Electrical problem - need help!

[Symphony]

thanks for posting this, Sailing Drummer. Please let us know what you find regarding corrosion and the possibility of galvanic corrosion.
ah, the joy of a new boat and finding what the PO did to it.

[tdoster]

Another issue with the bayonet bulbs with single center contacts is when you put the bulb in and slide it, the friction on the bottom turns the little piece of copper on the bottom that the bottom center of the light contacts to. In many cases, they only solder a lead to that and isolate it from the ground. A lot of turning will eventually breakdown the strands of the wire and/or solder joint.

Long story short, it is often easier when you replace bulbs to also replace at least the bayonet mount and if there is a lot of corrosion, suspect the seal is broken.

Do not pay an electrician. You can get through this yourself, even if you have to buy a new aqua signal light, it will be less than having an electrician doing a boat call.

[Kerry1]

Originally Posted by captainjay

LED bulbs are polarity sensitive. You will find a lot of manufacturers don't pay any attention to polarity on lights as it didn't make any difference before LED's.

Light Emitting Diodes are polarity sensitive as a stand alone, but when mounted on a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) with other LED's, they are generally configured to work with any polarity, they aren't polarity sensitive then.

[Cadence]

OP, forget all the experts. You have a bad splice + or - side. Not wide open but corroded. Trace back the wiring to your forward running lights. If need be, redo the connections even if they don't appear bad. It isn't the bulbs or sockets. Or Polarized bulbs?

Someplace back there you have the supply wire + or - crimped and wired to both forward running lights. JMHO

[Sailing Drummer]

I hope to be in a port soon for a few days instead of traveling and anchoring. Then I'll hopefully be able to sort all this out. I have a strong feeling that what all of you are saying about the connections is correct. With any luck I'll find a bad connection in a spot that's easy to get to.

Thanks again for all the good information. It's much appreciated.
Larry

[EngNate]

Definitely a high-resistance connection. LED replacements for incandescent bulbs are universal polarity. An issue I often see with Aqua-Signal series 40 fixtures is too large wire run into the socket. Wire larger than 16ga will prevent the spring under the contact base to keep pressure on the bulb. Even smaller wires can cause this when the insulation gets hard with age.

[Sailing Drummer]

Got it figured out, thanks to all your help! I haven't finished repairing it yet but at least it will be right once it's done (I hope).

First, the +/- problem. This should be an easy fix. I'll change them at the deck plug so red goes to +.

The problem was, as most of you said, a bad ground connection. Well, actually it was 2 bad connections! My previous crimps were not good. I have to set the crimper so it is a little tighter. I tested everything without the crimps and I got good results. Hopefully tomorrow I can finish it off, or make a run to WM if I don't have what I need.

Once again, thanks for all the input.

Larry

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Sailing Drummer

Got it figured out, thanks to all your help! I haven't finished repairing it yet but at least it will be right once it's done (I hope).

First, the +/- problem. This should be an easy fix. I'll change them at the deck plug so red goes to +.

The problem was, as most of you said, a bad ground connection. Well, actually it was 2 bad connections! My previous crimps were not good. I have to set the crimper so it is a little tighter. I tested everything without the crimps and I got good results. Hopefully tomorrow I can finish it off, or make a run to WM if I don't have what I need.

Once again, thanks for all the input.

Larry

Larry,

Make sure you are adequately sealing those crimps so you won't have to do it again soon.