Navigation Lamp Wiring

[BBQ BOY]

I am not a very experienced handyman and know little about wiring and electrical. I do like to try to work on things though. I bought a new [white all-round lamp] from Boston Whaler [for a MONTAUK 17 boat]. I need help to wire it to the existing wiring.

The lamp came with a quick connect, so that is helpful, but the other end has a grey and black wire, whereas the existing wires from the panel are both brown.

Should I throw the existing wire out and start over? If so, is there something specific I need to look for?

[jimh]

Connect the two conductors from the new lamp to the terminals on the hull bulwark. If the lamp has an incandescent lightbulb, the lamp has no polarity. If the lamp has an LED, observe polarity.

For help in identification of wire color codes, see

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... de.html#BW

HINT: battery negative is BLACK; a navigation lamp circuit is GRAY or GRAY with BLACK Stripe

Use the new cable and wires that came with the new lamp to make the connection to the terminal post. Attach ring terminals to the pre-stripped wires. There is seldom any good reason to re-use old wire in a old boat. New wire is inexpensive.

[BBQ BOY]

I connected the wires together ad no matter the polarity, it doesn't work. The fuses look good and the bulb looks good. The bow lights are on the same switch and they work.

[jimh]

BASIC ELECTRICAL TROUBLESHOOTING or DIAGNOSIS

Basic electrical troubleshooting procedures will help you find many simple electrical problems on small recreational boats.

Begin at the load where you anticipate having voltage. Measure the voltage. If there is no voltage, follow the conductor from the load back toward the source of the voltage. When you reach the next device, measure the voltage. At some point you will find the voltage. You have now found the point from which the problem is downstream. Begin to inspect all devices such as connections, splices, terminals, fuses, switches, circuit breakers, lugs, crimps, etc., looking for some device or connection which has failed. In this way you will locate the problem. When you locate the device causing the problem you can choose to repair or replace the device.

In circuits which operate at 12-volts DC it is very common that a slight bit of corrosion or insulation on a conductor will prevent conduction. With a low voltage circuit the Electromotive Force (EMF) or voltage will not be able to jump through the insulating layer and restore the circuit. In higher voltage circuits the EMF can jump through small amounts of insulating corrosion and self-restore the circuit. With 12-volts it takes but a very thin layer of insulation to prevent flow of current.

Because boats are operating in a wet environment, it is common for electrical connections to become corroded. If you have any bare copper conductors, they will form an oxide of copper which may not be conductive. Silver is much preferred because silver oxides are conductive. For this reason almost all wiring used in a marine application should be tinned and connections should be tinned or silver plated, not bare copper.

Switch contacts should not be cleaned with rough abrasives. Usually a switch contact can be restored by careful cleaning. If an abrasive is needed use 600-grit emery cloth. You can wet-sand with a cleaner like WD-40. The contacts should be very smooth, almost polished. Do not abrade-away the precious metal (gold or silver) of the actual contacts.

Another maxim I have developed after many years of experience:

If trouble develops in any battery operated electrical system, the first component to check is the battery.