I hate towerlights and my kick pannel with a passion!

[DRAGON88]

Well, my lights worked great at my house, before we towed it to the lake for the season. Once at the lake, the fuse stared to blow out. It only takes it about 5 seconds to devour a 40 amp fuse. Dumbfounded we pulled most of the wiring out of the tower fixed some small cuts that probably were not the problem. (obviously they were not...) When we had them off of the tower they worked great, no fuses blown, mount them back on the tower, POP goes the fuse. Today, we pulled all the wires out checked them, Surely there must be a broken wire somewhere right? Nope, all perfect. Here's where it starts to boggle my mind. The tower has a electrical current running though it. I have no clue where this is coming from, but it has an electrical charge. (I noticed this last weekend too when the tower felt "hot" on a fresh cut of mine. After we pulled the wiring and re mounted the lights.) Not only can I feel it slightly burn/sting me when I touch it, but it also will literally arch (make sparks) and make the lights dim when they are gently placed on the tower.(sparks are between the mounts and the tower.) The fuse will pop if you fully mount them to the tower. This "current" must be WHY the fuse is blowing out, however for the life of me I cannot figure out where this current is coming from. It makes no sense at all.

The facts:

Tower lights 40 amp fuse blows when lights are mounted.
Tower is conducting electricity, enough to actually cause sparks when you touch the light mount to the tower when the lights are on.
The tower is ONLY hot when the lights are connected and on.
The wires have absolutely zero breaks in them.
All connections are clean and "proper" (splices all look good and are correctly insulated)

Wiring: The lights are a "Titan DSO 6 pack" All the splices are good. There are two wires coming out of the bottom tower leg (that go to the tower lights, I also have the 2 wires that run to the 360 light on top of the tower.) There is a white (negative) and a black (positive) Once you get down behind the kick panel to the relay, you have a yellow wire (constant connected to the courtesy light switch) A red wire (Runs all the way back and connects to the positive terminal on the battery) the ground wire (white) is connected to the negative terminal on the fuse panel.

I'm just scratching my head as to why the stupid tower is literally conducting electricity. Anyone have any idea?

Also I hate hate hate hate that stupid kick panel! is there a secret to lining that thing back up? It took me a good hour and a half to get it lined up again.

Thanks,
Richard

[Downsideup]

RE: I hate towerlights and my kick pannel with a passion!

Black should be negative, usually, not white. Switch those and see what happens.

[bkhallpass]

Re: RE: I hate towerlights and my kick pannel with a passion

Black should be negative, usually, not white. Switch those and see what happens.

I was thinking the same thing. In a car or boat, black should typically
be negative.

BTW - my lights work and I still hate them. They look kind of cool, but
they are essentialy worthless in term of functionality.

Good luck.

BKH

[DRAGON88]

RE: Re: RE: I hate towerlights and my kick pannel with a pas

This is also what I thought, but my father insisted differently, furthermore the white wire has an additional splice 5-6 inches before the relay for the wire that runs from the splice to the white wire onto the negative "terminal" on the fuse panel. So I think they had the polarity set up in the right direction. Either way I don't know how that could cause the tower to be "live" I think I may have noticed 2 wires that were pinched between the tower mount and the deck... UGH, this means the kickplate comes off once again.

Thanks for the help guys, it's much appreciated.

[FatBoy]

RE: Re: RE: I hate towerlights and my kick pannel with a pas

I wired mine with the black wire Neg and the white wire Pos. They work great. By the way I didn't put in a relay just a toggle switch in the hot wire and a 25 amp fuse next to the Pos battery post. Works like a charm wired streight to the battery.

[bkhallpass]

Dragon,

I suspect you have current through the tower because the
white and black wires are reversed. The tower is grounding to
the hull. However, because of the reversal, it is picking up
current.

Just my guess. I'm certainly not an electronics expert.

BKH

[ag4ever]

The tower cant ground to fiberglass unless there are some wires in contact with it.

It might be creating an electrical current kinda like a coil would. Not very likely, but it might.

[bkhallpass]

The tower cant ground to fiberglass unless there are some wires in contact with it.

It might be creating an electrical current kinda like a coil would. Not very likely, but it might.

Yes of course, I should have been more specific. My theory is that
something on that tower is grounding to something on the boat (not
specfically to the hull). Could be wiring form the anchor light, speakers,
or the lights dragon has installed. Could be the bolts for the tower making
contact with one of the wires running under the gunnel. Don't know,
and obviously a guess.

BKH

[actiondcpd]

I absolutely hate the kick panel as well. It never mounts solid and always has annoyed me. There must be a better way!

[ag4ever]

actiondcpd, pm whitechocolate for some alternatives. Might cost some $$$$$$$, but I will guarantee they are much beter.

[gotwake]

I as well, hate that panel. So for you Dragon, I wanted to see how far I could kick the kick panel, well the footpadresthumpthingthatshouldn't bethereanyway, and I'd say about 10 feet. 3 boats now I've put up with it. No longer....
And as far as that cooler goes? My guess is that it goes about 15 feet.

[actiondcpd]

gotwake, NIIICE. Do you have any pictures once you got it all cleaned up?

[DRAGON88]

Gotwake, awesome! How do you attach the kickpanel back up now? If only you were closer, I would love a chance to drop kick that stupid foamwedgethingthatnoonelikesbuteveryonedreamsofmur dering...

[gotwake]

LOL - Action, foam drying as we speak, fiberglass ready to go. I'll take pics as I go.

Dragon, you ain't kidding. It's a new boat, and judging by the holes, I can tell that the kick panel has been removed at least twice. WTH???

I think that I'm going to attach it with aluminum stand-offs. I'm going to put a sub there and one reason that I cut the cooler out was to move my 3-port heater back (forward). I really don't want it touching the sub, so some special brackets or such will be in order. I'll take pics along the way!

[ag4ever]

Saweeeeeet!!! I have thought about axing the "cooler" but just did not do it.

I have long since removed my wedgethatiscalledafootrestthatdoesnogoodforanythin g when I installed my heater.

TAKE A CLUE CC FROM THE RASH OF PEOPLE THAT ARE CUTTING THAT WASTE OF SPACE OUT OF THEIR BOAT!!!!!!

Next will be taking out the cooler. How did you get it out? Did you cut the top loose from the deck, and slide it back toward the driver's seat? Is it fastened to the bottom anywhere? I was thinking I would have to remove it in multiple pieces.