FROM AARON, 12V DISCOVERY---TROJAN RELATED THREAD

[aaronbocknek]

----AGAIN, ANOTHER TROJAN RELATED THREAD-----

yesterday afternoon, i tried bypassing the ground to the forward lights using a bypass from the negative side of one of the batteries to the negative on one of the forward light fixtures. they still refused to work. so, i switched to the positive side and to the positive lead on the light switch and i got power on all 4 lights. yes, it was a eureka moment. the wire bundles look intact from the forward part of the boat to the panel. now, i need to figure out if the 'short' is where the hot connects to the panel, or jumps from the panel to the switches. but, according to my mechanic john, this makes isolating it that much easier. thoughts? suggestions?
i'm just excited that i was able to get the lights to work.
tri cabin aaron

[Commissionpoint]

Hey nice work there Aaron. I am glad you finally made some meaningful progress on this, I know its been bothering you. So you determined its not a ground, but a hot thats causing it. Definately check where it comes off the panel, and definately check where its fused, even the fuse itself could be hinkey, might look good, but be bad. A test light or meter would help Narrow it down. You may just do best to go terminal by terminal from the panel towards the lights on that circuit if you don't find anything obvious on your first inspection.

[aaronbocknek]

Hey nice work there Aaron. I am glad you finally made some meaningful progress on this, I know its been bothering you. So you determined its not a ground, but a hot thats causing it. Definately check where it comes off the panel, and definately check where its fused, even the fuse itself could be hinkey, might look good, but be bad. A test light or meter would help Narrow it down. You may just do best to go terminal by terminal from the panel towards the lights on that circuit if you don't find anything obvious on your first inspection.

hey there, thanks for getting back to me. i just need to motivate myself to finish searching this out. what's so strange, is the forward lights, (stateroom, head, utility area--4 lights in total) are controlled by the exact same toggle switch that controls the salon and engine room lights. john, my mechanic, tells me that even though there is 1 switch, there are multiple areas where the hot connects for each grouping. he also said that since the wire bundle is complete forward to aft running into the panel, the chances are that the fault is isolated near the panel. a screw that is loose by even the slightest amount can cause the fault. again, he did stress that since i was able to isolate it the way i did, we can rule out defective fixtures, bulbs and wire bundles. it's really interesting though that the lights jump from one to another to another. i've learned a lot none the less.
well, sort of.

aaron

[prowlersfish]

Glad your making progress . BTW the Trojan related headline is not needed LOL

[aaronbocknek]

Glad your making progress . BTW the Trojan related headline is not needed LOL

inside joke right?

[Commissionpoint]

hey there, thanks for getting back to me. i just need to motivate myself to finish searching this out. what's so strange, is the forward lights, (stateroom, head, utility area--4 lights in total) are controlled by the exact same toggle switch that controls the salon and engine room lights. john, my mechanic, tells me that even though there is 1 switch, there are multiple areas where the hot connects for each grouping. he also said that since the wire bundle is complete forward to aft running into the panel, the chances are that the fault is isolated near the panel. a screw that is loose by even the slightest amount can cause the fault. again, he did stress that since i was able to isolate it the way i did, we can rule out defective fixtures, bulbs and wire bundles. it's really interesting though that the lights jump from one to another to another. i've learned a lot none the less.
well, sort of.

aaron

I'm not quite familiar with the Tri's electrical system. What I get from your commentary is that there is a master lighting switch or breaker on a panel somewhere which feeds current to the lighting fixtures. I am assuming you can then switch the lights on and off individually depending which ones you are using at the time. Could be that swich you describe which is causing all of your problems. it might be that its only loose or defective on the leg that runs your forward lighting. You could bypass the switch to determine if thats the problem.

[aaronbocknek]

hey there, thanks for getting back to me. i just need to motivate myself to finish searching this out. what's so strange, is the forward lights, (stateroom, head, utility area--4 lights in total) are controlled by the exact same toggle switch that controls the salon and engine room lights. john, my mechanic, tells me that even though there is 1 switch, there are multiple areas where the hot connects for each grouping. he also said that since the wire bundle is complete forward to aft running into the panel, the chances are that the fault is isolated near the panel. a screw that is loose by even the slightest amount can cause the fault. again, he did stress that since i was able to isolate it the way i did, we can rule out defective fixtures, bulbs and wire bundles. it's really interesting though that the lights jump from one to another to another. i've learned a lot none the less.
well, sort of.



aaron

I'm not quite familiar with the Tri's electrical system. What I get from your commentary is that there is a master lighting switch or breaker on a panel somewhere which feeds current to the lighting fixtures. I am assuming you can then switch the lights on and off individually depending which ones you are using at the time. Could be that swich you describe which is causing all of your problems. it might be that its only loose or defective on the leg that runs your forward lighting. You could bypass the switch to determine if thats the problem.

there is a 12v DC main panel in the salon next to the AC power distribution panel. on the DC main, there are two master toggle switches, one over the other,both marked CABIN LIGHTS. # 1 controls the fwd state room over head lights /fwd head /utility-holding tank area/salon cove lights/engine room lights and the aft cabin berth lights port and starboard.

the other master switch (#2) controls the aft cabin overhead light, the aft head vanity/ceiling lights and the galley counter light. why it's set up this way i have no clue, but the diagram shows this also. now, i get power from the dc main switch #1 to everything but the forward area of the boat---berth lights/head/utility. somehow, that one area is isolated with a hot wire to the main buss on the panel then runs to the toggle switch. i just need to figure out which wire goes where and go from there. like john said yesterday, i've done 90% of the grunt work in isolating it thus far. now, we need to concentrate on the panel itself.
confused? so am i. now you know why i've been knocking this around my brain since november. when either master switch is in the 'on' position, each fixture will operate, thus allowing individual control for lighting.
aaron

[Commissionpoint]

So you pretty much have it narrowed down to something between the main and the buss, possibly even the switch itself if it has multiple terminals and all but the one responsible for forward lighting is operating in a satisfactory manner.

I have a feeling you will have it sorted rather soon. Take pics of the problem if you can when you find it. It would be nice to have something like this documented should a fellow Trojan owner have a similar issue at some point in the future.

Keep yer stick on the ice.