'92 Sailfish

[Grey56]

Afternoon all -

Have been having trouble with the electrical - specifically the lighting at the helm & in the cabin.

Recently replaced some of the fuses - and even bought a new chart-plotter/GPS. That and the bluetooth radio/VHF radio all work & have since purchase two years ago.

That said - the courtesy/spreaders & the interior cabin lights will just not turn on.

As recently as two weeks ago - replaced the horn (and it worked) did not blow sound yesterday while we were working on it (although there was a clicking sound which leads me to believe that the relay from the circuit was there).

Does anyone have any advice on where to go or what the problem might be? Anything helps.

 

[Bg56126]

In my 99 Sailfish (dont own it anymore) there was a fuse panel up top in the electronics box and a second under the steering wheel. I needed to replace the one under the steering wheel which got corroded over time. I'd check the condition and connections on of both of those to see if there are any issues. Below is what I replaced it with.

Another note - take a look on the Grady website to see if you can trace back the wiring in the schematic of your boats electrical system. They have all the owners manuals posted on their site.

ST Blade Fuse Block, 12 Circuits with Negative Bus and Cover | West Marine

Check out our ST Blade Fuse Block, 12 Circuits with Negative Bus and Cover and more from West Marine!

www.westmarine.com

 

[DennisG01]

See if you have 12V coming into and going out of the appropriate switch. While you're there, it will give you a good chance to check the connections/wires. Same for the horn... however keep in mind that 12V can register through a single strand of wire but that single strand won't pass enough amps to power the accessory... which is why good/solid/clean connections are important.

 

[dogdoc]

when electrical gremlins are about and coming and going like that check your grounds. use a jumper from a known good ground to test

 

[A&J Outdoors]

I'm in the middle of this on my recently purchased 03 Sailfish. I have replaced the fuse panel with one like suggested above, I replaced all the wire ends going to it with heat shrink ends. Then there is also a neg and pos bus bars at the helm too, I replaced both of those as well along with all the wire ends.
You can start at one light, get to the wires and test with test light or multimeter, if no power there, test at fuse panel, if power there then the fun job of tracing wires begins, good luck.

 

[Fishtales]

You'll need a DVM and some time to check voltages. Really could be anything from connections, switches, wiring etc. If voltage is present at the dome light the switch could be bad. You may need a new light assembly. As for the running lights likely connections or fuse box. It may be time to replace the box and do some rewiring. Going to be difficult to troubleshoot from afar, you'll have to dig in and take some measurements.

 

[Sauza45]

Just a side note, when checking power always use the ground that the circuit is using that way you are checking ground along with power. If you don't have power then move to a know good ground and
check again.

 

[Grey56]

I'm in the middle of this on my recently purchased 03 Sailfish. I have replaced the fuse panel with one like suggested above, I replaced all the wire ends going to it with heat shrink ends. Then there is also a neg and pos bus bars at the helm too, I replaced both of those as well along with all the wire ends.
You can start at one light, get to the wires and test with test light or multimeter, if no power there, test at fuse panel, if power there then the fun job of tracing wires begins, good luck.

This is incredibly helpful - thank you brother!!

 

[A&J Outdoors]

This is incredibly helpful - thank you brother!!

You're welcome.

 

[Grey56]

In my 99 Sailfish (dont own it anymore) there was a fuse panel up top in the electronics box and a second under the steering wheel. I needed to replace the one under the steering wheel which got corroded over time. I'd check the condition and connections on of both of those to see if there are any issues. Below is what I replaced it with.

Another note - take a look on the Grady website to see if you can trace back the wiring in the schematic of your boats electrical system. They have all the owners manuals posted on their site.

ST Blade Fuse Block, 12 Circuits with Negative Bus and Cover | West Marine

Check out our ST Blade Fuse Block, 12 Circuits with Negative Bus and Cover and more from West Marine!

www.westmarine.com

This is also incredibly damn helpful - thank you. Specifically - it's nice that when you discuss the overhead electronics box & under-the-helm fuse box - I know where to orient myself.

As to the wiring schematic - you won't believe this: but the original owner kept the manual & passed it along. We do have it - but as someone who had never worked in electrical - it was like reading Greek.

