MAST/ALL AROUND LIGHT

[larglo]

Hi all,

As I think you all may already know the light on top of the hardtop of my F25 has a light in the front of it and a light in back of it.
When I first got the boat, only the front light would come on, whether I had the Nav sw, on or the Anchor sw on. I changed both bulbs and still got the same.
I then went to West Marine and bought a light with the same set up.
I just tried to hook up the new light. Right off I saw a problem. There are (4) wires that hooked up the old light, one is white, one is dark gray and two are black.
The new light has only three wires, a red a black and a white. I tried to hook up the light to the colors I thought would work and got the front light to come on, working the switches, I was unable to get the back light to come on. I then tried to touch the fourth wire to each colored wire thinking I may get the rear light to come on. When I touched the white wire, it blew a fuse.

So,,,,,does anyone know if I can hook the three wires to the four wires that will allow the light to work properly. Most lights I've seen doesn't tell you how many wires it uses for hooking it up.

Or,,, can I just get an all around single light, and not use the two light system that came with the boat?

Thanks for any help.

Larry

[prowlersfish]

What brand of light did you buy ? . the black is almost always ground on the replacement light , and on your boat some times the white is ground .I have been tru this be for I will check into the wiring .

[larglo]

New light made by PERKO.

Thanks, Larry

[prowlersfish]

Larry let me dig thru my info and get back with you may be a few hours

[Rodman]

Hi all,

As I think you all may already know the light on top of the hardtop of my F25 has a light in the front of it and a light in back of it.
When I first got the boat, only the front light would come on, whether I had the Nav sw, on or the Anchor sw on. I changed both bulbs and still got the same.
I then went to West Marine and bought a light with the same set up.
I just tried to hook up the new light. Right off I saw a problem. There are (4) wires that hooked up the old light, one is white, one is dark gray and two are black.
The new light has only three wires, a red a black and a white. I tried to hook up the light to the colors I thought would work and got the front light to come on, working the switches, I was unable to get the back light to come on. I then tried to touch the fourth wire to each colored wire thinking I may get the rear light to come on. When I touched the white wire, it blew a fuse.

So,,,,,does anyone know if I can hook the three wires to the four wires that will allow the light to work properly. Most lights I've seen doesn't tell you how many wires it uses for hooking it up.

Or,,, can I just get an all around single light, and not use the two light system that came with the boat?

Thanks for any help.

Larry

Sounds to me there is a ground problem maybe? Check see if you have same voltage on both wires when the unit is turned on.

[jimbo36]

Largo, Not sure about the wiring on the light system but I do know what white light you need to disply. Do you have a stern white light in your transon? You probably do. This light will be seen through an arc of 135 degrees. The front portion of your masthead (streaming) light will show an arc of 225 degrees which completes the 360 degree of white light that a power driven vessel must display while underrway. If you have a stern light and you display a 360 degree masthead light you would be in violation of the collision regulations. The anchour light switch should turn on both front 225 degrees and back 135 degrees white light on the masthead light ONLY. The nav light switch should turn on the front portion of the masthead kight 225 degrees and the stern light 135 degrees, and , of course, your port and starboard nav lights. Hope this is not too confussing. jimbo36.

[prowlersfish]

Larry my info says black to black ( both should be grounds at the lamp)
gray to red and white to white .

The strange part is this at the light , trace the wires further down and the colors changed , are splicing the wires at the light ? or did you unplug the light and splicing on the boat side of a connector ?

[larglo]

prowlersfish


I'll try hooking the two black wire from the boat side to the single black wire of the new light, the gray wire of the boat side to the red and the white of boat side to white of the new light, and see what happens.

I have a sw which says NAV lights and another that says ANC, which I assume means Anchor. Do these sw's have to be turned on separately, in other words one has to be turned off, if the other is turned on, and visa versa?

Also, if I can't get this to work with "any" 3 wire light, can I just use an "all around light" and not use the tansom "rear" light?

I will most likely NEVER be out after dark, but want to get them working, just in case I am ever stopped by a patrol boat and they want to check them, otherwise, I wouldn't even give a darn if any of them worked.

Thanks for the help.

Larry

[turtlem1969]

according to the uscg, you can use just an all round light in lew of the sern light and the 225 mast light.

[Rodman]

prowlersfish


I'll try hooking the two black wire from the boat side to the single black wire of the new light, the gray wire of the boat side to the red and the white of boat side to white of the new light, and see what happens.

I have a sw which says NAV lights and another that says ANC, which I assume means Anchor. Do these sw's have to be turned on separately, in other words one has to be turned off, if the other is turned on, and visa versa?

Also, if I can't get this to work with "any" 3 wire light, can I just use an "all around light" and not use the tansom "rear" light?

I will most likely NEVER be out after dark, but want to get them working, just in case I am ever stopped by a patrol boat and they want to check them, otherwise, I wouldn't even give a darn if any of them worked.

Thanks for the help.

Larry

I think once you hook up that other black wire as you stated, I should work.

[larglo]

I went to West Marine's web site and they have a picture that explained all about the running lights.

With my set up, while running, I should turn on the NAV sw and the stern light will be on alone with the side lights, and the "front" portion of the (mast light) will be on, the rear portion will be OFF.

While at anchor, I should turn off the sw that says "Nav lights" and turn "on" the sw that says "ANC" (ANCHOR) this will also turn on the "rear portion of the (mast light) along with the front, which will make it an "all around light" and all other lights will be OFF.

Now, with that info, I wll hook up the wires as prowlersfish suggested, and if that don't work, I'm in a pickle!
Thanks to all that replied, and I'll let you know later if it works?

When I bought the boat, I never thought of a learning curve, I'd have to contend with.

Thanks,

Larry

[larglo]

Houston, we have a problem!

Just got back from the boat, and no matter what I did, could not get the rear light on the mast light to come on. The only recourse I can think of is installing an "all around light" to the rear of the hardtop, and wire it separately and turn it on when required.
To me, that would be the easiest way to go.

I will check the switch to see if all is well there!

Any other ideas, welcome.

Thanks, Larry

[ready123]

Have you connected the three wires?
Is the rear bulb still good? I remember you blowing a fuse....

Why not take it down and at home check the wiring using 12V battery to make sure you can get front only and both bulbs lit up.....
Then you need to check the boat to make sure the wires from the switch will supply the required setup... no power, power to one leg, power to two legs.

It should be able to work with three wires... you just need to find out how to do them and also make sure that the supply wires from the switch is in fact supplying power to suit that 2 ON or 1 ON situation.
Have you had a Voltmeter on the output of Nav and Anchor switches to make sure they are feeding correctly?
Then go to wires at mast and with Voltmeter or test bulb have someone do the switching to show you how to connect the light to the feed wires.... providing you get power there when Nav and Anch switches are on.
It is likely that the switch feed is not right.... after checking that both bulbs work.

[larglo]

Michael



Those are great suggestions. I think my son has a volt meter, and if he does, maybe I can get to help me on doing that.

I'm not giving up quit yet, and I'm not buying another light yet. As long as I'm not out at night, and I won't be, I have no use for nav lights anyway.

Thanks, Larry

[ready123]

As long as I'm not out at night, and I won't be, I have no use for nav lights anyway. Thanks, Larry

Never say never... you will get to the point where you stay out overnight.
It is so tranquil and calming to be out on the water under the stars, once you try it you will SEE.

I'm sure with the correct testing equipment you can get it to work as it should.