This thread raises 2 issues, one general to this ilk of Hunters and perhaps other boats as well, and the other specific to my ineptitude.
General: I decided to replace the festoon incandescent bulbs in the overhead fixtures with LEDs. When opened them up, I found that because the festoon bulbs are torpedo shaped, they give off considerable heat in all directions. Some of the wires to these bulbs were actually touching the glass between the bulb and the fixture causing the insulation to blacken and in some cases char through. Surprisingly, all still worked after 25 years. Nevertheless, breaking the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" rule, I opted to replace any wire that was questionable. The nice thing about the LEDs is that the actual light emitters are only on one side of the "bulb" and because it is flat on the other side, there is room to run the wires between the bulb and fixture without them touching anything. You might wish to check yours out as well.
Specific: As I whined in an earlier thread, the PO replaced the bow light wire between the switch/breaker at the panel, and where it exits the V-Berth. The wire runs inside the starboard headliner along with the blue wires that power the cabin lights.
So I am testing and pondering and doing a little tugging and finally decide to run a new wire. I disconnect the old wire to the bow light, clean up a few connections at the panel, and lo and behold, now, and never before, the breaker to the cabin lights pops every time I throw it. So I figure the possibilities are, probably in order of likelihood:
1. In replacing or insulating a bad wire in one or of the overhead fixtures, I screwed up. Will have to check each one carefully [how can you really screw something that simple up!?]. I will have to check for voltage and continuity at each of the fixtures. Most likely, since the fixtures are wired in series, where they are double crimped [what is the correct terminology here?] at each fixture it is possible that somehow only one wire is really making contact. This would deny power down the line from there. Or maybe, now that I think of it, I may have allowed one of the spade terminals to make contact with the fixture and it is grounding it. I wonder why it is not common practice to put something non-conductive on the fixture underneath each spade?
2. In pulling and tugging on the bow light wires [should have nothing in common with cabin lighting other than they run in the same space], I disturbed a sleeping electrical gremlin.
3. In cleaning up the panel, I disconnected or connected something incorrectly. Again, Hunter gang crimped all the blue cabin lights to one breaker switch. If that lug is put back were it came off of, and the black wire makes contact at the common bus, theoretically, that should get juice to the fixtures independent of act of incompetence I inflicted elsewhere.
General: I decided to replace the festoon incandescent bulbs in the overhead fixtures with LEDs. When opened them up, I found that because the festoon bulbs are torpedo shaped, they give off considerable heat in all directions. Some of the wires to these bulbs were actually touching the glass between the bulb and the fixture causing the insulation to blacken and in some cases char through. Surprisingly, all still worked after 25 years. Nevertheless, breaking the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" rule, I opted to replace any wire that was questionable. The nice thing about the LEDs is that the actual light emitters are only on one side of the "bulb" and because it is flat on the other side, there is room to run the wires between the bulb and fixture without them touching anything. You might wish to check yours out as well.
Specific: As I whined in an earlier thread, the PO replaced the bow light wire between the switch/breaker at the panel, and where it exits the V-Berth. The wire runs inside the starboard headliner along with the blue wires that power the cabin lights.
So I am testing and pondering and doing a little tugging and finally decide to run a new wire. I disconnect the old wire to the bow light, clean up a few connections at the panel, and lo and behold, now, and never before, the breaker to the cabin lights pops every time I throw it. So I figure the possibilities are, probably in order of likelihood:
1. In replacing or insulating a bad wire in one or of the overhead fixtures, I screwed up. Will have to check each one carefully [how can you really screw something that simple up!?]. I will have to check for voltage and continuity at each of the fixtures. Most likely, since the fixtures are wired in series, where they are double crimped [what is the correct terminology here?] at each fixture it is possible that somehow only one wire is really making contact. This would deny power down the line from there. Or maybe, now that I think of it, I may have allowed one of the spade terminals to make contact with the fixture and it is grounding it. I wonder why it is not common practice to put something non-conductive on the fixture underneath each spade?
2. In pulling and tugging on the bow light wires [should have nothing in common with cabin lighting other than they run in the same space], I disturbed a sleeping electrical gremlin.
3. In cleaning up the panel, I disconnected or connected something incorrectly. Again, Hunter gang crimped all the blue cabin lights to one breaker switch. If that lug is put back were it came off of, and the black wire makes contact at the common bus, theoretically, that should get juice to the fixtures independent of act of incompetence I inflicted elsewhere.
