Combo deck and steaming light wiring

[AndreInPortland]

Hi all,

While my C-22 is on the hard, one job on my winter to-do list is replacing the broken deck and steaming light. I bought a new combo deck and halogen steaming light from CD which appears to be form and functionally equivalent.

After taking off the old unit, I see just one positive and one negative wire protruding through the mast. The instructions for the new unit indicate I should use two hot leads and one negative for the deck an steaming light. So now I’m perplexed.

Is there a way to power both lights from just one hot lead and one negative return? Or did the PO simply never have both lights working? Or something else?

My boat is an original design 1984.

Attached is a photo of the old unit.



Thanks!
Andre

 

[justsomeguy]

Is there a way to power both lights from just one hot lead and one negative return?

Not really. You'd be running both lights at the same time.
You need separate hot wires and switches for each bulb, but you can tie all your bulbs to the same negative/ground.

 

[Lazy1]

There indeed should be two hot leads and they share the ground. Looks like a wire was lost in to the mast or they were essentially on the same switch before?

 

[Project_Mayhem]

You can use just those two wires with diodes and tungsten/halogen lights or LEDs (LED's are diodes) but you'd only be able to use one light at a time. Another option is to use your mast as a ground and the two wires inside the mast as positive leads. First question that should be asked is... Do you have a separate switch for the deck light and the steaming light?

 

[DArcy]

When I replaced the steaming light with a combo steaming/deck light on my C&C27 I ran new mast wires. It's pretty easy when you have the mast down. My boat already had another wire run to the mast ready for the steaming light but if you don't have this extra wire, you will need to run a wire from the mast step to the breaker panel.

 

[Hardhead]

If you still have the original older mast wiring in place, you might think of ordering a new mast wiring harness as well. If you have my luck, this missing lead problem is the kind of thing that winds up taking more time to chase down and fix - than to just replace everything with fresh wiring anyway. That's what I'm planning to do at least, for about the same reason as you. Good luck however you go-

 

[Project_Mayhem]

this missing lead problem is the kind of thing that winds up taking more time to chase down - than to just replace everything with fresh wiring

 

[AndreInPortland]

Hey everyone - thanks for all the great ideas!

I agree that ultimately new wiring is the way to go, and I do have room on my breaker panel for separate deck / steaming lights. I fished around but I couldn't find the missing (and presumed dead) third lead.

I really only wanted the deck light working, the steaming light was going to be bonus. I decided to just wire the positive lead for the deck light only, and the steaming light can be a future project when an all new wiring harness is a priority.

Gotta love boat work - check one job off of the list, add three more.

Andre

 

[Jacktar]

Just a reminder the steaming light is required when under power in a sailboat, see CG regs.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Take the opportunity to replace the rubber grommets on the mast as well. I'm guessing you'll be able to simply push the wire through but for challenging cable runs I'll often tape the new wire end to the old and use the old one to pull it through.

 

[AaronD]

Take the opportunity to replace the rubber grommets on the mast as well. I'm guessing you'll be able to simply push the wire through but for challenging cable runs I'll often tape the new wire end to the old and use the old one to pull it through.

Related: For cases where you can't easily replace the grommet (e.g. a degrading grommet degrading on a wire that passes through the mast in a place that isn't convenient to pull a new one), a few wraps of self amalgamating rigging tape can help protect the wire. Sloppy, but better than electrical tape.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Mine was wired the same way. I ran all new wiring up the mast. The deck light is on its own switch, and the anchor and steaming lights are on a common SPDT switch so I can only have one or the other on, not both.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Related: For cases where you can't easily replace the grommet (e.g. a degrading grommet degrading on a wire that passes through the mast in a place that isn't convenient to pull a new one), a few wraps of self amalgamating rigging tape can help protect the wire. Sloppy, but better than electrical tape.

It might slide but it will hold upto the UV better! I've used both methods depending on the supplies I had on hand

 

[Capt jgw]

... the anchor and steaming lights are on a common SPDT switch so I can only have one or the other on, not both.

Which would be correct. Kind of pisses me off when I see a sailboat with the deck level red/green side lights, masthead tricolor, anchor light, and steaming light all on at the same time. Skipper's just proving his ignorance and/or idiocy.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Which would be correct. Kind of pisses me off when I see a sailboat with the deck level red/green side lights, masthead tricolor, anchor light, and steaming light all on at the same time. Skipper's just proving his ignorance and/or idiocy.

Not just skippers, but maybe boat manufacturers too. My panel was originally wired with one switch for the anchor light and one switch for the steaming light. By design you could have both on.

 

[Lemon Drop]

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