Troubleshooting stern all-around light

[garbageguy]

I've searched the threads, but can't seem to find what I'm looking for.

The stern all-around light on my 24 ft Wellcraft (standard pole/plug-in setup) worked intermittently last season, has been fine this season, but now is not working again. Bulb looks good. Bow nav lights work fine. I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to begin troubleshooting this problem.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

start with a volt-ohm meter. check the bulb for continuity. if that checks out, check voltage at the bulb socket. from there keep back tracing to the switch until you find the problem

 

[Bondo]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

I've searched the threads, but can't seem to find what I'm looking for.

The stern all-around light on my 24 ft Wellcraft (standard pole/plug-in setup) worked intermittently last season, has been fine this season, but now is not working again. Bulb looks good. Bow nav lights work fine. I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to begin troubleshooting this problem.

Ayuh,.... It's either a bad power connection, or a bad ground connection,...

You'll have to Look, with a test light, to see which is the problem,....

 

[NYBo]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

The usual culprit is the connection between the socket and the pole.

 

[Bayou Dave]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

In my case I got lucky. I knew I had power going to it and knew the bulb was good. After a few tries in the socket I spun the pole 180 degrees, put it back in the socket and it worked. I noticed that the connections were a little different depending on which way the pole was inserted.

 

[garbageguy]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

NYBo, both the socket and the pole contacts look very clean and dry. If that's the culprit, what would you do to remedy it?

DR, the socket on mine has a groove where screws on the pole line up to fit in, so I don't think it can be spun around 180 degrees. Is yours that way?

Again, I appreciate the input on this and any other thoughts. I'm going to try to get down to her this weekend with a test meter.

 

[Bayou Dave]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

"DR, the socket on mine has a groove where screws on the pole line up to fit in, so I don't think it can be spun around 180 degrees. Is yours that way?"

Mine seems to be the same way. Try it one way, pull it out, spin it 180 degrees and try putting it back in again. May or may not solve your problem.
Dave

 

[Bondo]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

NYBo, both the socket and the pole contacts look very clean and dry. If that's the culprit, what would you do to remedy it?

DR, the socket on mine has a groove where screws on the pole line up to fit in, so I don't think it can be spun around 180 degrees. Is yours that way?

Again, I appreciate the input on this and any other thoughts. I'm going to try to get down to her this weekend with a test meter.

Ayuh,.... If the pins in the socket are split, spread 'em a tiny bit, with a tiny blade,...

Test the wires for Power, 'n ground,....

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

start with a volt-ohm meter. check the bulb for continuity. if that checks out, check voltage at the bulb socket. from there keep back tracing to the switch until you find the problem

'nuff said

 

[garbageguy]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

The bulb and pole tested out OK for continuity with ohm meter. Started trying to test socket for voltage, then got distracted. While out yesterday put the pole in before sunset - nothing - start heading in. All of a sudden passenger says "the light came on". I was adjusting trim when the light came on. Get to stay out a little bit longer!

So, it works, but I don't know if anything changed (did contacts get spread while testing?, did trim operation have anything to do with it?, did something just get jarred re-connecting a loose ground?). Probably will still be an intermittent problem, ground somewhere.

Just wanted to post a follow-up, thanks for all the input. Wish I had a solid resolution to report.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

start with a volt-ohm meter. check the bulb for continuity. if that checks out, check voltage at the bulb socket. from there keep back tracing to the switch until you find the problem

Just to add to this, sometimes you will measure voltage but once a load is put on, the voltage will go away due to a high resistance connection somewhere. This actually might be a better place to use a test light.

For my meter, I actually created a load plug that gets inserted into the meter and then the leads get attached to it.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

Bruce, what size and wattage resistor in your load plug? I assume a .1 ohm, 25 watt resistor to keep the temp rise down?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

Doesn't even have to be close to that size just to test. A 100Ω 2W resistor will simulate a 1.5W load at 12V. A small light bulb is 5W.

0.1Ω would ohm would be 1400Watts!!!!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

ooops, attempting to do the math in my head while attempting to multi task (while at work) - went wrong direction with gozinta vs naughts... 10 ohm is what I should have typed shooting for 1ish amp. however the 5W load would work for the all-around light.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Troubleshooting stern all-around light

I use something like this that has set screws for the resistor. I like using a slightly higher resistor value so I don't draw too much current in case I probe wrong but still put a very small load on it. This will plug directly into most meters if they have a standard distance between the ? inputs.