13-footer Lamp Circuits

Repair or modification of Boston Whaler boats, their engines, trailers, and gear
JDA
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Joined: Thu Apr 21, 2022 10:11 am

13-footer Lamp Circuits

Postby JDA » Sun Apr 24, 2022 1:34 pm

F6D4D20F-7D36-412D-8890-4F2A4D71DCB6.jpeg
Fig. 1. A terminal strip [presumably near the engine splash well by deduction of seeing a Norman Pin in the background].
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Q1: does the terminal strip both power the white all-round lamp and the bi-color combined sidelight lamp?

Q2: how is the pole lamp removed if wired to the terminal strip?

Q3: [what is the the reason] Boston Whaler did not route the navigation lamp circuits to the helm console?

On the helm console is one pull switch but nothing was wired to it.

The exposed wires running through the hull look good.

ASIDE: I bought a very nice 13-footer in 2021 from original owner, but I did not ask him enough questions.

12215120-2004-42A9-A556-896CB1A70088.jpeg
Fig. 2. [No caption provided. Please write a caption that explains what this photo is supposed to show the readers.]
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C4BAB050-69A4-49EF-A5FB-A2E908AD0494.jpeg
Fig. 3. The miniature electric lightbulb from the pole lamp.
C4BAB050-69A4-49EF-A5FB-A2E908AD0494.jpeg (26.86 KiB) Viewed 3518 times

jimh
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Re: 13-footer Lamp Circuits

Postby jimh » Sun Apr 24, 2022 6:17 pm

Navigation lighting on a 13-footer was often an option.

As discussed in the FAQ at Q4, the he wiring for the combined sidelight lamp at the bow is carried inside the hull in small boats made prior to c.1972.

https://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/FAQ/#Q4

The wiring usually exits at the terminal strip aft near the transom.

In Figure 1 there is not enough detail to see if there is a circuit from the bow that is connected to the terminals.

Give a better view of the terminal strip.

Based what can be seen in Figure 1, it appears that two external cables are terminated on the two-pole terminal strip. Also, the position of that terminal strip appears odd. Usually the terminal strip is located on the inwale or cockpit bulwark, and the hidden wiring from the combined sidelights lamp connects to the terminal strip.

Continuing to refer to Figure 1, one cable has a connector with two sockets. The other cable has a connector with four pole connector with four pins.

Referring to Figure 2, something else in the boat--perhaps a pole lamp for the white all-round light--has a two-pole connector with pins. My inference is that cable is intended to mate with the two-pole connector with sockets at the terminal strip.

If there is nothing wired to the pull-switch at the console, then that switch cannot control the navigation lighting.

Is there another connector on the boat that has four-poles and has sockets?

jimh
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Re: 13-footer Lamp Circuits

Postby jimh » Sun Apr 24, 2022 7:00 pm

JDA wrote:Q1: does the terminal strip near the aft navigation lamp power the white all-round lamp and the bi-color combined sidelight lamp?
I cannot deduce the arrangement from the information provided.

With regard to being able to control two lamps independently with one switch, the switch would need to be a three-position switch. The resting position would be all lamps off. The second position would be for one lamp to be illuminated. The third position would be for another lamp to be for both lamps to be illuminated.

With regard to navigation lamps, the usual function is to have three positions: OFF; at anchor: underway.

With regard to what you need on a 13-foot boat: I don't think there will be a great number of instances where a 13-foot boat will be left at anchor all night and will need to show an anchor light. On that basis there is not a great harm if the lamps are wired in parallel and the switch just controls them both, either both on or both off.

We know nothing about the switch on the console.

Q4: how many positions are there in the pole switch?

Q5: if there are three switch positions on the pull switch, verify the switch is a very specialized switch that can produce the function: OFF, On 1; On 1 and On 2.

This special three-position pull switch is described in a REFERENCE article, and is used on many Boston Whaler classic-era boats. Also see the article on Cole-Hersee switches.

jimh
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Re: 13-footer Lamp Circuits

Postby jimh » Mon Apr 25, 2022 9:45 am

Figure 4 below shows the terminal strip location on my 1976 SPORT 15 boat.

terminalStripSPORT15.jpg
Fig. 4. The OEM terminal strip on a 1976 SPORT 15. The pole lamp circuit connected by push-on terminals to allow the lamp to be removed and stowed. The combined sidelights lamp connects by wiring running in the hull, seen as the conductors with GRAY insulation, The red/black two-conductor cable brings power to the circuit from a switch on the helm console. The terminal strip is on the aft port inwale or cockpit bulkhead.
terminalStripSPORT15.jpg (10.66 KiB) Viewed 3471 times


The push-on connectors were a bit of a kluge fashioned by a previous owner. They were not elegant, but they worked. The boat was always used in freshwater, so there was not much concern about weather protection.

In many Boston Whaler OEM installations a small plastic molded lightweight cover was installed to protect the terminal strip from weather and splash.

jimh
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Re: 13-footer Lamp Circuits

Postby jimh » Mon Apr 25, 2022 9:54 am

JDA wrote:Q3: what is the the reason Boston Whaler did not route the navigation lamp circuits to the helm console?
The wiring for the combined sidelights lamp at the bow on 13-foot was run inside the hull. It usually made a exit at the stern. The location of the white all-round lamp would be at the transom. Bringing the two lamp circuits together at the stern makes sense to me.

As for why Boston Whaler chose this method, one can only speculate.

Boston Whaler boats were generally kept very simple and utilitarian, so elaborate methods were usually avoided. The embedded wiring may have been installed in all boats during construction of the hull. Only boats ordered with the navigation lamp option would then have been further completed to extract the embedded wiring at each end and complete the circuit to a lamp and a terminal strip.

At some point in building Boston Whaler boats, the wiring was moved to run under the rub rail on the gunwale.

jimh
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Re: 13-footer Lamp Circuits

Postby jimh » Mon Apr 25, 2022 10:17 am

The typical circuit for navigation lighting on a small Boston Whaler open skiff would be as shown below in Figure 5.

navLamps005.jpg
Fig. 5. Typical navigation lamp circuts.
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LEGEND
F1: fuse; 3-Amperes
L1: incandescent light bulb in combined sidelight lamp fixture at bow
L2: incandescent light bulb in white all-round pole lamp fixture at transom
S1: single pole single-throw pull switch at helm console
TB1: two-pole terminal binding strip, usually near transom


In some instances on small boats, switch S1 and fuse F1 were omitted. The lamp circuit would be connected directly to a small lantern battery. This was quite workable for small boats used mostly during daylight, and on boats with no engine cranking battery that used pull-start engines.

The wiring from L1 at bow was run inside the Unibond hull to the stern. The wiring exited near the transom on the inwale or cockpit bulkhead, often on the Starboard side, but occasionally seen on the Port side.