Hello all, Last weekend we were returning to port at sunset. We were entering the channel, so we turned on the nav lights. They were on about 2 minutes. When someone onboard said, ummm, why did you turn the nav lights off. We didn't but thought, maybe we did when switching on the house lights or something. We turned them back on, and 10 seconds later they went off again. After that they flipped off as soon as we switched them on. When they came on the 2 minutes, we checked as we always do, and ALL lights were working just fine. No flickers and no irregularities. IF we hold the switch on, they are all working. What is the problem, and more importantly what is the fix? By the way, it was ONLY nav, steaming and anchor were just fine. Thanks Bryan
Electrical short?
- Thread starter Bryan22057
- Start date
- Status
IF we hold the switch on, they are all working.
Uhm, sounds like a bad switch, or a loose connection somewhere.
Uhm, sounds like a bad switch, or a loose connection somewhere.
You shouldn't be able to hold a breaker 'on'.
If it doesn't trip holding it on,,, well, that's weird. First place to look.
If it doesn't trip holding it on,,, well, that's weird. First place to look.
You have a short in the curcuit
You are describing a short in the electrical system. Start with each light and work back to the circuit panel. By isolating each wire, you will be able to locate and repair the short probably within an hour. Do you have moiusture builtup in any of the light housings? Our windex light was broken and the housing "rotten" which caused the running lights circuit to fail. Ultil the mast could be lowered and the light housing replaced, the wirees were unplugged and the running lights were fine.
You are describing a short in the electrical system. Start with each light and work back to the circuit panel. By isolating each wire, you will be able to locate and repair the short probably within an hour. Do you have moiusture builtup in any of the light housings? Our windex light was broken and the housing "rotten" which caused the running lights circuit to fail. Ultil the mast could be lowered and the light housing replaced, the wirees were unplugged and the running lights were fine.
try this...
the circuit breaker/switch is most likely fine. It's responding the correct way. Remove one bulb at a time and turn the lights on. The lights that stay on without kicking the breaker are fine, the problem will be in the circuit that kicks the breaker. If the breaker kicks with all bulbs removed then the wiring is suspect. Good luck.
the circuit breaker/switch is most likely fine. It's responding the correct way. Remove one bulb at a time and turn the lights on. The lights that stay on without kicking the breaker are fine, the problem will be in the circuit that kicks the breaker. If the breaker kicks with all bulbs removed then the wiring is suspect. Good luck.
You have to check both sides of the circuit
The CB is fine although I'd not recommend holding it on for any length of time as you might cause a fire. With that said Landsend's technique will identify a short in the socket but if you still have the problem after trying his approch (always try the simple stuff first) then the problem is in the power/hot side of the circuit. It can't be in the ground side as that is disconnected when you have the bulb out. Depending on where the light circuits split you might be able to find the offending circuit by pulling the electrical panel. Some boats have the nav lights split at the CB and some run the hot wire from the CB a distance and then it splits. If yours is the former you can take all the wires off the CB and test each in turn. The one that trips the CB is your guilty party. If you have only one wire coming off the CB then you will have to search down the wires indivudaly for the short. Places where the wire passes through a wall or tube (pullpit/pushpit) are good places to check first. Good luck
The CB is fine although I'd not recommend holding it on for any length of time as you might cause a fire. With that said Landsend's technique will identify a short in the socket but if you still have the problem after trying his approch (always try the simple stuff first) then the problem is in the power/hot side of the circuit. It can't be in the ground side as that is disconnected when you have the bulb out. Depending on where the light circuits split you might be able to find the offending circuit by pulling the electrical panel. Some boats have the nav lights split at the CB and some run the hot wire from the CB a distance and then it splits. If yours is the former you can take all the wires off the CB and test each in turn. The one that trips the CB is your guilty party. If you have only one wire coming off the CB then you will have to search down the wires indivudaly for the short. Places where the wire passes through a wall or tube (pullpit/pushpit) are good places to check first. Good luck
Smoke test it
