International Telstar Owners Association

Does anyone know how to dissemble this connector? I suspect a broken connection inside.

I've taken both of mine apart (mast lights and wind speed transducer) and I bought spares a few years ago for when they could no longer be rebuilt. Both ends unscrew and then you push the wire with the soldered contact insert with the pins thru the larger open end. You may have to grip the short tube at the pin end with a pair of plies and then turn the body. The knurled ring won't grab the insert which has the threads that hold it to the body. Since corrosion is the probable cause, you may have to re-solder the wires

I believe that they are made by Bosch if you need to replace them. Remember to seal the open end where the wire comes thru with silicon or similar.

Thanks Ron,

I finally got it, I think the connector are made by Hella Marine. I unscrewed the connector by inserting a VERY large flat screwdriver between the pins of the connector, at the bottom there is a cross molded into the plastic. Must be careful that the screwdriver does not slip out of the cross our you could bend the pins.

Not the best connector I have seen but I must admit, I have never seen one I really liked - particularly on a demountable mast. I thin is might be a good time to look at what the market offers to replace it. I would prefer a connector that that screw connectors rather than solder. Good time to fix it right. Awfully tight place to solder.

I would never criticize Tony Smith and company for being cheap, Instead i praise him for building interesting boats for low cost. He brought 2 great boats to the world at extremely modest cost. Makes many of of wish we could have afforded to double our prices.

Cheers

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I purchased my 2007 Telstar less than 2 years ago. The masthead light has never worked, and last week the wind speed transducer stopped functioning for the first time.

I suspect the connectors, both of which are showing visible signs of deterioration. I was researching the site for ideas, and came across these older posts which seem related.

Do any of you have a recommendation for a market alternative to the original connectors?

Thanks,

Randy

The instrument one is a five pole and there is not a lot of choice. I replaced mine with an Aqua Signal http://www.westmarine.com/buy/aqua-sign ... or--315168. I rather like it and the horizontal orientation is ok. You can use the same deck hole. The orientation around the mast stepping plate is a little difficult but works alright. The anchor light is only 2 pole and there are a great many choices that cost lest.

I did order and received the same connector but haven't installed it yet.

My mast light was also not working, the connector is a 4 pins and to my surprise it was not wired properly... I now have a LED and it's working perfectly.

Hi Randy, I got the wind instruments working today. The connectors were mostly ok, traced out good after using some old tv tuner contact cleaner. The real problem turned out to be a broken wire, the bare one, in the line up the mast. Lots of salt water had gotten into the wire led to corrosion. I cut probably 6" off the wire and re-soldered, but couldn't really get past the corrosion in the wire. May have to run new wire some day, as I can't cut it much shorter, and there is still salt in the wire. Sealed end of plug with silicone seal. A battery powered soldering iron was barely able to do the job, but worked.

Found these on Ebay in case anyone is still looking for connectors. I plan on replacing mine before I head back out on the water. Not sure of the quality as I haven't ordered them yet.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-4-5-6Pins-As ... y3drcTtLgQ

Please let me know if you are happy with them. I forgot to disconnect when I dropped the mast a few months ago and ripped the wires out, and can’t get the old connectors to open. Since they’re old anyway I’m game to replace them. Yours look like a good choice so please let me know if you’re happy and how easily they connect and mount. Thanks.