Red bow light not working

[RECESS]

I noticed my red bow light out. So I opened both of them and swapped bulbs to see if it was the bulb or if it was the light unit itself. Both bulbs worked in the green. I have Perko lights, vintage 1980. It is not a bi-color housing. A separate green, and a separate red. I am headed back tomorrow with a voltmeter.

Any ideas on what commonly goes wrong with these units.

 

[Rick D]

I Don't Think It's The Light

I think there is a good possibility it is the splice in the feed wire that takes the current to this lamp. Had the same thing happen to me, only it was voltage drop, not zero volts, which was more of a PITA to figure out.

 

[thereisabelle]

Re: I Don't Think It's The Light

same as rick I found a bad splice on the starb. side. got lucky. noticed whe i used the multimeter, if i held the red lead to the hot wire and the black to ground i got 12v. when i switched the leads the needle went backwards ( for lack of a better word.) wether it makes a difference for a light bulb i don't know. will keep an eye on this one.. jimbob

 

[Joe]

It's probably time to replace the 30 year old fittings... I had to do that on my Cat 27, where the units are inserted into the hull just below the rub rail... a very common setup for older boats. I found replacements for a very reasonable price at Downwind Marine, in SD... but pretty much available everywhere. Here's what I'm talking about:
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|65136|295769|320403&id=64755

 

[woodster]

wether it makes a difference for a light bulb i don't know. jimbob

if you are useing LED replacement bulbs it will make a difference wont work if the two lines are reversed.....

regards

woody

 

[Stu Jackson]

If it's electrical it is usually in the connections. Could be at the fixture or anywhere between the fixture and the switch.

 

[Rick D]

OK, Weekend's Over...

...what did you find?

 

[RECESS]

I have not gone through the bow lights after writing this thread. I looked at some of the wiring that is very accessible. I peeled back some wire insulation is a few different places going to the mast light and wires going forward to the bow lights. I wanted to see the condition of the wires in places that have held up well. I found in several places black carbon looking discoloring on the wire strands. Not sure if the boat took a lightening strike in the past. The electrical panel is still good and most of the electrical items in the boat work as they should. It really looks like I need to run new wire throughout the boat. It will not be a lot of expense in wire, I just need to figure out how to access all of it. It does not look like normal wear and tear. Like there was a short in the system in the past or lightening damage the did not totally wipe out the wires and hardware.

 

[Mac Daddy]

Older boats didn't have tinned wire so it's normal to see some discoloring.

 

[Sam Salter]

Reminds me when I was an apprentice Marine Engineer in the '60's.
Chief engineer told me to fetch some red paraffin from the purser for the port lamp - I fell for it!

sam

 

[Bob S]

Dave,

I installed this last season and it's worked great. Great price too. Only 5 left.

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|17|295769|320397|1120148&id=1068726

 

[RECESS]

I spent the morning on my boat. With the covers off, both of the bow lights work. When I put the cover on, the red light stops working. I have 12.77 v at the battery, 12.55 v at the stern light, and 11.48 v at the bow lights.

 

[bellnier]

Thanks for the tip. I needed to replace mine. There are only 4 left now