads and secure it with a hose clamp. Not what I would do and probably not ABYC compliant but it is simple.
If you're talking lightning ground, you're only trying to dissipate/reduce/eliminate the potential for a strike. No way a 6 AWG cable will handle a strike. Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA On Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 9:38 AM David Knecht via CnC-List < cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > That sounds like my setup. I saw a small wire extending underneath the > keel bolt washer and could not believe that was the connection since it was > about 6 AWG on the wire to the step and 14 AWG at the washer. Not sure how > it gets from 6 AWG to that thin wire yet. Anyway, I like the tapped > aluminum plate idea, but I was hoping to not have to remove the keel bolt > nut since they were recently torqued and I don’t have a torque wrench to > re-tighten. That is why I thought it would be easier to put a second nut > on top and tighten the nut onto the plate. I can get that tight enough > with a pipe or adjustable wrench. I am not sure which is cheaper/easier; > renting/buying a torque wrench or buying a second nut, but if I can find a > nut, that seems like a simple solution. Anyone know of a source? Dave > > S/V Aries > 1990 C&C 34+ > New London, CT > > > On Jun 27, 2019, at 9:54 PM, Josh Muckley via CnC-List < > cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > Mine was like Chuck's. > > I found the wire to be shockingly small and the copper terminals heavily > corroded and poorly terminated. If relatively low voltage and current was > able to attach the 1/4-20 bolt to the washer I figure that the current and > voltage of lightning will probably be enough to detach the bolt. I made a > failed attempt to drill and tap the keel bolt. By failed I mean that the > tap must not have been cutting square in the hole and I ultimately ended up > breaking the tap after successfully cutting threads about 1/2 inch deep. > The hardened steel of the tap was impossible to drill or extract. This > would have been the absolute best method had it cut square and not broken. > I still recommend it. BTW I was planning for a 3/4 inch long by 3/8ths SS > bolt for anchoring the wiring terminal to the keel bolt. > > Instead of bolting directly to the keel bolt I ended up making a ground > plate out of 3/16th thick plate aluminum. I cut a hole big enough for a > keel bolt. I left a tang of metal extending out to the side. In this tang > I drilled and tapped an hole for the 3/8ths bolt. I locked the bolt in > place with a nut and then sandwiched the ground wire terminal between the > nut another. > > My mast end of the wire just terminated at the metal step - again poorly > with no real attachment to the mast. Instead I reassembled with a 3/8ths > bolt through the mast to act as a stud and then used a nut and washer to > hold the new ground wire terminal. > > Josh Muckley > S/V Sea Hawk > 1989 C&C 37+ > Solomons, MD > > > > On Thu, Jun 27, 2019, 6:17 PM CHARLES SCHEAFFER via CnC-List < > cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > >> David, >> >> Find the other end under the mast step. >> >> If it's like mine, there is a large washer under a keel nut with a 1/4" x >> 20 stud welded to it, and the ground wire which is simply a foot long >> battery cable with eyes crimped on each end is fastened to the bolt. >> >> >> CS >> >> >> On June 27, 2019 at 4:49 PM David Knecht via CnC-List < >> cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: >> >> I need to replace my mast grounding wire with 4 AWG (according to my >> surveyor). It appears to connect at one end to the aluminum base plate of >> the mast and that nut is accessible and a new cable can be attached with a >> lug. I have not yet found the other end. Could it be under the keel bolt? >> I have been thinking of ways to attach to a keel bolt. The easiest would >> be if I could put a large enough lug on the end to go over a keel bolt and >> then put another nut on top. I have not found a lug that large so this may >> be moot. Can you buy a keel bolt nut? Anyone know the spec or a source? >> Could I trap a large lug between the existing keel nut and a second one? >> An earlier thread discussed using braided copper instead but that appear to >> contradict ABYC standards. Any suggestions on the best/easiest way to do >> this? Thanks- Dave >> >> S/V Aries >> 1990 C&C 34+ >> New London, CT >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each >> and every one is greatly appreciated. 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