Duck Boat Electrical Question

S

ScottCK

Active member
OK, I am not a EE major but this does not make sense to me. I have not had the boat out in several months. The battery is charged enough to crank the 115hp outboard without an issue. But when I flipped the switch for the lights, nothing happened for 30 seconds. After that they came on fine and quick. Why?? It is almost like they needed to charge/heat up before they would come on. Any ideas as to why they would need time to come on?
 
But when I flipped the switch for the lights, nothing happened for 30 seconds.
Click to expand...
Scott,
What type of switch as in (a) rotary (b) push/pull (c) toggle flip? If (c) the toggle lever may just move an internal spring. Which in turn causes the actual contact to move. Maybe the internal parts are not moving freely. When the internal contact finally moved, that is when the lights came on. Once it moved the first time, it freed up and is working ok now?

Otherwise, did you disturb anything ( pulled wires, jiggled the switch, tapped the lights) during those first 30 seconds which may have made the difference?
 
All signs point to a loose or dirty termination in the lighting circuit. This could be in the switch or fuse area if it affected all lights at once. These "bad connections" can create heat and flex the wire or term enough make a better connection. This also could happen in the switch and you would have a hard time fixing anything inside the switch.
 
It is a toggle flip. I did flip it on/off several times - pressing hard on it. The thing is that when they did come on, it had just been sitting in the on position for the 30 or so second. I didn't move any of wires.
 
Toggle switch is bad, like Dave said they work with a spring. The moving part is like a teeter totter with the spring in the center of the fulcrum. They somtimes get stiff and the moving contact will not "teeter" to the "ON" position right away. Replace the switch and I'm sure that will solve your problem.
 
Same thing happened with my jackplate toggle on the console. I went to drop the motor down and no dice. I wiggled the switch around and applied a little english and sure enough it has been fine since... I figured it is kind of rusted inside.
 
Checked it all out and everything is working fine now. Guess it just needed time to wake up after a long sleep.
 
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