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Power at light switch, but no lights

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papanigel

New member
Hi all. I have a 2005 Bayliner 185BR with a 3.0 Mercruiser. both my nav and anchor lights are not working. If I take off the yellow and purple leads to the switch, I have power in both switch positions (when I toggle the switch up or down) - but no lights - I can't see power at the nav light if I put my meter on both leads (the leads are both black..??) The bulb looks ok, the fuses look ok (would I get power at the switch if the fuse was bad?). If I had a break in a cable somewhere, would it be odd that both bow and stern lights would be out?

Thanks for any help
 
Thanks for your reply. The ground to the switch is OK. I'm not sure it would be grounds at the lights as they are both out - but possible I guess. I'm no electronics guy I'm afraid... I have 2 black wires at the nav light. Is there a positive and a ground that goes to the bulb, or does the positive just run through the bulb - in and out?
 
papanigel said:
Thanks for your reply. The ground to the switch is OK. I'm not sure it would be grounds at the lights as they are both out - but possible I guess. I'm no electronics guy I'm afraid... I have 2 black wires at the nav light. Is there a positive and a ground that goes to the bulb, or does the positive just run through the bulb - in and out?
Click to expand...
Ayuh,..... There should be a solid ground at each appliance,.....

There should be No ground at the switch, as that's just the power leg,.....
 
Just having voltage at a switch doesn't mean that it will pass sufficient current to illuminate the bulbs...you may want to try a test light with a bulb that will draw at least an amp of current.

another option is to take a fused test lead and see if the bulbs will light independent of the switch...that will give you an idea where the issue is.
 
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