Cabin lights and electric head

[Nick Philips]

Ok . We have an issue when we flush the electric heads on the boat the cabin lights come on while flushing then go out.
We have a bad battery in the house bank that has been discontinued by removing and isolating the positive terminal. New batteries arrive tomorrow.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Do the lights come on for the whole time the head is running, or just flicker when the pump starts or stops?

To be safe you may want to make sure to keep your electronics turned off when using the head until you have it sorted. Sounds like maybe the pump is inducing a voltage in other circuits.

 

[vhoisington]

So with the level of detail provided I'm going to say you've got a bad ground somewhere. But then again, I always start searching at the ground connections and move from there. Time to get the multi-meter out and start searching. Always fun to find these sort of things. I had an issue with my nav lights. They worked but didn't work. I tested and retested and had it "solved" several times only to find out it wasn't. Finally found the broken wire which touched and then didn't.

Good luck., whatever you do don't let the smoke out or it will be game over.

 

[NotCook]

Finally found the broken wire which touched and then didn't.

Good luck., whatever you do don't let the smoke out or it will be game over.

That broken wire thing can be insidious, and so hard to find.

Very few people understand about the smoke. You’re going to get a lot of questions about that - and a few know-it-alls who are going to try to convince us that the smoke is a myth!

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

in addition to any bad battery or wiring, you apparently have another problem: All electric toilets should be on their own separate dedicated circuit with its own breaker, shared by nothing--not even cabin lights--that can pull power away from it. Low voltage to a toilet motor is the most common cause of sluggish discharge and will burn out the motor over time.

So I strongly recommend that you rewire the toilet correctly as part of solving the other wiring/battery problems. The owners manual includes wiring specs...if you don't have a copy, I can post a link to it if you tell me the make/model.

--Peggie

 

[shemandr]

I found out about loose smoke with my alternator. It doesn't go back in the wire and it costs money.

 

[justsomeguy]

loose smoke

Myth!

 

[Nick Philips]

Ok the new batteries are in and the problem is gone. I don't know if there was a connection with the battery and the lights or not. But I have no idea how to track down a problem that no longer happens. Both the heads are on there own circuits with nothing else attached.

 

[lillia28]

Myth!

Myth only if you have lived with Japanese cars. Anyone of a certain age, who has had dealing with certain British, German or Italian car, those who still fear the name Joseph Lucas, know that it is real. Ricambi Originale for early Alfa Romeos

 

[dmax]

Joseph Lucas, the Prince of Darkness.

 

[dziedzicmj]

I think that a while back someone on this forum posted a few pictures of the Lucas smoke for a 1950s Triumph, still in original packaging. But I thought that this is a required consumable for only British cars of this vintage.

 

[Justin_NSA]

You have to get the polarity right on LED toilets.

 

[TimFromLI]

Are the lights LED? In my house If my living room LED lights are off and I turn off the switch for my ceiling fan the LED's will flicker. Not sure how or why The power flicker could only be coming from the neutral or maybe the powered switch. That's an AC circuit , maybe something similar in the DC circuit. All LEDs use DC current.