Why does this happen?

[joel45acp]

I just noticed last night while running my boat, the volt meter goes to zero volts when I switched the running lights on. This it suppose to do that? I never noticed it since this was the first time I've ran in the dark. It only happens with my running lights and not the fish finder. How odd. My live well pump isn't hooked up yet so I don't know if it will do the same thing with that. Any info. is greatly appreciated guys. Hope you folks have an awesome Father's Day.

 

[jlinder]

Re: Why does this happen?

Just a guess, but maybe the neg. lead on your voltmeter is no connected to battery neg. but to the positive lead for the lights. With the lights off they provided a path to ground and the meter worked.

You need a hand held voltmeter to troubleshoot. Turn the lights on and measure from the battery negative to the negative of the meter. My guess is you will see 12 volts - you should see 0 volts.

If not measure from the pos lead of the voltmeter to the neg of the battery. Here you should see 12 volts.

This will tell you where to look.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Why does this happen?

NO -- it is not supposed to do that. What does the voltmeter indicate when the lights are NOT on. If it reads 12.6 or higher with the engine running or not, then the battery is probably good and the issue is with the lights. But to have normal battery voltage go to zero with the flip of a switch says either power is being totally disconnected. It can't be a direct short as you would either smoke and fire or a fuse or breaker would pop if that's the situation. I suspect you have a "disconnect" situation. For example the voltmeter may be wired to a terminal on that switch that is OFF when the lights are switched on.

 

[joel45acp]

Re: Why does this happen?

Thanks guys. I'll look at it again tomorrow and fill you in on what I find.

 

[joel45acp]

Re: Why does this happen?

Silvertip, you were correct, I had a "disconnect" issue with my switch. Corrected the problem, now everything works as it should. Thanks folks.