Circuit Breaker/Switch Panel has power but....

[Peregrine]

Nothing works.

I checked and there is power to the panel and the ground is good. None of the breakers are popped. Checked everything I can see-no corrosion, all the in-line fuses are good.

I was fishing and all items powered through the panel-bait pump, stereo, auto-pilot, etc. shut off at once.

Many thanks for your suggestions.

Jeff

 

[TomS]

Deja Vu.

See my post here, same question to you..

http://classicparker.com/phpBB2/viewtop ... highlight=

-- Tom

 

[Peregrine]

Thanks Tom.

I have performed this test and have power all the way to the circuit breaker panel and ground continuity is good all the way to the panel, but no love from the panel. Thus my conundrum.

Jeff

 

[TomS]

Hmm.. strange that you have power to the panel AND everything shut off at once. You have power to the back of the individual switches where the spade connectors attach?

On my panel, the power and ground leads are just daisy chained one to the next, which would eliminate any one failure causing the others to fail.

I would try disconnecting one of the accessories (should be able to unplug right from the back of the panel) and wiring it directly to the power and bus bars to see if that works.

-- Tom

 

[Porkchunker]

My rig has some big honking fuses on the transom. Might want to check those out.

That reminds me...I need to purchase a spare of each one or replace them with circuit breakers some day.

Dave

aka

 

[MaxOut]

Thanks Tom.

I have performed this test and have power all the way to the circuit breaker panel and ground continuity is good all the way to the panel, but no love from the panel. Thus my conundrum.

Jeff

If you have a good ground and power to the panel then there is nothing wrong it is all in your head? :? , or all of your accessories decided to break at once :shock: (not likely) Keep looking. The problem is between the panel and the battery. If you test it this way you will find the problem I promise..


Do you have a volt meter or a test light? If so connect the ground (-)directly to the battery and trace the hot (+) wire from the battery to the accessory panel and test it at every connection/fuse/switch. Once you find a point without power work your way back to the last good point and you will find the problem in between. If you get all the way to the panel and still have power then you have a bad ground. Repeat the same process with one wire of your tester on the hot (+) side of the battery and trace the ground forward. It sounds like a breaker or a fuse is blown but also may be a bad primary connection. Also do these checks with accessories on to see if your connection fails under load. There should be an automatic circuit breaker at the battery that is likley the culprit. Good Luck.

 

[Peregrine]

The answer was embarassingly simple.

I don't turn off the house battery and the battery switch was making poor contact. A couple of on/off turns and we are back in business.

Of course that followed several hours of circuit testing by me and a friend that does boat electronics for a living, head scratching, and swearing.

Any way, it's done and I'll switching the battery on and off now.

JW

 

[DaleH]

The answer was embarassingly simple.

I don't turn off the house battery and the battery switch was making poor contact. A couple of on/off turns and we are back in business.

You know, I once replaced a Guest-type battery switch as it was defective. That situation (after being towed in) taught me how to perform my own resistance checks on my wiring and devices.

Now what I do preseason, without the batteries hooked up, is run the switch around a number of times, rond and round (easily, not forcing) to help ensure good contacts and that no corrosion has built-up on the switch contacts.

When installing new switches, I liberally coat the contacts with dielectric grease before installing.

 

[MaxOut]

When installing new switches, I liberally coat the contacts with dielectric grease before installing.[/quote]

This would be a good maintenance practice too.. :wink: