No Anchor light this season,electr. questions

[DAVA390]

So, Ive had this P23 2 seasons now. Was proud of myself for fixing the lights and installing a new switch plate, the P.O. for 6 years never had the lights working.
All worked well, but this year the spring "test the lights leaves me with a dead anchor light.
Every spring I put together an extension wire with alligator clips so I can power the mast plug while mast is still horizontal. Steaming light good, no top light . Open up the housing, bulb falls apart in my hand..this is gonna be an easy fix! NOPE, new bulb ,nothing, multimeter at fixture , nothing, pull the male plug apart at bottom of mast, wiggle, tighten, fidget, nothing. Power is good at decktop female despite how ugly it is in the photos.So..sitting on my pickup bed, under the end of the mast sticking out over the bow..Hmm.
In the BIG picture, we are both pretty stressed right now with elderly parents, job issues, her retirement coming etc. Badly need this boat overboard soon to help relieve this!
I`ve decided that rewiring and lighting the mast will wait until the winter, I`ll leave the mast off the boat in the driveway next to it (another first)and plan and figure it out instead of rushing into a quickie repair job. I`m also gonna replace that decktop plug that will be it`s own special hell, I`m sure. We have decided this is the last boat, money and age restrict upsizing, so we`re gonna have it a long time and it`s worth doing this job right. I`m gonna research wiring, fixtures etc, figure it all out to start in the fall. I will be using a lantern up the pole for overnights this season, we only do 1 maybe 2 nights a season anyway.
Now the question: While poking around the deck plug with the multimeter, I established that the largest of the 4 prongs on the plug is the ground, with one hot for steaming light, one hot for anchor light and one unused. This is consistent with the information I have from Precision about the electric system.
What confuses me is that when I had the meter on ohms to check continuity, I had meter reading between the ground and all 3 of the other holes , even the unused one, this with all switches off inside. Does this indicate trouble or a short in the deck top plug?

 

[celticwinds]

Sounds like the problem is in the fixture at the top of the mast. Connect a ground wire at the base of the mast and a hot wire at the base of the mast leading to the light that is not working. Then check the wiring at the top of the mast instead of the light fixture.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

So get a Davis Megalight, hang it in the rigging, and forget the mast head light- wrong place anyway.

In many many miles, I've NEVER had an anchor light at the mast head. Silly place for it in my opinion

 

[Benny17441]

Test the bulb, just because it is new does not mean it is good. Take a battery and some jumper wires with alligator clips and power the fixture externally. If it works well you will know the problem is in the wiring and if it does not go ahead and replace.

 

[DAVA390]

Fixture testing was done with a battery to power the mast. Tested bulb also, and had multimeter on fixture while battery was alligator clipped to plug at base of mast. No power at fixture, wires will be replaced. Still wondering about the continuity in the deck plug while all power to it was turned off.

 

[twalker H260]

Continuity between the positive sockets would not be of great concern for me but continuity between the ground and any of the other sockets indicates a short that would need to be remedied. Short term while mast head lights aren't wired you may be able to get by disconnecting positive leads at panel and capping them until you rewire the mast.

I would still locate the source of the continuity as it could be a short before/in the switch panel.

Just to confirm - the continuity is at the deck fixture and not on the mast fitting?
If on the mast connector its resolution can be left till you rewire - just don't connect to deck fitting.

 

[Ron20324]

Since there is only one ground/neg pin in that plug, I'd guess the neg wire ( to the anchor light) spliced at the steaming light has corroded. Pull the steaming fixture and see if there are two negs in it.

 

[rgranger]

So get a Davis Megalight, hang it in the rigging, and forget the mast head light- wrong place anyway.

In many many miles, I've NEVER had an anchor light at the mast head. Silly place for it in my opinion

:+1:

I just hang a batter powered lantern from my boom bail. It is so much easier. I actually have a mast topped light and a steaming light but I don't think the mast head light is easy to see (especially in a fog) and I don't like the idea of running down my house battery.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

2+ on the Davis mega light.

low amps, day/night photocell operation. and at eye level (boom), where operators see it.

if you decide to fix the mast head, think about a LED replacement bulb.

 

[DAVA390]

T Walker, to confirm, continuity is in deck plug as shown in photo. And i`m yes planning on led`s when I rewire and relight. Will go back to switchplate in cabin and pull it out to check for anyhing loose/touching there.

