need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

[flatsfishingallday]

Ive been trying to hook up my nav lights to a toggle switch but when i do the wire gets extremely hot. im using 16 gauge wire and when i hook the light directly to the light it doesn't get hot. my current set up is nav light to switch and battery to switch and thats where it gets really hot. any help would be greatly appreciated thanks.

 

[emoney]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

Can you share more about what type of switch you're using? Is it a 3 prong toggle? If so, I've always went hot wire from battery to the long prong on the switch, opposite prong to a grounding strip (I think this gets a better ground) and then ran a hot wire from the light to a fuse block/inline fuse holder to the middle prong. Run the ground wire from the light to the grounding strip too. And, of course, the negative from the battery to the main point on the grounding strip. I don't like to wire anything on the boat without a fuse, and I, for one, won't run wires that don't go into a "fuse buss", because they're cleaner, only require one set of wires to the battery, easier to maintain and much, much easier to add things later on down the road.

 

[flatsfishingallday]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

its a 2 prong toggle switch. what i don't get is why the wires get so hot.

 

[flatsfishingallday]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

if i got a 6 prong switch would this help any?

 

[Bondo]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

Ive been trying to hook up my nav lights to a toggle switch but when i do the wire gets extremely hot. im using 16 gauge wire and when i hook the light directly to the light it doesn't get hot. my current set up is nav light to switch and battery to switch and thats where it gets really hot. any help would be greatly appreciated thanks.

Ayuh,... Welcome Aboard,... Where's the grounds runnin',..??

Sounds like a short somewhere... any fuse in the line,..??

 

[KX6D]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

its a 2 prong toggle switch. what i don't get is why the wires get so hot.

The wire gets hot because of excessive current flow. How many lights are you turning on? Please tell me at least TWO! 16ga for two lights SHOULD be ok. LED lights pull a lot less current and would work with a 16ga wire for sure.

Where EXACTLY is the wire getting hot and what wire is it? Your description, even after reading it three times, is hard to translate.

If the wire from the battery is getting hot, is this only when the switch is on? There could be a ground fault inside the switch (unlikely, but possible).

If the SWITCH is getting hot, it could be underrated for the load (also very unlikely).

If the wire to the nav light is getting hot, its possible there is a short to ground somewhere between the switch and the nav light.

Please be more descriptive and I will do my best to help. I'll save the fuse comments for later.

 

[flatsfishingallday]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

thank you and i put the wire from the battery(both positive and negative) to the bow light's pos nd neg then i hooked the lines up to the toggle switch
and i don't have a inline fuse yet

 

[flatsfishingallday]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

the whole entire wire gets hot from battery to switch. and i am trying to only run the bow light. the toggle switch works but the wire gets really hot and like i said the wire is fine when i hook up the light directly to the battery. also this is how i hooked it up i put the wire from the battery(both positive and negative) to the bow light's pos nd neg then i hooked the lines up to the toggle switch

 

[Silvertip]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

You cannot properly wire NAV lights with a SPST (two prong switch). First -- when the boat is at anchor ONLY the stern light is to be on. When the boat is under power or drifting, both the bow and stern lights are to be on. You need either a three terminal switch with a diode, or a six terminal switch. Here are two diagrams showing wiring for both ways. If you would have used the SEARCH feature you would have found those diagrams many times.

 

[flatsfishingallday]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

with the 6 prong toggle switch can i put the negative from the bow light and anchor light onto the middle right where the battery's negative is? or how would i do that? also would this stop the wires from getting hot?
sorry i dont know much about nav lights

 

[KX6D]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

with the 6 prong toggle switch can i put the negative from the bow light and anchor light onto the middle right where the battery's negative is? or how would i do that? also would this stop the wires from getting hot?
sorry i dont know much about nav lights

NO! The negative wire should go directly to the light. The positive wire should go from the battery, to the switch, and then to the positive wire on the nav light. Do you understand the excellent diagrams Silvertip posted?

To be a little clearer, usually the negative wire goes to a strip or junction with a lot of other negative wires. ONLY the positive wire goes to the switch!

 

[flatsfishingallday]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

ok so pretty much
Top row left – bow light
Top row right – white stern light and short jumper wire
Middle row left – 12 + power positive?
Middle row right – 12 + power positive?
Bottom row left – nothing
Bottom row right – short jumper wire that is connected to the top row right terminal

then i put the negative wire from the battery bow light and anchor light together? or am i totally off about all of this?lol

 

[KX6D]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

ok so pretty much
Top row left – bow light
Top row right – white stern light and short jumper wire
Middle row left – 12 + power positive?
Middle row right – 12 + power positive?
Bottom row left – nothing
Bottom row right – short jumper wire that is connected to the top row right terminal

then i put the negative wire from the battery bow light and anchor light together? or am i totally off about all of this?lol

Almost. The 6 terminal switch (DPDT or Double Pole Double Throw) has two modes... In the UP position (middle and bottom terminals connected) it powers the Bow AND Stern lights (NAV). In the DOWN position (middle and top terminals connected) it powers only the Stern (ANCHOR) light. The picture shows the back of the switch upside down so it can be confusing. The bow light should be on the bottom left in the picture. Here is what you want...looking at the back of the switch:

Top row left – nothing
Top row right – short jumper wire (stern light could go here or bottom right)
Middle row left – 12 + power positive
Middle row right – short jumper wire to middle left
Bottom row left – bow light
Bottom row right – white stern light and short jumper wire that is connected to the top row right terminal

Connect all the negative (black) wires together and make sure they have a path back to the battery.

 

[Bondo]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

the whole entire wire gets hot from battery to switch. and i am trying to only run the bow light. the toggle switch works but the wire gets really hot and like i said the wire is fine when i hook up the light directly to the battery. also this is how i hooked it up i put the wire from the battery(both positive and negative) to the bow light's pos nd neg then i hooked the lines up to the toggle switch

thank you and i put the wire from the battery(both positive and negative) to the bow light's pos nd neg then i hooked the lines up to the toggle switch
and i don't have a inline fuse yet

Ayuh,.... That by description, is a Dead Short...

Only the Positive side should go anywhere near the switch...

 

[Silvertip]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

Each line in the diagram is a wire. Follow the diagram. Grounds NEVER go to a switch unless the switch has a light in it. Ground is wherever you find it but ultimately it is the negative terminal of the battery.

 

[flatsfishingallday]

Re: need help hooking up nav lights to toggle switch?

thank you used this and got it up and running now and everythings fine thanks!