2002 Aquasport 215 DC Osprey electrical issues

[RickK]

Ahhhh, brings back memories of when I got my 230 and took off the panel beneath the dash for the first time.       It was a rats nest in there - NO, I MEAN A REAL RATS NEST - luckily the occupant(s) were long gone. All that was left was shredded paper towels in the corner of the panel cover.  Plus it looked like there was a fire under the dash or someone did a crappy job using a lighter to heat-shrink the wires, 'cause the carpet was all black in places.  

I see the (-) buss bar but I don't see a (+) buss bar.  Tough to add anything if there is not a bar to tie to
Does look like the hots are all paralleled across the CBs at the bottom of the top switch panel.
Where's that "Blue Wirenut" SeaBob's asking about?

[seabob4]

Rick,
If you could have seen my 215 DC helms...  Oh well, I guess some people just don't give a !  Anyway, that "blue connector" that I have spoken many times about, well, I'm guessing it is hidden by the wire bundle, either in the "bunch" that has the Yammi plugs in it, or the bundle secured up along the hull-to-deck joint seam.  It is about 2 1/2" long and is somewhat like an AMP connector, only has the 6GA helm feed, no other wires in it.

Bob C

[vacottonking]

I got a 20' wire and a neat tool that has a with a wire and a sharpe needle with a light bulb attached.  Looks like you hook up one end up to a ground and then poke the needle right through the the + wire insulation and if it is hot the bulb will light.  I guess that hole the needle makes would need to be taped back up or am I inviting corrosion after a few years from these punch holes?  Anyway, I will just try running the 20' wire first and see if I can see if it is my ground or hot wire that is the problem.   I should have a report back on these results around 6 or 6:30pm.  I'll take a few more pictures while I am at it including the battery area.

Oh, and by the way - My name is Johnny.

[seabob4]

Johnny,
Nice to meet you.  The name is Bob.  That little device is what we call a "test light".  Useful for determining the presence of voltage, and it will work for your purposes.  But once you have that chunk of wire hooked up to the positive terminal of your battery, and touch the other end to the switch that you have in the "on" position, you'll know you have voltage because the device will be working.  Switch on a pump (washdown, fresh water, bilge, whatever), because then you just have to listen for it running.  Open your aft hatches, this makes the sound easier to hear.  Remember, put your wire on the center terminal of the switch.

We are anxiously awaiting the results...

[vacottonking]

YES.  Problem solved.  When I connected the 20' wire to the positive battery terminal and the other end to the  radio circuit, everything came on.   I did the same check using the ground side and it did not help thus confirming the issue was with the positive wires.  Actually everything kept working when I disconnected the 20' wire until I turned on the fish box pump.  Then nothing worked.  So I started at the back of the boat and went back into the black box near the battery.  Again, the main breaker tested OK.  However I checked each of the other 3 smaller breakers in the black box and immediately noticed there was some corrosion on one of the terminals.  After wire brushing and reconnecting everything worked and kept working.  The picture shows the inside of the black box and in the upper left hand corner of the picture you can see the corrosion.  Ya'll would have noticed this the first time.   The whole thing only took 30 minutes to diagnose and fix after I had the information that you provided and the right tools.  Thanks.  This is the most help I have ever received from a forum and you guys stayed with me the whole way.  I was eager to get it fixed and you always had suggestions before I could even get time to try it out.  I hope this provides some documentation if somebody else runs into this problem down the road.  I have another problem but will start a new thread.  After it warms up.  

[bdtsr]

Glad to hear you got her fixed! This is what it's all about, coming together to help each other. Now, go catch some Stripers!

[Capt. Bob]

Wow - what a difference.  Thanks

Capt. Bob, can you see it now  

Well all I can say is...
It's about time

I like happy endings when members solve problems and at the same time learn how to post photos.

[RickK]

Good Job   - now maybe you should spray some anti-corrosion material on all the newly cleaned connectors - maybe like crc626 - before you button it back up?

[Asport-Rog]

Great that you fixed it!

One thing..... is this a split wire?



Rog

[vacottonking]

It is very possible that this is a split wire.  I did this work in sub-freezing temperatures and it could have cracked do to the twisting I was having to do.  Thanks for pointing it out.  I am going to deal with this as soon as it warms some as well as the crc626.

[seabob4]

This was fun!  Except for Johnny, who had to freeze his ass off to do it!   So what's your other issue?

[RickK]

Good eye Rog.
I guess better the wire than his thumb  
Liquid tape time. And then if you have some heat shrink to put over it....

(Note to self: Self, don't go near your boats in sub-freezing temps)

[vacottonking]

This may not be proper forum edicate to pull up an old thread but This is the same issue that I thought I had resolved still not fixed yet.  I have gone back to the breaker box that is bolted to the transom under the rear starboard seat and checked each breaker and I have all of these wires that are hot.  I am also sure the ground is good.  There is slight current on the daisy loop connections to all the electronics but it barely lights up my tester light.  So I am getting very low amps to my dash.  Where do I go from here?  (also should I start this as a new thread?)

Seabob was talking a lot about that blue connecter wire between the 6G red wire under the helm to the daisy looped connections.  I never located this wire.  I will be trying there, but in the mean time what does this sound like.