50’ Azimut Fly, 2005. Shorted port light connection and now ONLY port light is not getting any power. Anybody know where the light power runs and where the junctions are? All other nav lights are fine.
Shorted means wires are crossed and breakers/fuses are popping. Not working means an open somewhere. The lamp, switch or wire. At the lamp, any voltage at the supplying wires? Not the lamp socket. If you own a Mut, we have start at simple points.
Start with what Capt Ralph asked you and then I can possibly help you. I used to manage a 2005 50' Azimut flybridge many years ago. IS your starboard windshield leaking at all or the starboard forward side windows? The terminal strip for all the wiring is under the lower helm/dash mounted on the floor of that area, any water in there starts shorting ALL KINDS of wiring. I believe from there it would run up the starboard windshield corner casing and \to the flybridge helm area and then to port and pop out on the port side of the flybridge, but could also run under FB and across interior ceiling. Have to see how high the light is mounted on the bridge side (above FB deck or below) and see if wires go up or down. Possibly also look under flybridge helm and see if you see any wires going from the nav light switch to the port side of the boat (check this first).
No voltage at wires for port side. Got behind the light and see red wire (2 wires inside) going up. Checked upper helm area. No junction there. Checked salon aft port, no junctions there. Looking for 468 wire. Will check ceiling of aft deck next. All other lights have power so has to be a corroded junction. Don’t want to tear the ceiling down unless I have to...
Go online and buy yourself a Tone Generator for tracing wires. You will be amazed where some wires go and you may not have to tear your boat apart.
Have one and hooked it up. Got tones all over. Suspect the ground is good and power wire broke. So geound is giving me tones eveywhere
What do you mean by "got behind the light"? In your boat, the navlight is placed right above the upper side of the aft shark fin window, correct? If you removed the internal panel around it and reached the spot where the wires go outside, it's pointless to tear down anything else, let alone the ceiling. On the external side, did you check that both those wires are properly connected to the bulb contacts? Normally, upon shorting the two DC wires while replacing the bulb, the breaker in the electrical panel should trip off. And since you only have one for all the navlights (unless I'm mistaken?) and the other lights are ok, obviously the problem is elsewhere. But I'm very skeptic that somewhere in between the elctrical panel and the light the wire can have burned out and disconnected. The breaker should have tripped off well before that. Unless defective... Another thing to check, possibly.
Found a burned out fuse in the gray wire connectors behind the plotters at the lower helm. Didn't even know there were fuses in there... used an ohm meter set to resistance/tone and found three others burned out too. Learn something new every day...
Now, Your not done yet; Why did the fuses blow? You don't want this to happen again,, always at the wrong time..