Or how old is that breaker? New breakers should not be able to be held over after tripped. In a short the breaker heats up and this causes the trip. After awhile the breaker gets so hot that it won't reset until it has a chance to cool down. Now, every time a circuit breaker trips it weakens the spring inside that throws the switch to the middle. Knowing the above, If you have an ammeter, You don't you?, look at the size of wire running to the breaker. The bigger the wire the more amps it can carry. Count the number of lights you have on the circuit and note their wattage. Add up the wattage divide by the volts and you will have the amperage of the total circuit. Turn everything off ans note the reading on the ammeter. Should be 0, nada zilch. Now throw the breaker and see how many amps the circuit is drawing. If it is less than the breakers value, the breaker is bad. Replace the breaker. If the amperage is higher than the breakers value Then you got a short or missed something. Here is where the smoke test comes in. If you can indeed hold the breaker closed do so at this time and keep on holding until the smoke comes out of the wire, This is usually at the short. Now you have to be very attentive during this process as if you let to much smoke out the smoke will be depleted and the whole circuit will be trashed along with the rest of your boat. The trick is to just let enough smoke out to see where it's coming from. It's easy if your a professional, which I am by the way, Some math examples follow: 10 light bulbs in your circuit at 10 watts each equals 100 watts total for the circuit. 100 watts divided by 12volts equals 12 amps. you would probably have a 15 amp circuit breaker in the panel for this. A 10 amp breaker would trip. If you do indeed decide to try the smoke test without the guidance of a professional, call the fire dept before the test, you will probably need them. Call all your friends to the dock and right before you throw the breaker Yell as loud as you can " HEY YA"ALL.... WATCH THIS!!!, Fair Winds Cap'n Dave
Or how old is that breaker? New breakers should not be able to be held over after tripped. In a short the breaker heats up and this causes the trip. After awhile the breaker gets so hot that it won't reset until it has a chance to cool down. Now, every time a circuit breaker trips it weakens the spring inside that throws the switch to the middle. Knowing the above, If you have an ammeter, You don't you?, look at the size of wire running to the breaker. The bigger the wire the more amps it can carry. Count the number of lights you have on the circuit and note their wattage. Add up the wattage divide by the volts and you will have the amperage of the total circuit. Turn everything off ans note the reading on the ammeter. Should be 0, nada zilch. Now throw the breaker and see how many amps the circuit is drawing. If it is less than the breakers value, the breaker is bad. Replace the breaker. If the amperage is higher than the breakers value Then you got a short or missed something. Here is where the smoke test comes in. If you can indeed hold the breaker closed do so at this time and keep on holding until the smoke comes out of the wire, This is usually at the short. Now you have to be very attentive during this process as if you let to much smoke out the smoke will be depleted and the whole circuit will be trashed along with the rest of your boat. The trick is to just let enough smoke out to see where it's coming from. It's easy if your a professional, which I am by the way, Some math examples follow: 10 light bulbs in your circuit at 10 watts each equals 100 watts total for the circuit. 100 watts divided by 12volts equals 12 amps. you would probably have a 15 amp circuit breaker in the panel for this. A 10 amp breaker would trip. If you do indeed decide to try the smoke test without the guidance of a professional, call the fire dept before the test, you will probably need them. Call all your friends to the dock and right before you throw the breaker Yell as loud as you can " HEY YA"ALL.... WATCH THIS!!!, Fair Winds Cap'n Dave
electrical
I believe you said that when you hold the switch on they stay on ,correct. If thaat is true and when you say switch you are not talking about the circuit breaker then I would look to the connections on the switch itself first .Maybe you could take off the wires from the switch itself and splice them together to bypass the switch and see if the lights work then. If they do simply put in a new switch, sometimes a bad switch is enough to trip out the cb. If this is not the problem get a circuit tester and with the wires apart at the switch see if you get power from either side of the switch wires ,remember to check from positive to a known ground. I really could go on forever but it is a process of elimination, post another response and I will respond when I see it. GOOD LUCK !
I believe you said that when you hold the switch on they stay on ,correct. If thaat is true and when you say switch you are not talking about the circuit breaker then I would look to the connections on the switch itself first .Maybe you could take off the wires from the switch itself and splice them together to bypass the switch and see if the lights work then. If they do simply put in a new switch, sometimes a bad switch is enough to trip out the cb. If this is not the problem get a circuit tester and with the wires apart at the switch see if you get power from either side of the switch wires ,remember to check from positive to a known ground. I really could go on forever but it is a process of elimination, post another response and I will respond when I see it. GOOD LUCK !
- Status