Cabin light wiring - 1980 Cat 30

[PeteT]

Hi all
I looked for a previous thread on this subject but could not find one so I am posting here. I am sure someone knows something. My lights are configured from Port to Starboard; Galley, Dinette, Head, port forward berth, starboard forward berth, Nav station and quarter berth. The light from the Head all the way to the quarter berth does not illuminate. Are these lights wired in Series?

This happened before where the head lamp was working and I ran wire from the head lamp to the port forward lamp and then all lamps worked. Now the head lamp is not working either. I do have voltage off the volt meter in the head, but still no lights on from the head or forward berth,nav station and quarter berth.

I took the dinette light down and I only have two wires coming out... + and -. I thought that the power might be coming off the dinette light and move to the head, but that does not seem to be the case.

If anyone has words of wisdom I would be most appreciative.

Sincerely,

In the Dark

 

[Stu Jackson]

Are these lights wired in Series?

No, they are in parallel. They have to be in order for any one of therm to work if a lamp burns out.

Find an owners manual. With your boat, over 6,700 of which have been built, ARE available online. Google Catalina 30 owners manual.

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This comes from this sbo thread by weekendrken:

1992 Catalina 30

Also: www.catalina30.com

 

[PeteT]

Thanks Stu, that makes sense... The adventure is still on.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Here's a manual for an MKII. I'm not sure what year yours is. It doesn't look like it shows how the wires were actually ran.

I'd think that the first light would be the nav station since the panel is right there. Start out with the panel and see which direction(s) the wires for the lights go. Then pop out each light and see which way the wires go from there. Hopefully this will shed some light on how they are ran. It's not fool proof but hopefully it helps

 

[Davidasailor26]

I do have voltage off the volt meter in the head, but still no lights on from the head or forward berth,nav station and quarter berth.

How much voltage do you have at the head light, and does that amount change if you try to turn on one of the other lights that doesn’t work? Usually voltage would mean the power supply is good, but you might have a bad connection that’s causing the voltage to sag too much when there’s a load.

This happened before where the head lamp was working and I ran wire from the head lamp to the port forward lamp and then all lamps worked.

How did you splice the new wire in? Is it possible that connection has gone bad?

 

[CurtisC]

Looking only at the schematic and not speaking from actual C 30 wiring detective work, there's a cabin light power buss wire (blue) and ground buss wire (black) that run clockwise from the main power panel with a series of light fixture drops starting with 2 in the galley then port main cabin, dinette, head, port FB , strbd FB, strbd MC, nav station, and terminating at the rear quarter berth. I would suspect a corroded /compromised buss/drop connection (ground, power or both) affecting the head fixture and remaining downstream circuit. A compromised connection could checkout as OK downstream when reading voltage on a DVM or VOM due to the meter's extremely low current draw, however, fail to power the 93 type incandescent dome light bulbs listed as used thru-out which draw 1/2 amp each.
Based on your observations, the dinette table drop connection seems the likely starting point (if memory serves its tucked up in the fwd most main cabin upper port storage locker next to the bulkhead). Conductor color assignment may vary from the schematic, but it should be obvious where the dinette light ciruit branches off. If OK, then look at the head fixture drop, it's possible there's conductivity to the drop but both the fixture and downstream buss connections are compromised. Lastly inspect /test the buss wiring between the 2 drops.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

If any recent work has been done in the vicinity or the lights, check the connections. Something is likely disconnected or has a bad connection. You generally cannot see a bad connections. Turn the lights on and start wiggling. If the lights start flickering, it should be re-terminated. Also, check for corrosion on the wires and terminals

 

[Stu Jackson]

Catalina's wire connections has long been documented a questionable. IIRC, they used blue connectors that were often poorly "made"; the blue could simply be the color of butt connectors used for the small wires used. They failed repeatedly and is usually one of the first things Catalina owners associations point out when this issue is noted.

 

[Indysailor]

Just my own rule of thumb is that when things aren't working, I start with ground connections. But with something like this, I'm inclined to say start at the first pos connection and start testing.