 

[DAVA390]

Ron, I ran out of time last night but i suspect and will confirm that 2 wires coming out of the mast (one for each of the seperate top and steaming lights) converge inside the wrapping of the male plug dangling out of the mast. Was getting too late to open the rest of the plug up to check. However, that is in the plug disconnected from the female in the deck yet still the meter shows continueity between the decktop plugs.

 

[DAVA390]

Ron , just reread your post, you say to check at the steaming light itself to see if 2 grounds hooked togeth there (midway up) will do that also. Gotta open it up anway to see about acess to all wires at that point.

 

[CloudDiver]

A few tips that I hope help you out (may change your plan)

- I have a similar size boat and will not be using a mast-head light for night anchoring. According to COLREGS, a boat our size only requires a masthead light when at anchor outside of a designated anchorage. As many others mentioned above, even though not technically required, you can hoist a battery powered LED light in multiple locations. One suggestion was to use a small length of PVC pipe to attach to a halyard and you can still end up with the light above the mast head.

If you end up replacing the wiring in your mast, and you don't already have a conduit, try just using some pool noodles taped together, probably just 3 or 4 since I think they are about 6 ft each. Not my idea, that one is from Ken (Sting Sailor). Cheap and easier to install than using screws or rivets to secure the conduit.

 

[caguy]

Good Old Boat had an interesting article this month of making your boat more visible at night with solar garden lights. They mounted the to a piece of spit hose with a rivet. The hose snaps on the stations. The used one rivet so they could be mounted to the rail as well by pivoting the hose. They are available for less than $4 at most hardware stores. They available in stainless steel I picked up six of them to be used as deck and cockpit lighting.
I first noticed one a couple of years ago when I noticed that the aft running light had been left on a neighbors boat in mast-up. When I went over to check it out it turned out to be one of these solar lights.
The idea of putting it on a pole and running it up the mast with a halyards will work as an anchor light as well.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Beware those cheap solar lights. Reports on cruisersforum are that they don't last all night. Before you buy a bunch, check one out first.

 

[caguy]

Beware those cheap solar lights. Reports on cruisersforum are that they don't last all night. Before you buy a bunch, check one out first.

That would require me go get up before sunrise. :naughty:

 

[Ron20324]

Good Old Boat had an interesting article this month of making your boat more visible at night with solar garden lights. ... The idea of putting it on a pole and running it up the mast with a halyards will work as an anchor light as well....

I did not read the GOB article, but no doubt it only dealt with ADDING lighting to the leagally required lights. As far as using garden lights for anchor lights, IIRC, Boot Harbor in Marathon was raided a few years ago because people were doing just that. Not sure what the big deal was, as the required two mile visibility is about 4 times the size of the harbor

 

[DAVA390]

Now I am embarassed!! Did some checking, found out I had trouble last spring and talked about this project then. I talked to Annie, she rememberd that I had trouble in the spring, then after 2nd/3rd trip out it worked the rest of the summer. Even thought we only anchored overnight once, I would turn it on (briefly ) every time we ran in evening just to see if it still worked and it did. Maybe I`ll get lucky again this year!

 

[Brian S]

I totally agree with TSBB 2. Ok, well, partially. Masthead anchor light doesn't make sense to me either, because when you're tucked in to a cove, most people you need to worry about running into your boat at night are power boaters, who tend to be looking more or less at horizon height, not masthead height. So, hanging some light off your backstay or boom or some height roughly 10' above water surface sounds good to me. Also, that light is likely to illuminate the boat itself, making it stand out more, like: "Hey, this is indeed an anchored boat, not just some light up on shore!"

What I would do, rather than the Davis Megalight, I would buy a Marinebeam LED anchor light, which really looks exactly the same. Why? Just because Marinebeam has a reputation of being the best LEDs for boats. And also MaineSail says they are the best LEDs for boats. http://store.marinebeam.com/utility-led-anchor-light-with-dusk-to-dawn-photocell-sensor/

But, yeah, effectively, I completely agree with TSBB 2.

 

[Capt jgw]

I'd just forget about the mast top anchor light. Worst place for it. It can be seen from further away, but it's the guy up close who's going to hit you, and he's not looking up. A battery powered light about 10 feet above water is much better.
Hopefully your electrical demons don't spread.