Bow Bi/color light help

[DarthVader]

Hope this is the correct place to ask for help on my Bow light..

I was doing a little work on my boat today and was going through everything and was checking to make sure that the front and rear Nav lights where all working and the rear Nav light works fine but the Bow Nav Light is not working..
Can someone tell me is there a way to check the actual front bow Bi/color pole Nav Light?
I know there is power to the socket as I checked the wiring with a meter to make sure it had power and there wast,so if there is power to the socket I will need to test the light pole its self but I am not sure how to check it,Can anyone tell me how do I check the light pole it self?
I would say the pole light is around 12 to maybe 14 inches long..
I can also can tell you the bow light pole there is 4 plug holes on the bottom of the pole so I would say this is all original the boat which is a 1989 Sea Nymph SS 175...I know some of the newer light poles ether have 2 or 3 holes in the bottom of the pole to plug in to the socket..
Also woul you all think I would be better off to just replace both the front Nav light with a newer style pole and socket receptacle?
If not a pole light and socket receptacle should I just replace the bow light with one of those Deck flush mount bi/color instead of a pole light?
If your wondering I do not have a bow mount trolling motor which I am planing on getting one next year around February..

Another question could it be possible the light bulbs are bad and need to be replace? if so how do you go about taking it apart to replace the bulbs?

If there weather is nice tomorrow I will double check everything again to make sure I did not over look anything,Myself think I should upgrade the light pole and socket as I stated the light pole and socket I am pretty sure is all original and should replace it with something newer and up to date, I am just not sure if I should go with another light pole or a deck mount,so I am going to ask you all what would you all recommend I should do go with?

Thanks for any help you give me it would be greatly appreciated..

 

[roscoe]

Of course the bulb could be bad.
It gets bounced around on the trailer, and on the water, and they do just plain burn out.


open it up and check the bulb.

Then take out the bulb, grab your meter, and check for continuity between the socket and the wire pin at the bottom, just to make sure a wire has not come loose.

 

[Bondo]

I know there is power to the socket as I checked the wiring with a meter to make sure it had power and there was

Ayuh,... If the bulb is alright, Is the ground wire properly grounded to the ground buss bar,..??

 

[DarthVader]

Thanks everyone I will make sure to check everything out to see if ether the bulbs are burnt out or if there is a bad ground or other wire that might be bad..

 

[KD4UPL]

Unless you have a huge boat your lights are better termed a nav light for the red/green up front and an anchor light for the white one on the pole. Your light switch should have 2 positions: nav. and anchor. For nav both lights should be on. For anchor only the white one should be one. Bulbs, wires, sockets, switch, operator error, etc. could all be problems.

 

[DarthVader]

Unless you have a huge boat your lights are better termed a nav light for the red/green up front and an anchor light for the white one on the pole. Your light switch should have 2 positions: nav. and anchor. For nav both lights should be on. For anchor only the white one should be one. Bulbs, wires, sockets, switch, operator error, etc. could all be problems.

I not quite sure what you mean by better termed a Nav light for the red/green up front and an anchor light for the white one on the pole,

The way my boat is setup there is a Red/Green Nav Light on the Bow/Front of the boat and on the Stern/back which also is a pole light with just the white light..

As to the switch for the Nav Lights on my boat there is only one switch and it is a 2 way switch.. As I stated the light pole on the Stern/Back of the boat works fine and lights up.I only have a problem with the Bow/Front Nav Pole Light Red/Green not working..I have tried both positions on the switch and when I switch it to the Nav position only the Stern/Back of the boat works and when I switch it to the other side mine does not say what it is for I do only get the Stern/back of the boat working..