OSPREY 225 spreader light question

[02OSPREY225]

Hey guys...I have a 2002 osprey 225 and have noticed that when anchored up with battery selector switch set to ALL...and motor OFF...my spreader lights are turning off after  few minutes.....BUT the circuit breaker is not tripping.   If I turn the spreader light switch OFF and then back ON....they work again for the next minute or so and then go off again.

Doesn't sound like a ground issue....or circuit overload issue.....is there some safety thing built into the wiring that prevents running the spreader lights for extended periods when the motor is off in order to save battery?

Thanks in advance!

[CLM65]

Sounds more like a loose connection.  The connection gets hot, which increases the resistance.  When the engine is running, you are getting enough voltage to compensate for the added resistance.  When the engine is shut off, the voltage drops enough that the light goes out.

[Capt. Bob]

While I'm the resident pain in the ass, I'm not Reddy Kilowatt but......

Let's look at this from a logical view point.

First, did the spreader lighting come from the factory or was it added at a later date? I'm guessing the later date. I would not think that someone would have installed a device to save the battery.

Second, your description sounds as if some section of the circuit supplying current to run the lights is breaking down, my second guess is due to heat.

You stated the circuit breaker isn't tripping and the lights work for several minutes, then go out. You then reset the switch (off then on) and they work for a short period then fail.

Sounds is if a connection either supply or ground is heating up and then breaking connection, cooling down (switch off) then heating again (switch on) and the cycle repeats.

Could be a bad wire but I'd inspect any connections dealing with this circuit.

Lastly, can I ask why the battery switch is in the ALL position during this period rather than on either 1 or 2?

Good luck.

Edit: Damn you cut and paste guys, beat me again.

[CLM65]

Edit: Damn you cut and paste guys, beat me again.

  But your response was much more eloquent

[02OSPREY225]

I have two halogens on the rear each at 55w...just your basic set of docking light and an LED in the front. Here are the LED specs

Specifications:
Watts: 34.5
Amp Draw: 2.50
LED's: 6
Raw Lumens: 3030
Lux @ 10m: 206.1
Beam Distance: 287.1 m
Peak Beam Intensity: 20,612 cd


So a little more info......the previous owner of the boat had just the stock single spreader in the front and stock single spreader in the rear.....and I was still having this issue. I decided to rule out the lights as the cause so I split the hot (as well as the ground) in the rear to run the 2 55w halogens in parallel. I kept the existing hot and ground leads for the front and just switched out to the new LED. I am 100% confident that the issue is not with the wiring I did for the swap out....nod the fact that the original lights were doing this should confirm this....it looks like there are TWO hots coming off the back of the switch....maybe the front and rear are set up on separate leads? I tried taking pics but this website won't allow the smallest size pic my phone takes.....


 I just had the battery set to all just to try and rule out a single battery issue.

So at this point I have gone over most of the hot wires....I'll replace a few more of the sped terminals tonight to try and rule them out.....I'm not sure where the ground goes to ..... Anyone know?

[seabob4]

The ground is run to the ground bus in the console.  Once the leads for the spreaders, ANC light, and terminal strip power are routed into the console, the grounds are routed to the bus, the positives to the switches, with the terminal strip positive jumping off the 12V outlet...

[wingtime]

I would ditch those two 55W lights as ASAP.  That is a huge battery drain to run those things..  9.1 amps.  A pair of LED lights will drop that to.... maybe .6 amps or less?  I'll bet something is warming up and causing the circuit to open up.  I'd unhook one of the 55W lamps and see what happens.  I'll bet the decreased draw will stop the problem.

[seabob4]

As I said on the ABC Club, I swapped out the 10A that came in the panel with a 15A when 2 lights were installed.  Agree entirely with Bruce, swap the halogens for LEDs...

[02OSPREY225]

Thanks again for the response....can you provide anymore info on the breaker swap out you did....what type?  Where you got it?  Was it OEM?  Was it hard to do....thanks for all the help guys...I'm new to this

[Capt. Bob]

I tried taking pics but this website won't allow the smallest size pic my phone takes.....

Incorrect.
This site doesn't care whether you sport an iPhone, a Droid or even a Campbell's soup can and string (well maybe not the last one but....)

You can take a pic and then upload it to your gallery in this site's Photo Gallery. The Gallery will then size the photo for insertion in your post.

Simple stuff.
I take a pic with my Samsung Galaxy S3 (primitive by current phone standards). It stores it in my phone's "Gallery" section. Standard resolution is 3264 x 2448, over 2+ megs worth.

I open my browser (in this case Firefox), log on to this site and click on the Photo Gallery tab.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page (no need to find your personal gallery, whether you have one or not), click on the upload photos tab located bottom middle.
A new window opens and I scroll down to the first of five "browse boxes" and click.

Now I'm asked the location of the file/photo I want, choose the photo and click.
I'm returned to the site's Photo Gallery (no fingers needed) and I process the photo with two additional clicks. The photo is now sized to fit into your post.

Two things:
First, I rarely post to the Forum from my phone. I HATE the small size of the phone's interface, therefore I use a computer.

Second, I'm running a Droid OS on my Samsung, current version 4.4.2. Copy and paste was a walk in the park with the earlier versions, it seems this latest release deals with copyright infringement issues and the old c & p function has been somewhat disabled to the average plagiarist like myself. While I still do all of the above with my phone, I can now only show the link to the photo (in my Forum Photo Gallery) within my post but I'm willing to bet some smart bastard has figured a workaround. Still, because I use a computer, I'm not concerned.

Try uploading a photo to this Forum's gallery and see what happens.

Good luck.

[futch13]

Swapping the lights out with LEDs still doesn't fix the problem, unless it's an overloaded circuit.  It just reduces the load.

Agree, it gets the circuit back into specs, but if there is a bad ground...The wire size running to the lights should be capable of running 2 55w bulbs.  A 10 amp C/B should be capable of holding the load, but it is near it's capacity and should be upgraded to a 15a breaker.  

A loose or corroded grd connection sounds more like what is the problem