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Looking for some help with my running lights and mast light. They have appeared to stop working on me. I did rewire the boat as the original was a rats nest, but re-hooked everything back up and had not extra wires, but it appears that the running lights and mast light have decided to stop.

Does anyone know how the wiring works??

The cabin lights work no problems but the other 2 switches on the original aren't.

But I manage to get the little access hole open under the back seat and run power directly to the stern light, from the battery and it powered all the lights on the boat, and i could turn off the cabin lights but of course not the running as there was direct power, so it does not seem to be an issue with the wiring per se.

any help or advice would be a great help or an explanation on how the boat is wired. as behind the panel I see all of one side of the circuit comes to a screw and the others go to the panel.(not sure if that is the power or return)

Thanks
98 26X

The wires tied together with the screw are all ground wires to the various circuits at the breaker panel, if I recall correctly. The wire coming off the screw cluster runs to the negative post on your house battery, if I recall correctly. To eliminate all doubt, you'll want to pick up an inexpensive 12 volt test light or a little multitester (there are small, inexpensive ones available), and test your circuits. You should be able to verify the ground wires. The other wires at the panel should be the positive wires to various circuits. You can then test for continuity. If any of the lights you're having trouble with are LED bulbs, be sure and try reversing them, since LED's are polarity sensitive. Also, be suspect of the cabin roof plug connection for your mast steaming light, since corrosion can be a problem there. Also, remove the lens covers for the bow and stern lights and inspect the contacts for the bulbs. Corrosion there can also be a problem.

Good luck. Wiring problems can be vexing, but with patience you should be able to figure out the problem.

I always throw a little dielectric grease in my plug in connectors. Helps slow the corrosion and ensure conductivity.

I had a similar problem since I bought the boat years ago, and I just fixed it last weekend. If the root cause of your problem is the same as mine (unlikely, I know) then it's an easy fix.

In my particular case, the problem turned out to be twofold. First, the small deck-top fitting (PERKO 1190DP0CHR, $25 on Amazon.ca) was receiving voltage, but it wasn't being sent up the mast. Some searching found that the 2-prong male connector had cracked inside its casing and a slight pull detached one of the prongs from the rubber boot. A new connector came with the PERKO1190 kit from Amazon, so I swapped it out and then I had voltage at the light itself but still no light.

I took the light apart and found that the two prongs that hold the bulb in place actually had about 12V when tested with a tester but couldn't light the light. The prongs themselves have little indentations that grasp the bulb, and while these looked fine they weren't making contact. I took a drill with a largish bit and using the point I "sanded" the indentations so they were bright and shiny and VOILA!!! Light.

I left the light on for several hours, enjoying the success.

During this process I was happy to discover the use for a switch inside the cabin that I never knew the function of. It is a simple metal on/off toggle switch located under and just inboard from the main breaker panel. I finally figured out that it controls a third wire that comes out beside the Perko deck-top fitting, which allows separate control of the steaming light and the deck light. I always connected that third wire without questioning why it was there, since the lights didn't work anyway, I though it might have something to do with the VHF antenna. Of course the antenna has its own separate connector, but I never really questioned the whole setup.

Did you make a diagram of the wiring before you re-wired? This is necessary to trace wiring. Referring to your diagram, trace the wiring as follows:
Turn the breakers off and disconnect the battery terminals. Start at the battery posts and trace the wiring checking for continuity (put the meter on the beep setting) and shorts. Continuity means the wire makes a connection between the points you think it should. Shorts means it does not make a connection where it should not. So, check the battery negative to the screw with all the wires (should get a beep). Then check to see if there is continuity to any of the positive leads (hope not). Repeat for the battery positive to the breaker panel input. Then check between negative supply (battery or screw with all ganged up) and the negative at the lights. Repeat for breaker to positive for lights.
Key to all this is to have a diagram.

Starscream wrote:In my particular case, the problem turned out to be twofold. First, the small deck-top fitting (PERKO 1190DP0CHR, $25 on Amazon.ca) was receiving voltage, but it wasn't being sent up the mast. Some searching found that the 2-prong male connector had cracked inside its casing and a slight pull detached one of the prongs from the rubber boot. A new connector came with the PERKO1190 kit from Amazon, so I swapped it out and then I had voltage at the light itself but still no light.
<snip>
During this process I was happy to discover the use for a switch inside the cabin that I never knew the function of. It is a simple metal on/off toggle switch located under and just inboard from the main breaker panel. I finally figured out that it controls a third wire that comes out beside the Perko deck-top fitting, which allows separate control of the steaming light and the deck light. I always connected that third wire without questioning why it was there, since the lights didn't work anyway, I though it might have something to do with the VHF antenna. Of course the antenna has its own separate connector, but I never really questioned the whole setup.

I'm confused about your setup. It's a 2-pole plug, so only two wires up the mast. Does the masthead (steaming) light also have a deck light, aimed downward, with diodes to select which gets lit, and the toggle switch used to reverse the polarity?

OP: The running light circuits are just three 2-wire branches; one to the stern light, one to the bi-color sidelights (bow light), and one to the masthead (steaming) light on the mast via the deck connection. The stern and sidelights are switched together, and the masthead light is separate, as it's not used when under sail power alone (just the stern and sidelights). The first two were originally wired with spade lugs to the switch, and both were connected to the switch, so there were two wires coming off that one switch. The negative leads were connected with all the others with a screw and nut (I wonder if that's ABYC compliant? ). The masthead light is on its own switch, but again, the negative is connected to all the others via machine screw and nut. That bundle of negative leads has one more lead, which goes down to the batter negative post.

