Electrical Problem

[MASTER Brian]

I recently wired up a stereo and a 12v power outlet. I believe I ran the ground from the 12v and the stereo to the negative battery terminal and I ran the secondary, always hot, power from the radio to the positive termal. The main, non constant, power from radio and the hot wire from the 12v power I tapped into the fuse panel for my other 12v power outlet.

The radio seems to work fine, as does the 12v power when I plug my mp3 player into the outlet, but when I plug my spotlight into either 12v outlet, it doesn't come on and my radio turns off.

I had also wired in a dome light in the glove box, which is where I installed the radio and the 2nd 12v outlet. The dome light has an on/auto/off, which I was hoping I could take advantage of all settings, but it also gave me issues. I was trying to pull the "on" hot wire from the wiring from the radio and the "auto" and the "ground" wire from under the dash at the interior light switch. I finally gave up on using the "on" feature on the dome light because it gave me problems as well. I can't remember, but it may have kicked off the radio as well. But the light works fine when I turn on my boats interior lights and the way it's wired, using only 2 wires tied directly to the factory/interior lights.

What is most likely my problem?? Is it possible the spotlight draws too many amps? I have 2) 10 amp fuses feeding my radio. There are 2 because one is on back of the radio and the other is in my fuse box. Is it possible the cigarette lighter is wired up backwards? It has a red and black wire, I can't believe I would have crossed the 2.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Electrical Problem

You said "I recently wired up a stereo and a 12v power outlet. I believe I ran the ground from the 12v and the stereo to the negative battery terminal -------".

I don't understand what you mean by "running the ground from the 12V!" Ground wires should never be connected to +12V. You need to clarify and it would be a great deal of help if you drew a diagram of "exactly" how you have things wired.

When you say the spot light cuts off the radio, do you mean it blows the fuse or the radio just shuts off? The red wire on the accessory outlet should connect to the center pin. The shell of the outlet is ground. Yes, the spot light will draw much more current than any of the other accessories. In fact, the battery itself may not be fully charged and by turning on the spot light the voltage drops low enough so the radio cuts off. But the fact that you are losing power to various devices suggests you have a grounding issue.

 

[MASTER Brian]

Re: Electrical Problem

You said "I recently wired up a stereo and a 12v power outlet. I believe I ran the ground from the 12v and the stereo to the negative battery terminal -------".

I don't understand what you mean by "running the ground from the 12V!" Ground wires should never be connected to +12V. You need to clarify and it would be a great deal of help if you drew a diagram of "exactly" how you have things wired.

I meant I ran the ground from the 12v outlet to the ground terminal on battery.

When you say the spot light cuts off the radio, do you mean it blows the fuse or the radio just shuts off? The red wire on the accessory outlet should connect to the center pin. The shell of the outlet is ground. Yes, the spot light will draw much more current than any of the other accessories. In fact, the battery itself may not be fully charged and by turning on the spot light the voltage drops low enough so the radio cuts off. But the fact that you are losing power to various devices suggests you have a grounding issue.

The spot light doesn't blow any fuses, it just forces the radio to die out while I try to use the spotlight. As soon as I turn off the spotlight the radio comes back.

The battery appears to be fully charged as it's recently been on a battery charger and/or running/charging the boat all day long. Volts are also up according to my depth finder.

I'll try to draw up a diagram and get it up by tomorrow of how things "should" be wired. I say "should" because it's been a month since I hooked it all up and I'll have to pull things out to ensure something didn't get crossed. Unfortuneately that isn't a real easy task! ...and it is possible I got something crossed or a connection came loose.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Electrical Problem

i have a separate pair of wirew run just for my spot light. 400,000 candle power Q beam, basicly a car head light, that draw mucho power.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Electrical Problem

More than likely you have a bad connection causing a voltage drop somewhere. You don't get that much voltage drop when your stereo is on but your spotlight will.

What size wire did you run?

 

[burroak]

Re: Electrical Problem

I have a complete small boat wiring diagram. It is in an Adobe pdf form which is too large to attach with the limits of the iboats site. If you will PM me with your e-mail I'll send it to you.

 

[MASTER Brian]

Re: Electrical Problem

More than likely you have a bad connection causing a voltage drop somewhere. You don't get that much voltage drop when your stereo is on but your spotlight will.

What size wire did you run?

I'll double check the connections, I just hope I can pull the stereo housing back out. I made it a tight fit.

I'm not sure what gauge of wire I used, but I can check that as well. Off the top of my head I would say 10 or 12 gauge. I know it's at least twice that of the stock wiring on the boat. Which again could be the problem. If all checks out, maybe I'll run an isolated plug just for this spot light.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Electrical Problem

10 or 12 is huge...could probably get away with 16 so that shouldn't be your problem.

 

[MASTER Brian]

Re: Electrical Problem

10 or 12 is huge...could probably get away with 16 so that shouldn't be your problem.

That's what I would think, I just used what I had.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Electrical Problem

Put one lead of your meter on the battery...may need to make some long testclips. The other lead of your meter will go to the back of the lighter socket. Measure the voltage drop when you have your light on.

Do the same for the ground...ground of battery and ground of the lighter socket.

Both of these should measure close to 0V. The one with the large voltage measured will be the side that has a bad connection somewhere.