Nav lights out...why?

T

timflan

New member
My red and green nav lights were working fine when I came home in the dark Thanksgiving weekend. I was out at the boat today to check on things after all the snow, rain, and wind, and it seems that my nav lights are out.

Both the red and green ones fail to light, but the masthead all-around white lamp lights as normal, whether the Running Lights switch or the Anchor Light switch is activated.

It seems unlikely that both side lamps burned out simultaneously, but that'll be the first thing I check next time I'm at the boat. Any other possibilities I should be aware of?
 
The red and green light are on a separate circuit from the 360 light. My boat has circuit breakers for these. If you have access to a volt meter check for 12 volt before and after the fuses or circuit breakers. Probably a blown fuse or tripped breaker.
 
Agree that the red and green are on separate fuse/breakers than the steaming/anchor light. It is also possiable that the switch has gone bad--or that the wire came off the switch--(more likely if a spade connector)--and since the white is separate, it will still work.
 
I've had problems with the side nav lights from time to time, and it's always the spade connectors which attach the wiring to the fuse. If that's where your problem is, you can attempt a fix by either (or both) of bending the sides of the connector down so that it fits tighter onto the spade, or using cable ties to secure the wires to other wires or objects so that any slight force the nav light wires exert against the connection is eliminated.

Not a big problem, but somthing you should put on your Spring or Big Trip checklist.
 
Out of curiosity, did this problem appear after trailering your boat? It's amazing how often electrical problems can occur after the boat has been bouncing on the road. After too many experiences with this I always check all my switches after my vessel has been on the road.

Both bulbs did not burn out at once, you lost power either from a blown fuse (likely indicating other problems) or a connector has come loose.
 
matt_unique":1q0p3ujs said:
Out of curiosity, did this problem appear after trailering your boat? It's amazing how often electrical problems can occur after the boat has been bouncing on the road. After too many experiences with this I always check all my switches after my vessel has been on the road.
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A good tip, but not in this case. Came back to the marina (after dark, nav lights working), tied up, shut down, drove home. Now they don't work.

I'll check the connectors and fuses/breakers next time.
 
Turns out they're both burned out. One obviously...the filament is clearly broken. The other looks to be intact, but the ohm meter can't get any current through it. OK, well that's an easy fix!

I'm just a little surprised that they both failed simultaneously. I wonder if there's something else going on.
 
Our port and starboard nav lights kept burning out. This can be caused from too high a charging voltage or an incorrect voltage bulb but not with our CD. I finally got tired of changing bulbs underway and replaced both with LED units I purchased from the Seattle Boat Show last year. I've had no problem so far.

I wonder if Mac was having the same problem?

Don
 
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