Nav lights not working correct

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Kevdon22

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Apr 16, 2012
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32964
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The anchor and navigation light are on the same switch. There are 5 separate bulbs, one white at the stern, 2 bulbs at the highest point one forward and one aft, and a red and green on the sides. I have changed the bulbs to no avail. Switch to the right and the anchor lights come on correctly, front and rear light at top both light, white.
When I switch to the left the white forward white light at midship and the aft lights both come on but the red and green do not.
I did "fool" with all the connections removing the wire (female) attachment to the spade (male) on the back of the switch, smearing a dielectric grease on the connection.
After disconnecting and reconnecting several the red and green both came on. But a week or two later the Red and Green both stopped working again.

Before I buy and install a new switch, which has numerous spades on the back, I want to pull each of the wires off the switch and connect to 12 volts directly to see if the problem is with the switch or the wiring.

The question is- are any of the connections at the switch a ground which will create a short if I jump it to 12 V?
Appreciate any helpful comments
 
Could be the switch is crapping out or a loose connection. Here is a diagram to maybe help (hope it shows)

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Or corrosion at the socket for the bulb. I'd just put a volt meter on all of the switch connections going to the bulbs and ensure they were hot with the switch active.
If they are all hot at the switch, look for a corroded wire under the lamp or a broken wire somewhere along the way to it.
 
quote:
Originally posted by boatbum

Or corrosion at the socket for the bulb. I'd just put a volt meter on all of the switch connections going to the bulbs and ensure they were hot with the switch active.
If they are all hot at the switch, look for a corroded wire under the lamp or a broken wire somewhere along the way to it.

Click to expand...


On my Cruisers, each bulb socket is connected to the boat wiring harness with separate spade lugs - my stern light (the facing aft nav light) sometimes goes out, and cleaning these lugs is the fix.

As I'm sure you know, with nav lights on, you should show: the white stern light, the white forward masthead light, the red (port) and green (stbd) lights.
 
It's not the switch that seems to be working correctly. It's sounds like a corroded connection clearly you had concerns of this being you removed the connection and used dielectric grease. My guess is one or more of those connectors needs to be replaced.

This said, as Dan pointed out the way to test it is with a meter or test light this will let you know where the problem starts.
 
Thanks for the input, I too am suspicious that there may be corrosion on the lugs.
My real question are their any ground wires that run through the switch?
I suspect not and the ground (negative) runs direct to the lights.
As a matter of clarification, my lights are a little more complicated than the schematic shown since the anchor light is two sections where the forward light is on and the backfacing light is off in the Nav position, and both forward and aft lights are on in the Anchor position.
There is a separate white light in the Stern which comes on in the Nav position which works.

Is there any reason to believe that there are ground wires attached to the switch lugs?

Thanks for comments.
 
Michael,
Good tip.
Some of my switches do have lights but several stopped working.
I need to check.
I have a myriad of wires on the lugs some are slaved i.e. two wires on a single lug. As typical they are not easy to reach to check.
 
I've found that over time those DPDT switches can be a little balky in terms of internal contacts. I always check carefully to make sure ALL correct bulbs light when I switch my rocker switch either way. If they are not , I find switching back and for the a couple times will most always light all appropriate bulbs and they stay lit for the trip. Usually they all do light. In the past when the situation happens too frequently I simply replaced the switch after confirming all bulbs were good.

( &If you ever suspect the issue may just be corrosion in the female quick disconnect terminal on a tight wire where the connector would be hard to replace, a handy tool is a new short metal sapphire nail file ground down at the tip for ~~3/8-1/2" to smaller width (after grinding off the smooth point section) to fit nicely inside the connector to clean it up. Then, since that removes some protective plating, apply dielectric silicone or Corrosion X and reinstall on the male blade. )
 
I agree if the switch is lighted there will be a ground or return wire. After you resolve the issue I would strongly suggest replacing the existing Navigation, Steaming or Anchor lights with LED fixtures. I suspect the existing fixtures do have corrosion and should be replaced anyway to remain reliable. Just a bit about LED navigation and anchor lighting, they are brighter, draw less current and the fixtures are sealed all improvements and reliability over the factory incandescent bulbs and (fixtures) sockets.
I don't like terminations that can be removed so installing new LED fixtures would resolve inherently intermittent connections that the existing spade or female quick disconnect terminations are famous for.
 
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