Trojan Boat Forum

So restoring 1974 Trojan f25 cabin cruiser express as some of you know .. It is coming down to point where I can get surveyor in but still have few things to do. All body work and deck work is pretty close to being done, engine seems to run decent and no leaks , once manifolds were taken out and cleaned up and new gaskets put in place.
So now can tackle electrical. So where to begin :

1) Gauges don't seem to work but they do light up when you switch on panel light .
2)My nav lights don't seem to come on , port side , starboard side top light and light in back I also would to install some additional lights eventually like anchor light , front nav lights and so on
3)Interior cabin lights were chopped off for some reason , not just bulbs taken out but wires literally cut flush with hardware even in bathroom and or head ' I purchased new cabin lights and will also add some other lights eventually
4) Wiper motors work on bench test but not mounted , and I took off cover that covers electrical over top of windshield . Looks ok but haven't dug deep into it yet

All fuses seem ok or well they do not look blown, when I do test with tester power seems to be there so was wondering if could be way people over years were adding things and everything needs to be connected (like cabin lights example) for all of it to come on . I would think that one gauge or switch should work individually as needed. I could and may get electrician, but would like to give it a shot on my own , to learn about my systems if for any other reason . If I give it to electrician yes it will work but may not learn whole lot .
Any help ideas or suggestions is greatly appreciated and thank you all in advance

Gordd,

As an aircraft electrician for many years, I hope to at least save you some time and money! There are so many places to start, but you said you had power and the fuses were ok. I'd check the connections, as bad connections are almost 80-90% of the problem. Wiring is coated with insulation and protected from the elements, so it usually doesn't go bad for a LONG time. Also, if you're in salt water you'll want to do a lot of cleaning on the connections.

Other than that, grounds are a very common issue! If there's a connection issue on your common ground in the junction box under your instrument cluster, that would explain why nothing works and you have power present. There's just no where for power to complete the circuit. If that's not the case, then I'd think about what the systems have in common with each other. It's usually towards the heart of the system.

NOTE: as an electrician myself, I've always let circuit breakers, fuses, master switches, etc. screw me up from time to time . Make a sweep through the boat and ensure literally everything is where it should be!

Good luck!

When troubleshooting something like this, I take a voltmeter and start working my way from the battery forward. Do you have 12 volts at the battery? Do you have 12 volts at the fuse? When multiple things are not working, its usually something common to all of them.

Thank you all for help
I got all nav lights working and most of gauges . Still having issu with fuel guage so may change sensor to see if that fixes it .
Interior lights , well ,
way previous owner had it set up was from fuse box basic house wire(not sure why he used heavy house wire but ohh well ) to bathroom from bathroom light to light above sink and across to light above table and in between those two he had a hook up for horn .. now for some reason he had wires in bathroom cut just before light and taped up with electrical tape not connected . Don't ask no idea ripped all that out and used basic red for power black for ground wire and added two lights in bunk area and took out horn wires as they going to be separate ,... and now they all work .. but damn that was pain to trouble shoot. Specially when new to it . I know some basic and some common sense but I bet took me longer then would electrician lol Yes there is stuff everywhere buts still working on this and its getting close to that time that I can start finishing up all these projects and get it ready for survey