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Old Hatteras Wiring

Discussion in 'Hatteras Yacht' started by catainslady68, Aug 30, 2014.

  1. catainslady68

    catainslady68 New Member

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    I have a 1968 38' Hatteras Sportfish, the courtesy light affixed to the brow that light the cockpit went out. Upon removing light I discovered the wiring to the light has a short. My problem; the wiring runs up into the brow to WHERE?:confused:
  2. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Isn't the wiring inside of the FB brow, so if you looked into the brow from the FB you'd see it?
  3. dsharp

    dsharp Senior Member

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    I'm pretty sure it runs under the headliner to the midship bulkhead to the breaker box
  4. dsharp

    dsharp Senior Member

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    The brow is usually the part over the front windshield but, you say it lights the cockpit. Where's the light located. Most wiring like that had an extra loop of wire fastened close to the fixture.
  5. Marmot

    Marmot Senior Member

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    Just curious, when it went out, did it blow the fuse on that circuit?

    How did you determine it has a short?
  6. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    It sounds as if you're talking about the cockpit overhang, not the brow (which is above the windshield). Credit given to Dsharp for mentioning this in post 4 (don't want to be accused of plagerism for emphasizing this point.) On many boats you could tug the wire while having someone watch at the panel end, but Hatteras generally bundles their wires very well. That means you may be taking off panels and seperating that wire from the bundles as you go. Before you go through all that, are you sure about it being a short? Is your boat 24v or 32v? Our 1981 56 is 32v. A 24v or 110v bulb won't cut it, and we'd found it nearly impossible to get the right 32v bulbs for the lights above the catwalks.
  7. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Yes, she is most likely correct. Many of you guys don't remember or have forgotton that those old hatteras' had a cross looking masthead mounted on the brow just foward of the flybridge and the masthead light was mounted at the top of this masthead. Many people put hardtops on these boats over the years and did away with the masthead.
  8. Caltexflanc

    Caltexflanc Senior Member

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    A good place to ask this type of question is the guys at Sams Marine, which is the spin off of the Hatteras parts department. Incredible institutional knowledge. They also sponsor a Hatteras Owner's forum with many owners of these old boats, another good place to ask.

    IIRC, they were not using 32v in their smaller boats in '68, I am going to make a half educated guess the boat in question is 12v.

    As for 32v bulbs I never had any issues getting all shapes and sizes for my 56. Norman lamps is a good source, as is Bulbtown. OEM on the 56 did not have overhead lamps above the side decks, there are courtesy lights down low. I got the replacements for those at Bulbtown. Many of these lamps are actually 34 volt rated so make sure you search under that voltage too.

    The "important information" sheets that came with the boat has all the bulb specs for the fixtures your specific boat left the factory with. As of a few years ago, you could still call Hatteras with your hull number and get that from them, and they had full manuals on microfiche that you could buy. Again, the guys at Sam's can give you the lowdown on that.
  9. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I just looked at Norman Lamps site because I manage a yacht that's 32 volts and has a ton of G IV lightbulbs, which I haven't been able to find anywhere. They have them, but they're $14.50 EACH. OUCH, 150% more money than 24 volt g iv's.
  10. chesapeake46

    chesapeake46 Senior Member

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    You need to go back to post # 5 before you get too crazy.
  11. Caltexflanc

    Caltexflanc Senior Member

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    I am not sure what you mean by G IV. You don't mean the dual pin Halogen type do you? Are you 100% sure that is a 32/34v circuit? My boat had a bunch of G4 bulbes but they were stepped down to 12.

    Another solution is to go LED. The guy at Marinebeam.com is an expert on the issues of lighting on 32v Hatteras boats. Worth looking at his site and giving him a call. High quality stuff.
  12. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Yes G4. Well whoever redid the headliner used these small Canteluppi fixtures that a LED bulb won't fit into, the Halogen bulbs barely fit. They don't have a step down converter. BUT, either way you're looking at the price of a step down converter and then ALL new 24 volt lightbulbs once you convert voltage (or 12). So either way it's very pricey considering the lifespan of G4 bulbs.
  13. Caltexflanc

    Caltexflanc Senior Member

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    Wow, that does sound funky, but like many things on older boats, it's a PO issue, not the OEM builder's. Have you tried contacting the PO?
  14. Marmot

    Marmot Senior Member

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    I think this has gone beyond thread creep, we are looking at an example of "thread leap."

    Apparently the OP has recognized this and gone elsewhere for assistance.
  15. catainslady68

    catainslady68 New Member

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    OK,

    Thanks all. Interesting reading. Threads can become somewhat convoluted huh?

    So as it ends up. Yes I was referring to the cockpit overhang not the Brow....My bad.

    The wiring traveled from the light fixture across the bridge (under the flooring) down the starboard side and joined a huge bundle that then ran to the electric panel (12 volt and 120 volt).

    As it turns out, as odd as this is going to sound...the meter i was using had shorted out...never had that happen before. So the wire is fine, and glad of that because to run a new one would have been a bear.

    Thanks all for your input.
  16. Old Phart

    Old Phart Senior Member

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    I dunno
    Just curious, catainslady68, what's a catains?
  17. catainslady68

    catainslady68 New Member

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    Just a miss spelling for CaptainsLady. worked out so why not.
  18. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    Glad it worked out. We all have a tendency to over-complicate, like looking for bad wiring when a bulb is bad. Good lesson there. As the military puts it "KISS". Hatteras does a real good job bundling their wires. Glad you didn't need to break that open. Once worked a boat that had the wires to the masthead and anchor lights reversed. An electronics tech wanted to start pulling wires from the bundle of red wires under the helm until he found the right ones. I suggested just reversing the wires up at the mast. I probably saved 5 hours of his labor rate and a huge cluster----. K.I.S.S. :cool:

    P.S. The admins can probably stick that "p" in captains for you. Drop them an email or PM.
  19. Marmot

    Marmot Senior Member

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    Not everyone. :rolleyes:

    Who said the bulb was bad? That might have been assumed by some but questioned by those who know that if a short occurs in the circuit that supplies that bulb, a perfectly good bulb (along with any others on that circuit) will "go out."

    A short in that circuit would almost certainly trip the supply breaker as well, and that would cause a perfectly good bulb to "go out."

    The breaker was never mentioned, and the condition of the bulb was never described other than its going "out" alerted to a problem of some sort.

    What lesson was that?

    I hope the lesson learned is to test a meter before using it on any circuit for any reason. It is both a matter of good troubleshooting practice and might even keep someone from getting killed.
  20. NYCAP123

    NYCAP123 Senior Member

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    I seem to recall a certain rodent and a few others speculating all over the map about the electrical problems I encountered on Valhalla, and being completely wrong. The cure turned out to be rerouting an air conditioner and finding that both cablemasters were connected to the same side of the panel. The main problem though was a lack of voltage being supplied, a not uncommon problem as I've since learned. So yes, we ALL tend to over-complicate sometimes.

    Odd also, that with all the meters I've seen used over the years I have yet to see anyone "test" one before using it each time, and I've got friends who are up the poles most of their careers (utility workers).

    I'll stick with KISS before unbundling the wires on a Hatteras or under the helm of a Viking when all that's needed is to switch the ends. And yes I could have speculated that the problem was the bulb, outlet, breakers, connections, etc. etc., but that was not to purpose of the post. It seemed that Captainslady 68 had his problem licked since he didn't ask further questions.

    Shall we now close this thread voluntarily or do you have something to add that will force the admins to close it.