Chasing an electrical ghost

[Home Cookin']

for a year I have been trying to find a short that under certain conditions would pop the 20A fuse that covers the starter, fuel guage and PTT. This is an old boat I use occasionally, with a 1987 Johnson 70. It would pop the fuse when the motor got up to a certain speed. We replaced solonoid, rectifier, motor wiring, controls, and split the PTT and starter circuits. I was also occasionally getting a mild shock from the control handle.
Turns out the steering wheel workings under the dash were bent crooked (which I had noticed, probably from a grounding) and those works were arcing against the fuel guage power post under the dashboard. The guy working on it has seperated and protected the two parts. Will be water testing in a week or so to see if that's it!
I'm posting this to show how frustrating an intermittent electrical problem can be, and that the usual suspects are not always to blame. Who would have thought?

Also, a method for finding these problems is to run the motor in the dark and look for arcs. In my case, that wasn't feasible.

 

[steelespike]

Re: Chasing an electrical ghost

Let us know how things come out.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Chasing an electrical ghost

ran it this weekend, no problems at all. This is a good example of the peculiar and finnicky nature of boats, and how they can stump the experts and aggravate the owners into taking up golf!