Navigation Lamp Not Illuminating: Solved

Electrical and electronic topics for small boats
jwaters58
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Navigation Lamp Not Illuminating: Solved

Postby jwaters58 » Sun Jun 05, 2022 8:27 pm

Q1: how is the electrical wiring on a 2007 190 OUTRAGE routed to the bow from the console for the navigation lamp circuit?

COROLLARY
Q2: is the wiring path in a 2007 190 OUTRAGE concealed in the rub rail?

Q3: does the wiring path in a 2008 190 OUTRAGE run through the hull?

ASIDE: There is electrical power at the helm switch but no power at the lamp.

Scott Grey
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Re: Navigation Lamp Not Illuminating

Postby Scott Grey » Tue Jun 28, 2022 4:06 pm

I had a problem with a 2006 190 OUTRAGE. A wire got pinched in the rub rail. The wire—from what I understand—travels straight from the navigation lamp, in the rub rail, along the port side, to the cover plate by the fuel fill.

The boat under discussion here most likely also has a pinched [broken] wire.

On the website BOSTONWHALER.COM [at an unspecified URL] there is a wiring diagram for the 190 OUTRAGE.

Look under the Explore header; go to Whaler Ownership; see a heading called resources and maintenance; look for your boat; find the wiring diagram so you can trace the wires—easy if you know what to look for; check the circuit continuity; locate the break in the circuit.

jimh
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Re: Give URL not a Narration of how to Navigate to the Resource

Postby jimh » Wed Jun 29, 2022 9:55 am

Please give the URL to the resource you suggest be consulted, rather than giving a narration of now to navigate the website.

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Phil T
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Re: Navigation Lamp Not Illuminating

Postby Phil T » Wed Jun 29, 2022 11:53 am

The wiring diagram from Whaler.com is available at https://www.bostonwhaler.com/content/dam/boston-whaler/technical/resources/190-Outrage-Wiring-Diagram-2007.pdf

To troubleshoot the navigation lamp electrical circuit:
  • inspect and test the lightbulb
  • remove lightbulb; check continuity check on the lamp base contacts
  • inspect the fuse for this circuit at the console, replace fuse if fuse is open
  • inspect all wiring connections from the fuse to the rear of the switch terminals.


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jimh
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Re: Navigation Lamp Not Illuminating

Postby jimh » Thu Jun 30, 2022 7:31 am

jwaters58 wrote:There is electrical power at the helm switch but no power at the lamp.
If there is power in the circuit at the helm console, then the fuse, the switch, and all associated wiring can be assumed to be good. However, if you only check with a DVM, there could be a high resistance in that circuit. To measure voltage a DVM only needs to draw a very small current. To illuminate an incandescent lamp, a much larger current is needed. If there is unusual resistance in the circuit, the lamp won't illuminate due to voltage drop across the high resistance. Remove the fuse, and measure the circuit resistance between the helm wiring and the lamp fixture contacts.

Of course, a defective lightbulb could also cause the lamp to not illuminate. Measure the resistance of the lamp circuit. With a good incandescent lightbulb, the total resistance in the circuit should be just a few Ohms. If the lightbulb filament is broken, the resistance should be infinite.

jwaters58 wrote:Q1: how is the electrical wiring on a 2007 190 OUTRAGE routed to the bow from the console for the navigation lamp circuit?
I don't know the exact path on this particular boat. At one time the circuit to a lamp at the bow would have been run concealed in the rub rail, as you suspect. To assess the path, I suggest locating the circuit at the console and following the conductors. Usually a lamp circuit will have two conductors: GRAY (+) and BLACK-with-GRAY stripe (-) or possibly YELLOW (-).

fno
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Re: Navigation Lamp Not Illuminating

Postby fno » Thu Jun 30, 2022 10:36 am

Not that this may be the case here, but I had many repetitive problems with navigation lamps in the early years of my 2005 210 Outrage. Usually the cause of the lack of illumination was a burned out festoon lightbulb or the contacts in the lamp fixture would get corroded and not make a solid circuit.

The festoon lightbulbs rely on tab pressure of the fixture to make good contact with the bulb, and a silicone grease is supposed to keep water out---does not work long term.

A long term solution is to replace the incandescent festoon bulb with an LED bulb. The second step is to solder the bulb into the fixture tabs. Since I did that there has been no failures in my navigation lights for about 10 years.

jwaters58
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Re: Navigation Lamp Not Illuminating

Postby jwaters58 » Fri Jul 01, 2022 11:17 am

With the information provided I was able to find the problem. For reference, the power was not leaving the wiring harness multiple pole connector. I separated the mating connectors and re-mated them; this restored the circuit and the problem was solved. Thanks again.

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Re: Navigation Lamp Not Illuminating: Solved

Postby jimh » Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:48 am

Getting the follow up with the remedy is very good information.

In modern boat building the use of pre-assembled wiring harnesses is typical. The wiring at the helm console will typically be pre-installed as the helm console is being assembled while not on the boat. For the electrical circuits, this means that some method of connecting the console wiring to the wiring installed in the hull must be provided. For Boston Whaler boats the method employed is often a multi-pole connector with many circuits running through one larger multi-pole connector connector on individual wires and contacts for that circuit

It is also typical that the connectors used employ contacts that can be crimped onto the wire conductor and then inserted into the connector body from the back side of the connector. The contact itself and the connector body are made so that the contact latches into position when fully inserted into the connector body. If an individual contact is not quite fully inserted into the connector body, it could be held in place just by being wrapped into a cable bundle, which provides some resistance to movement. But if the contact is not fully inserted and has not become properly latched, the contact could tend to pull away from its mating contact in the other mating connector body. This could be related to the problem you found with a particular circuit becoming disconnected at the point of passing through the multi-pole connector.

You should check the circuit for the navigation lamp at the multi=pole connector to verify that the contacts on each of the two mating connectors for that circuit have been fully inserted into the connector body and are firmly latched in place.

As seen in the OEM wiring diagram (linked above) there are actually two multi-pole connectors used in the wiring harness for the helm console on the boat under discussion.

The connector identified by legend RECEPTACLE 1 mates with PLUG 1 and carries the fused power distribution circuit to the switch panel on CONTACT 5.

The connector identified by legend RECEPTACLE 2 mates with PLUG 2 (shown on Sheet 2 of the drawing) and carries the fused and switched circuit power to the lamp load on CONTACT 5(for the sidelight lamp and on CONTACT 7 for the white all-round lamp.

A careful inspection of those contacts might reveal that one of them was not completely latched in place.