Weird electrical issue I solved and would like to share.

[GaJeff]

I have an 81 Citation 19.5' Bow Rider. It's all original, same year I/O Mercruiser 120 and MC-1 drive. Over the weekend there were fireworks over the river and the locals like to get on the water to watch. We headed down there and as it got dark I turned on my NAV lights. I noticed as we rode they started to flicker. I was a little worried because its dark and I'm about 2mi. away from the dock. Kept any eye on my volt gauges and it seemed to be fine... Ok must be a short somewhere.

Today I'm checking it all out and the only time they flicker is when I rock the boat side to side. I'm checking EVERYTHING... Under the dash along the sides all the grounds... All the powers. Nothing, I take apart my light and its fine. Everything is fine.

Now I'm greasing my drive and the hinges. Move the drive side to side and there it goes again. WTF?

So I get back in the boat and check back there. I wiggle the connecting rod from the steering cable to the arm for the drive and there it is. Why? Not exactly sure but that rod is completing a ground somewhere to make my lights work. On the transom plate I put a flexy ground strap to the engine and problem solved. I'm not sure what's going on here or why but it fixed the issue. Maybe someone on here knows and would like to share. If your ever in a situation like this check your grounds from your drive to your engine.

Jeff

 

[achris]

Re: Weird electrical issue I solved and would like to share.

Sounds like someone facepalm used the transom plate as the return for the light circuit. I would be finding the negative from the lights and taking it back to where is belongs (the negative terminal of the battery!).

Chris.........

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: Weird electrical issue I solved and would like to share.

you said "they flicker". Do you mean both lights flicker? If so you need to find the ground for the dash gauges as that likes to travel normally along the shifter cable and will cause all sorts of problems. Also while under the dash make sure the steering cable is not rubbing the back of the gauges.

If you meant just the anchor light is flickering then I agree with achris that the anchor light ground needs to be found and installed correctly (normally near the battery) If you removed the battery this winter check you didn't miss a wire when you put the battery back in.

 

[jhebert]

Re: Weird electrical issue I solved and would like to share.

After reading your narrative, I'd characterize your experience as having found a rather dangerous wiring practice, but you have not resolved the problem or corrected the error.