 

[A&J Outdoors]

This is also incredibly damn helpful - thank you. Specifically - it's nice that when you discuss the overhead electronics box & under-the-helm fuse box - I know where to orient myself.

As to the wiring schematic - you won't believe this: but the original owner kept the manual & passed it along. We do have it - but as someone who had never worked in electrical - it was like reading Greek.

Even if you don't understand all the schematic, you can see the wire colors and what they go to, this can help.

 

[Bg56126]

This is also incredibly damn helpful - thank you. Specifically - it's nice that when you discuss the overhead electronics box & under-the-helm fuse box - I know where to orient myself.

As to the wiring schematic - you won't believe this: but the original owner kept the manual & passed it along. We do have it - but as someone who had never worked in electrical - it was like reading Greek.

Right on, hopefully this all helps. The fuse panel up top controlled the spreader lights and the dome light in the cockpit as well as the vhf. I’d check those connections first. I think the cabin lights were run to the panel under the steering wheel. After almost 30 years I can imagine the connections have got a little loose. It may be either the wiring to the fuse for the lights or the positive and negative feeds to the panel. My first guess based on your description the the wiring to the fuse panel for each device.

The other check to do is the connections to your house battery. Make sure those are all clean and snug.

As others said, you can go the tester route which will help isolate the problem as well. I feel a simple visual and checking of the connections at the fuse panels and batteries will be rather informative.

 

[Grey56]

Right on, hopefully this all helps. The fuse panel up top controlled the spreader lights and the dome light in the cockpit as well as the vhf. I’d check those connections first. I think the cabin lights were run to the panel under the steering wheel. After almost 30 years I can imagine the connections have got a little loose. It may be either the wiring to the fuse for the lights or the positive and negative feeds to the panel. My first guess based on your description the the wiring to the fuse panel for each device.

The other check to do is the connections to your house battery. Make sure those are all clean and snug.

As others said, you can go the tester route which will help isolate the problem as well. I feel a simple visual and checking of the connections at the fuse panels and batteries will be rather informative.

It's SAT & I'm just now able to sit down & reply to this - and this is equally as damn helpful; THANK YOU.

Yesterday I did replace all the fuses under the helm - and like magic things started working. However - I do think the switches at the control panel are patchy. We removed the panel - and they are ALL original. All just 2-prong switches - can't believe any of them still work.

I am going to sit down today & actually list off EVERY electrical component on the boat so as to isolate/label/test. Our head-scratcher is the TON of wires under the helm that just have ZERO labelling beyond the sea-star hydraulic steering lines. So much of it looks redundant but I'm very hesitant to start pulling things without isolating them first.

 

[lazy grady]

i replaced the wirig (had it done)on my two vintage 1992 and 1994 grady's. given age of boat, I would do that as to best long term prevention. had the same problem

 

[Bg56126]

It's SAT & I'm just now able to sit down & reply to this - and this is equally as damn helpful; THANK YOU.

Yesterday I did replace all the fuses under the helm - and like magic things started working. However - I do think the switches at the control panel are patchy. We removed the panel - and they are ALL original. All just 2-prong switches - can't believe any of them still work.

I am going to sit down today & actually list off EVERY electrical component on the boat so as to isolate/label/test. Our head-scratcher is the TON of wires under the helm that just have ZERO labelling beyond the sea-star hydraulic steering lines. So much of it looks redundant but I'm very hesitant to start pulling things without isolating them first.

Check out page 37 in this link. It will be helpful in trying to figure out, for anything that was factory added - the color schemes of the wires, what they power and where they go. For anything aftermarket..... good luck!

https://gradywhite.blob.core.windows.net/media/22268/1992-owners.pdf

 

[Grey56]

Check out page 37 in this link. It will be helpful in trying to figure out, for anything that was factory added - the color schemes of the wires, what they power and where they go. For anything aftermarket..... good luck!

https://gradywhite.blob.core.windows.net/media/22268/1992-owners.pdf

Believe it or not - the wife printed these out so we could have our own hide & seek. Many thanks!