- Apr 26, 2009
- 5,821
- Boat Info
- '97 330 Sundancer, Raymarine C80 suite with radar, Mercury 310 Hypalon w/8hp Yammie 2stk
- Engines
- 2X 454 carbs w/ vDrives
What a bummer. My launch may be delayed and its a long weekend coming. I went to do the normal pre-launch routines, but the power backfeed through cigarette lighter to pen the hatch didn't work for some reason. So I tested tried the other outlet in the cabin, and it worked. So far so good. get things set up, and then decide to take a look at that cockpit lighter outlet. I take it out and the ground wire behind it looks burned and it has disconnected. Strange. So I test the wires that feed it (red and ground), and they are shorted (that is, they are connected somewhere in the circuit. Very strange. Off goes the battery switch. Open up the dash switch panel and the entire black (ground) circuit wiring is melted across all the switches and has clearly melted some other wires. Could be a big rewiring needed.
It appears that when they winterized and closed the hatch in the fall, the mechanic must have crossed positive and negative with the back feed cable. No fuse on a negative wire so it put all the power the wrong way. They did not admit to it (yet) and have said they will look at it last week (yes, its now "this week"). First time they have messed something up. I am pretty angry about it, but accidents happen. We'll see. They better not try to blame me (I recommission in the spring).
On a related note, once they get this fixed, I am going to install a fuse on the ground wire behind the socket. Normally not needed since the fuse is only needed on the power in side. It would have saved all of this if there was one on that line. I don't know why Sea Ray would not do this on all boats where backfeeding is part of the routine for closing the hatch in winter.
It appears that when they winterized and closed the hatch in the fall, the mechanic must have crossed positive and negative with the back feed cable. No fuse on a negative wire so it put all the power the wrong way. They did not admit to it (yet) and have said they will look at it last week (yes, its now "this week"). First time they have messed something up. I am pretty angry about it, but accidents happen. We'll see. They better not try to blame me (I recommission in the spring).
On a related note, once they get this fixed, I am going to install a fuse on the ground wire behind the socket. Normally not needed since the fuse is only needed on the power in side. It would have saved all of this if there was one on that line. I don't know why Sea Ray would not do this on all boats where backfeeding is part of the routine for closing the hatch in winter.