Cabin lights on the fritz

[Deleted User]

They work intermittently, yesterday they quit altogether. This morning they worked for a while, went dim, then quit. All bulbs have been replaced with LEDs which have worked great for years. I thought at first it was a problem with the fluorescent light in the head, but now I think it is a grounding issue. Before I dive into the helm wiring, any others who have had electrical gremlins at the helm and can help me find the problem would be greatly appreciated. All other electrics are fine, except for the spotlight of course. '06 FV 250. Andy

aero3113

Check the breaker, possibly a loose wire on it or failed internally.

LaRea

Got a ground bus in the engine room with about 100 wires connected to 10 screw terminals?  I'd start there.  You'll find 2-3 ring connectors per screw, and some of the ring connectors will have two wires stuffed into them.  

[Deleted User]

@aero3113 Thanks, I used a short jumper wire to bypass the breaker, no dice, breaker is good. @LaRea Thanks, that's where I will start before I get the instrument panel removed. I suspect there's a corroded wire or connector involved. Appreciate the input guys. Andy

Grahamu

I agree with @LaRea the ground buss is a likely cause. I have just replaced mine with a 150 Amp common buss with 20 screw terminals and 2 1/4" posts for the larger cables. Photo of the old one attached.

Handymans342

Ok, the negative side of all the cabin lights do not run all the way back to the engine room. They probably terminate in the main panel in the cabin. 

LaRea

You'd be surprised how many circuits run their grounds directly to the ground bus in the engine room.  Mine has 46 wires (of which probably 35 are original, and I added the rest).  

Grahamu

here is a circuit drawing for a 342, not sure of your boat model. I have my panel out and there is a ground buss. If you have a similar model and all other DC circuits are working from the panel it's as @Handymans342 says.

Handymans342

Are all those grounds tight? Put a meter on the breaker for the lights and watch the voltage

[Deleted User]

Thanks for all the useful input. The boat is an '06 FV250, I'm sure basically the same as the other single engine smaller cruisers of the same vintage. The ground in the engine room looks pretty good, I checked it a few weeks ago when I rewired my trim tab system.

The steering cable was replaced recently, so that's why I'm thinking the problem might be flaky ground wiring at the helm because there is a rat's nest of wires surrounding the steering rack and pinion. I can't really blame this on the mechanic because the work he did transformed the steering making it much, much easier to turn the wheel and has made driving the boat in close quarters so much easier. I was going to attempt this repair today but got sidetracked by Christmas honeydews.

By the way, has anyone replace the head fluorescent fixture with something LED? Andy

Handymans342

Yes. Was easily obtainable

Dream_Inn

I replaced my head fluorescent light with an LED one.  I had to do a slight modification but it works well.  I'll have to look back to see if I can find where I ordered it. 

TonyG13

@Dream_Inn - Was this it? I bookmarked this light for a future project after someone wrote about converting the head to LED...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PP5HJC5

Spyderweb

Put that LED light in my head last summer.  Love it.

Pat310

I was thinking of replacing mine with this
https://store.marinebeam.com/12-f8t5-led-tube-for-fluorescent-fixtures-fl-t5-66/
Just have to eliminate the ballast and don’t have to change the fixture and deal with exposed screw holes

TonyG13

The nice feature with the one @Spyderweb and @Dream_Inn replaced is the motion sensor. That's the main reason I'm switching it out.

Dream_Inn

No, I used one that eliminated the ballast and just went right in original.  Can't seem to find the order.

Ian

Thats the way I’d go, no futzing around. Motion sensor no good for me, both of us head there in the night and don’t need to flood the cabin with lights when the door opens.

YYZRC

You can set it to either motion sensor mode or normal off/on with switch mode.

My only complaint is that it is very bright at night. But it’s also only $15 so...

Spyderweb

Wife loves the motion sensor.  And yes, very bright at night.

Cableguy Greg

I got a LED strip that has 3m tape on the back. I cut out the ballast and wired the LED directly to the switch. I taped the strip to the base of the fixture and tossed the old bulb. I got the warm white lights and only used about 10” so it wasn’t too bright. 

For at night, I wired up a single red LED on a separate switch so I don’t have to turn on the white light when half asleep. Works perfect for keeping your night vision. 

mattie

Cableguy Greg said:

For at night, I wired up a single red LED on a separate switch so I don’t have to turn on the white light when half asleep. Works perfect for keeping your night vision. 

STEALTH way to avoid morning wood...........lolololol.

DanW

I put these in my head. I liked that they were almost the same size and the on/off switch glows red so I can see it in the dark. Malabo Rectangular LED, White w/ Illuminated Switch - https://www.westmarine.com/buy/aqua-signal--malabo-rectangular-led-white-w-illuminated-switch--17030354