Electrical Gremlin

Badbagger · Jul 7, 2012

I checked my anchor and nav lights. Neither worked and they are on the same switch. I pulled the wires from the switch and hit all the contacts with dielectric grease. I also hit the contacts in the Perko mounts on the boat. I got the nav light in the bow to work. The anchor/running light is a different story. I checked the Perko plug and there was no juice getting to it. I pulled the plug out of the hull, removed the panel from the stern of the hull and checked the connections which were fine. To go a step further, I pulled the plug wires from the Perko unit. There is no juice getting from the console to the bare ended wires at the stern at all.

No matter if I have the switch in the running light or anchor light mode, NO juice. The switch is pretty much eliminated at this point. The connections are all solid at the rear of the switch. Still, no juice.

Aside from drop back and punt, any suggestions?

earl60446 · Jul 7, 2012

Did you check for current at the anchor side terminals right at the switch? Did not read where you did. If you got it there and not at the wires in the stern than you have a interrupted circuit. Broken wire, inline fuse blown (wrong place for a fuse though), etc.. Does the wires at the switch and the wires at the stern look identical? Maybe some splicing went on and now it has come apart.
Tim

DaveInGA · Jul 10, 2012

Wires and connections can be defective even if they look good visually. IF you have a multimeter, set the multimeter to Ohms and measure each wire running from the switch to the light. You should get a low value of resistance, but not a large or "open" reading.

Also, if there is an individual fuse in line with one light that's not associated with the other, check the fuses. You have an "open" circuit somewhere.

I was an electronic technician and technical support engineer for 26 years. If you need someone to talk you through the troubleshooting, feel free to pm me and I'll give you a phone number you can call.

Badbagger · Jul 10, 2012

Thanks for the suggestions. Just in from a successful morning of fishing. 4 large red speckled trout and a decent size bass. Lost either a huge redfish or trout that doubled my 7' Ugly stick in half and smoked the drag on my Penn 5/0 spinning reel. He broke off and took my Zara Spook with him!