You should be able to put +12V to each of the three leads at the switches and get light. Unless there's a break in the wiring somewhere. Or the negatives aren't connected to the main negative conductor to the battery, which you may have left off. Easy enough to do, with that nest of wires in there.

Oh, and if you did any poking around with the power on, it's possible you blew one or more fuses. If it's the cheap-o original panel, you need to use a pin or paperclip to pop the release for the fuse holders.

My particular setup has 3 wires going up the mast. There is a decklight and a steaming light in the same fixture on the mast. The main breaker panel switches on the steaming light, and the second, previously unidentified switch in the cabin switches on the deck light but only if the steaming light is also on. I have four separate wires coming up out of the cabintop: the Perko (2 wires), a separate wire for the deck light, and the VHF.

I had actually bought a cheap replacement combo decklight/steaming light and its wiring diagram showed a multi-wire setup. That's where I first got the inkling that the unmarked cabin switch could be the decklight. Actually, the new wiring diagram suggested that I run four wires up the mast, something that looks like a real pain to do, so that's why I gave a second effort on troubleshooting.

During troubleshooting I was using a voltmeter to follow the voltage and I noticed something odd that I couldn't explain. When checking the voltage in the Perko switch, it was very close to a 12V differential from prong to prong. However, when checking the voltage between each individual prong of the Perko and the mast, it was zero no matter what. I thought I might be able to confirm which terminal was ground and which was positive by checking it against the mast but the meter never showed any potential between the mast and either of the terminals. Still not sure why.

Because the mast is not bonded to the negative post of the battery. The stays all terminate on fiberglass, and the tabernacle is the same.

At least that how it looks from waaaay over here.

Falcon6086 wrote: But I manage to get the little access hole open under the back seat and run power directly to the stern light, from the battery and it powered all the lights on the boat, and i could turn off the cabin lights but of course not the running as there was direct power, so it does not seem to be an issue with the wiring per se.

I'm confused by this.

Are you saying you wired direct to the stern light and all the running lights came on? This would indicate the running lights are all connected together.

And then there is the " I did rewire the boat as the original was a rats nest"
It would seem you missed something. You are going to have to trace and label everything until you find the missing running light wires.

Yes, I have already gone through a few fuses. Thinking that the screw was the positive.

Does anyone know if there are other connections other than those at the panel and the lights that may be failing? Assuming it is all factory wiring, Which I believe it to be!

Are those crimp connectors known to fail? I was thinking about just replacing them all for good measure.

Thanks for the help so far, I will try all of these things and report back as to my findings.

The original wire used by the factory is white lamp cord wire. When I rewired our boat I replaced all wiring with marine grade wire of appropriate gauge. I installed a new breaker panel, and made up all connections using heat shrink waterproof ring connectors, again paying attention to wire and ring size. I would recommend these procedures. Also, spring for a good quality wire stripper and ratchet crimping tool. With these procedures, along with careful labeling, you should be able to greatly reduce, if not eliminate, your electrical problems.

Lamp cord - depends when the boat was built. In 2012, they used 14 AWG marine wire.

Seems to me this project has gone very wrong. Really, I recommend you stop and make a wiring diagram as you trace the wires back from the lights to the panel and from the battery to the panel. Understand what the function of each breaker is intended to be and label wires as you go. Pick up a proper ratcheting crimp tool.

Things to look for:
The wire to the bow light and possibly the mast light. Check at the chainplates and make sure it is not pinched.
Get rid of that all grounds on a screw and replace with a terminal block and marine crimps
Check the condition of all existing splices and connections to the lights
Check the polarity of all wires and keep uniform (RED is DC positive, BLACK or YELLOW DC negative, GREEN DC ground). If you have other colors such as white, make sure the use is uniform.
If you do not have marine type wire - replace it. Marine wire has all copper conductors tinned.

So I figured it out, It didn't go "all wrong". with the help and info from Chinook, I managed to figure it out and it was just as simple as reversed polarity on the running lights. What was throwing me off was the fact that the interior lights where working as they are LED also, and the fact that the running lights worked before cleaning up the wiring.

But all is good now, I just changed the end connectors and switched the polarity and done like dinner. I did some continuity tests, then ran a lead directly to the wire leads to the lights and they lit up from the panel connections, so I knew that there was no issue with the wiring itself. then tried to run the light alone by touching them to the leads to the panel and they didn't light up, switched the ends around and they turned on.

I then ran a wire from the mast light outlet to the wire at the bottom of the mast (mast is in storage position) and it lit up as well, but the connections are really dirty so I will give them a little sand and clean them up.

All is good on the light front now.

Thanks for the info everyone. Now If i could only figure out why my AIS+ is not getting the LAT and LONG from my GPS, but that is a different thread!!!

Falcon6086 wrote:Thanks for the info everyone. Now If i could only figure out why my AIS+ is not getting the LAT and LONG from my GPS, but that is a different thread!!!

It may seem silly, but make sure the serial interface (and possibly the message itself) is enabled in your GPS's configuration. It was not a default setting on mine...

Doug (DHK79)

On my Lowrance GPS the NEMA socket can also be used for speed and temp fitting, it needs to be setup in the menu to NEMA to send the data to a another device as speed / temp is the default setting for the socket