Burned out diode?

T

tga1958

Recruit
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
3
Good morning.
Wire.jpg
I'm having trouble with my bow/stern lights. When I select to have both on, one of the wires with an inline (diode?) heats
up, and the light fails. Now he stern light only works when selected alone. you can see the burned looking diode
in the picture. Any suggestions?

Thank you,

Tom
 
G

glenn property of pam

Commander
Joined
Feb 17, 2012
Messages
2,906
Re: Burned out diode?

diodes do fail sometimes and all the time when overloaded or shorted. you should be able to get another to replace it. get a few then put a small fuse in line with one to use as a test, if theres a short the fuse will pop showing the problem is somewhere else.
 
wingless

wingless

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 7, 2009
Messages
195
Re: Burned out diode?

The diode has a maximum current rating.

The replacement bulbs for the navigation lights have many options, all with different current draws.

It is possible that burnt-out lamps have been replaced w/ bulbs that draw too much current for the diode.

What bulbs are in the lamps? What markings are on the diode? How does the forward / reverse test results look for the diode?
 
EricJRW

EricJRW

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 3, 2010
Messages
488
Re: Burned out diode?

Picking up where wingless left off, if bulbs are suspect, you could replace with newer LED models. That would reduce the current draw by quite a bit.
 
T

tga1958

Recruit
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
3
Re: Burned out diode?

Thanks very much for the suggestions. I know that the bulbs haven't been replaced in years, so I'm pretty sure I can rule that out, but I'll try replacing the diode with an inline fuse and go from there.

Again, Thank you.

Tom
 
EricJRW

EricJRW

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 3, 2010
Messages
488
Re: Burned out diode?

Should there not already be a fuse on the +12V side? I would trace the the wire back to the distribution panel, or the source. If it's not fused, it should be. No need to replace the diode with a fuse, just make sure you have a fuse and replace the diode. Since there are two diodes, you should be able to get the number off the other easily.
 
T

tga1958

Recruit
Joined
Sep 16, 2010
Messages
3
Re: Burned out diode?

Thanks to everyone for the help.
It turns out that I had replaced the switch a couple of months ago because of a broken toggle, and had put the new
one in wrong. That's what burned out the diode. Replaced he diode, correctly wired the switch, and it's new again.
Great forum.

Tom
 
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