Jabsco spotlight troubleshooting -- moves up/down but not left/right SOLVED

LaRea

[EDIT:  the problem was a failed motor.  See solution at end of this thread.]

It has been a while since anybody complained about their Jabsco 62026 spotlight, so here goes.

Bulb lights up
Light moves in pitch (up/down), but not yaw (left/right)
Components and connectors all look fine by visual inspection

I took off the housing and swapped the two wires that go from the circuit board to the motors.  [CORRECTION:  Then the motor would move in pitch when I move the joystick in yaw, but would not move in yaw.]  Then the light would move in yaw, but not pitch.  That rules out the yaw motor and gears.  

The only other possibilities are the joystick and the circuit board, right?  Neither of those is cost-effective to replace on a 15-year-old spotlight.  

aero3113

@LaRea , are there any batteries in the system? My remote is wireless and has batteries. When it starts to act funky, batteries usually fix it.

LaRea

@aero3113 -- No, it's an old-school hardwired remote. 

I see remotes on eBay for $300, but I'm not sure that would fix the problem.  

YYZRC

I had this same issue with my Four Winns which had a Guest spotlight. It was the control panel that was junk. I always hated spotlight control panels (why are they all ugly 1980s design?) so I replaced it with a Carling switch for power and a mirror joystick that I found on eBay. 

This is similar to the mirror joystick I used. I mounted it in a Carling switch blank for continuity. 

Willhound

Depending on the year, mine may have been different, but it was acting the same. A good shot of contact cleaner while jostling the joy stick all around did the trick. On the underside. And after that I just tried to remember to work it from time to time.

LaRea

This is the integrated remote/power head.  The black rectangles are fuse holders.  Maybe a custom joystick is possible, but not easily.  Also, the helm has a 2.5" hole that I'd need to fill.  

They really are ugly, especially after a few years of fading.  But you'll find this same cheap, ugly remote on $1M+ yachts.  It defies logic.

YYZRC

Nothing like paying $300 for new old 1980s stock. Gotta hand it to Jabsco; they paid off that tooling 40 years ago. 

LaRea

I confirmed that my controller puts out voltage on all pins of the connector.  So I've confirmed that the following are all in good working order:  controller, wiring, motor, and gears.  The only thing left is the circuit board.  I just ordered a used 62022 spotlight on eBay to salvage the circuit board, so maybe I'll get out of this for only $75.

For reference, here are the pinouts on the back of the Jabsco controller.  Going clockwise from top right:

1. Light (motors at fast speed)
2. Light (motors at slow speed)
3. Right
4. Up
5. Down
6. Left
7. Ground

LaRea

Solved!  The problem was that the yaw motor was frozen up.  I replaced it with a motor that I salvaged from the eBay parts light.  

I have leftover parts:  a motor, a motor controller board and a nice shiny housing.  You want 'em, they are yours.  (The gears are not usable.)  

Here's how to troubleshoot the motor controller board:

The board has a large 4-pin connector (left side in this photo).  Get a 12-volt battery or DC power supply, and connect the + and - wires to pins 1 and 2.  One of the motors should move.  Now connect to pins 3 and 4.  The other motor should move.  



Replacing the pitch motor is easy -- three screws and it pops right out.  Replacing the yaw motor is harder because one of the screws is covered by the big white drive gear.  Removing the gear requires a pair of snap ring pliers, a screwdriver, and a careful hand so you don't drop any of the little fasteners.  

rasbury

Almost overwhelming! They are expensive to replace so ingenuity sometimes required! And winning...