Lost instrument lighting

Irie308

Well-Known Member
May 28, 2013
2,577
CT
Boat Info
2004 420 DB, GHS Hydraulic Lift
Garmin 8600/Garmin 1222 plus
AB Mares 10 VSX with 30 hp Tohatsu
Engines
Cummins 450C 8.3 L Turbocharged
I no longer have lighting at the helm. Compass/gauges/switch panel etc. not sure where to start troubleshooting. Worked recently as last weekend but turned on the running lights to head home from fireworks last night and nothing was illuminated.
 
On the back of your 2-4 way gauges, there are a few wires. I do not remember which one, but of them is the lights for your whole dash. Get your wiring diagram out. The other possibility is your dimmer is turned all of the way down. Dimmer is built into your Vessel View.

Just a couple of things to check.

Bennett
 
On the back of your 2-4 way gauges, there are a few wires. I do not remember which one, but of them is the lights for your whole dash. Get your wiring diagram out. The other possibility is your dimmer is turned all of the way down. Dimmer is built into your Vessel View.

Just a couple of things to check.

Bennett
On my 390 the white wires power up all the gauge lighting my boat is a bit older but i think it would still be the same. Hope someone else can confirm that for you. Good luck !
Les
 
+1 on dimmer in vessel view. On my 340 I lost the dash lights and it turned out the dimmer was turned all the way down on the vessel view.
 
Thanks will check that out this evening.
 
Checked all connections behind gauges as well as dimmer and running light switches. I even tried to jumper the dimmer switch to cancel that out and nothing. Also i have mechanicals so no vessel view. stumped.
 
If you don't have vv it should be easier to trace. Start at the guages and work backwards from the electrical schematic until you find the source where power is interrupted. Do you have regular rocker switches or pads and eim's? Those can be a bear to deal with. Not sure of the configuration on a 04 diesel.
 
turned out to be a faulty dimmer switch. Jumped it for now as prefer them at full brightness anyway
 
turned out to be a faulty dimmer switch. Jumped it for now as prefer them at full brightness anyway
The older your eyes get the more you realize the backlight dimmer is overkill on a boat. I accidentally shorted out my dimmer module installing something else. I ended up just removing it and hardwiring power to the backlighting. Max brightness at all times. Now I have a dimmer rocker switch I don't need.
 

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