Irony Is Not Dead

[jtexas]

Acquired new compass with LED backlight & thought I would hook it up lakeside. Thought it would be smart to wire it to the running light switch. But I wired it across the switch; result: running lights on, compass light off; running lights off, compass light on. Talk about irony!<br /><br />I was too impatient to work it out at the time & just pulled the wires. Luckily the stern light shines over my shoulder & illuminates the compass anyway.<br /><br />jtw

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Irony Is Not Dead

JTexas, Do not feel bad. I wanted to be creative in my wiring of new running lights on my boat. Now you want both bow and stern lights on when your running and just the anchor light on when the motor is off, right? However, I am smart enough that I dont need no switch with two positions! So I wire it all up in my "special way" (one SPST Switch)and it works perfectly except if the lights are on and the motor is running, the motor will not shut off! Voltage feeds back through the accessory pole of the ignition switch and energizes the ignition. Seemed to work OK on land, but was real embarrasing on the river!

 

[DaveM]

Re: Irony Is Not Dead

That reminds me of the 1984 AMC Jeep Wagoneer (later called the Cherokee) I owned, complete with genuine immatation wood paneling. The driver's side door literally fell off, unplugging the harness and the door locks. The door locks were 2 black wires. Hmmm, 50% chance of getting this correctly reconnected. Yup, you guesssed it...lock the driver's door and all the others unlock. Unlock the driver's door and all the others lock. Perfect. Oh how I miss AMC.

 

[jtexas]

Re: Irony Is Not Dead

Hey Chris, I think you were on to something. Did you ever get it to work the way you wanted? Wouldn't a diode in the circuit do the trick? I like the concept of keying the lights off the ignition.<br /><br />And I think Juan's on to a pretty good practical joke!