DC/AC panel - backlights?

G

Gin

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
874
Fluid Motion Model
R-31 S
Vessel Name
Echo II (2019)
I'm trying to chase down an electrical gremlin in our DC/AC panel on our 2013 Ranger Tug 27. In reading info on Blue Seas website, it appears that our panels should have two lighting features. One is a backlighting system, which I presume provides backlighting to the labels so you can read them in the dark (but I'm not sure about that). The other is an LED lighting system for each branch circuit. On my panel, the LED system works (mostly -- that's the problem I'm chasing). I have small amber lights on the DC panel next to each breaker that come on when that breaker is flipped on (same thing for the AC panel, but the LEDs are green instead of amber). Those individual circuit lights are my only lighting -- no backlighting
at any time.

Can anyone confirm whether they have any backlights on their DC/AC panel? I realize, by the way, that those lights might come on only when the navigation running lights are on (which is when the power selector switch is backlit). I don't have any backlighting at all, though, and I'm trying to figure out if I should.

Thanks!

Gini
 
My backlights only come on when the nav lights are on. I am considering tracing that wire, putting a switch on it and connecting it to a power source. If I mount the switch on the dash I can turn the backlight on when I want without having to turn on the nav lights. I have not traced anything out yet but it can't be that hard.

Bill
Unzipped³
2012 R27
 
Bill, just to be clear, by backlights, you mean that the labels are backlit, yes? I'm just asking to make sure you mean those go on in addition to the amber LEDs for the individual circuit breakers.

If you are looking to identify the circuit for the backlight on the panel, I may end up figuring it out in my effort to solve my CD/AC panel gremlin (which is that I have no backlights, the LEDs on the panel are on at all times EXCEPT when I turn on navigation running lights, at which point they go dark - weird).

I'll let you know what I learn.

- Gini
 
Hi Gini

You said:
by backlights, you mean that the labels are backlit, yes? I'm just asking to make sure you mean those go on in addition to the amber LEDs for the individual circuit breakers.

Exactly. By backlights I mean the lights behind the labels. When the nav light switch is turned on the backlights turn on too. The LEDs are on when the breaker is turned on. The LEDs stay on when I turn the nav lights on and the backlights come on too.

I am assuming that the backlight circuit is simply a wire connected to the back of the nav light switch. If that is true I should be able to disconnect it at the nav light switch and install another switch or even use an unused breaker on the AC/DC panel to turn on just the nav lights when I want them on.

Bill
Unzipped³
R27
 
Bill,

Kenny Marrs and I are still working through why my panel backlighting doesn't work at all and why the LED circuit lights go off when the nav running lights go on. Tracking down the issue will probably wait until the Seattle boat show is over (understandably).

Meanwhile, yes, I think you are right that a wire runs from the nav lights to a single connection on the panel to provide the juice for the backlighting. The question is which wire. On my 2013 RT 27, the positive wires for the nav lights appear to be white with a red stripe. If you can get a good look at the backside of the DC panel, you should be able to see a wire (perhaps of that color scheme) that connects via a spade connection to the left hand side of the lower most circuit breaker (left if you are looking head on at the back of the panel, as the schematic for the panel would be drawn). I know that is one of the wires involved in lighting the panel. But I don't know if it is involved in backlighting or the LED circuit lights. I'm also pretty sure it it is not the only wire involved. If you can spot it, and disconnect it, see what doesn't light up and when it doesn't. If it is the backlighting, then I think you have found the wire you want to connect to a switch so that you can flip the backlighting on and off at will.

Hope that helps. Let me know what you learn about what wires do what. It could help me in my own quest.

Gini
 
I have started to solve the problem of getting the backlights on in my 2013 R31 without having the nav lights on. Why this was wired this way is beyond me! I had several people complaining to me that my nav lights were on while I was tied up overnight in a marina, but it was the only way to read the switch names in the dark.

I have located the wiring at the helm, the AC Panel and the DC Panel and can feed the backlighting from a spare switch at the DC panel, but I have been unable to isolate the Nav lighting circuit. This must mean that there is an in-line splice buried somewhere in the boat. Does anyone know where I might look for that splice?
 
CocoaBella":18wvkiow said:
I have located the wiring at the helm, the AC Panel and the DC Panel and can feed the backlighting from a spare switch at the DC panel, but I have been unable to isolate the Nav lighting circuit. This must mean that there is an in-line splice buried somewhere in the boat. Does anyone know where I might look for that splice?
Click to expand...

Hello CocoaB.

If you search the maker of the panel, you will likely find a schematic of it's wiring. For instance if it is a Blue Seas panel, go to the blue seas website (bluesea.com) and find the model panel you have. They have pdf's of all their products so you can download it, carry it to the boat, and find the wire in the panel that powers the backlighting.

Fair winds and visible-illuminated panels,

dave
 
Wow. You mean I can actually know which switches I am turning on and off if I can find this wire? That's great. Another "bingo" for the forum.
 
After many months, I got serious about ripping into the wiring harness and I found the splice that connects the backlighting to the nav lights. The factory was unable to tell me the location of this, so with the boating season over in MD, I took advantage of a sunny day on the hard to find it myself. On the R31 with Air Conditioning, there are 5 backlit panels tied into the nav lighting circuit. This means that when staying on board in a marina, you can't find the switch you need in the dark without having your nav lights turned on. I got really tired of people shouting "Hey, your NAV lights are on!"

Rather than pulling new wires to all five panels, I wanted to just separate the circuits and then feed the backlighting from a spare DC breaker. That requires only about 6 " of new wire on the back of the DC panel. Turns out there are three grey/orange wires connected with a butt connector under the deck near the microwave. You can access this location from the deck hatch at the rear of the main cabin. The main wire harness spits in several directions at this point and the split is wrapped in electrical tape while the wire runs are in flexible wireway. Taking all of the tape off, I uncovered the splice, cut off the wire leading to the panels, and all is well.

I also found a butt connector in this circuit over the helm side door. This splice connects the port side light to the starboard side light. I spent my career in industrial automation and there is a hard and fast rule in that world that one NEVER puts a splice in a wireway or wire bundle. The same does not seem to hold true in boating. It should.
 
I just keep a small LED flash light at the panel, works great to find the proper switch.
 
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