New owner of R21 Electrical Questions

[harley]

I have just purchased a 2010 21EC and have some electrical questions.
1. There appear to be small led lights along the edge of the hull at transom and above the steps all on the outside of the hull. They do not light up? Is there a switch or fuse for these? They do not light up when you turn on the Deck Light switch.
2. My ProMariner ProTEch charger is buzzing loud (not normal charger hum). Lights are normal as is charge voltage. Any ideas?
3.Both air horns are dead....where would they be fused from? All fuses in fuse block are ok.
4. There is one spot on the fuse block that has a wire to it, but no fuse. When I put a fuse in it, the starboard windshield wiper turns on and won't turn off. With the fuse removed...all three wipers work normally using their buttons. It appears that it is a circuit that runs direct to one wiper only with no switch...
5. The Yanmar panel is only partially working. I am replacing with a panel from AC DC Marine in California that has real oil and water temperature gauges with alarms instead of just idiot lights. Anyone else do this upgrade?
Thank you,
Harley

 

[bob daily]

Harley, the LED lights on the back and side of the hull are (trailer) lights, when your on the road. There is a plug in the bow on starboard side by the anchor where the trailer lights plug in. No switch they are powered from your tow vehicle via the trailer lights. If your trailer does not have the pigtail it is a easy DIY. Your horn is fused at the horn switch by the helm. For your other questions I will let others chime in! Bob

 

[Fisho]

Hi Harley, Bob is correct regarding small LED lights. However an easy modification to add a switch so you can light up when moored etc - makes boat a bit more fun. Horns are serviceable or can be replaced. They can be problematic as they get older, like the search light. Just need some TLC. My charger was replaced years ago with a large marine CTEK. I have four batteries to keep charged. Works great. Fuses take a bit of working out but all good and make sense. Just about getting to know the boat. Go through past posts. Most if not all these issues and many, many more covered well. Enjoy, Ian

 

[harley]

Thank you for the info...I do have the pigtail on trailer and was wondering what it was for. I thought maybe to power an electric tongue jack.
I checked power at the panel for the horns...all good and switch works. I was able to get very intermittent horn sounds. I will pull the ceiling panel next and check connection there before replacing.

 

[ohioan55]

Are there any fault lights on the charger? Is it still providing a charge? Do you have the manual? If not, I can email you a copy.

 

[harley]

Are there any fault lights on the charger? Is it still providing a charge? Do you have the manual? If not, I can email you a copy.

I have the manual but thanks for the offer on that. ....it is providing charge and lights normal except they show the effect of the vibration from the buzzing. Charge is normal 14.7 volts DC. Its like a buzzing solenoid sound.

 

[ohioan55]

I suppose it could be a fore warning of failure. Before I replaced mine with an inverter/charger, it worked great, but never a loud buzz. It would however hum noticeably if the batteries were in need of charging.

 

[2islanders]

On the air Horns- I had exactly the same problem. A short toot was all it would do then nothing. Mine were Ongaro dual horns and neither worked. Turned out to be they needed to be disassembled and cleaned up - all the problems are in the horn not the wiring. There is a set of contacts and diaphragms that make them work and apparently they corrode up this failure is a common problem. They are pretty tedious to take apart but I would suggest you might want to put a volt meter check right at the horn end before you take too much more apart.


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[harley]

Thank you..I have started to do as you say. I have full voltage at the contacts. The first one came apart easy enough but very difficult to get back together. I did find a very brief maintenance document on the Onagaro website. It shows how to clean but not how to reassemble. If you have opened one of these you will know what I mean. There is a small bracket inside the rear cup that is very hard to get back in position. Have not done so yet. It might be easier to take off the boat and work on in the shop and not trying to work up top of the cabin. Here is the cleaning procedure.

http://schmittongaromarine.com/site/192 ... ntacts.pdf

On the air Horns- I had exactly the same problem. A short toot was all it would do then nothing. Mine were Ongaro dual horns and neither worked. Turned out to be they needed to be disassembled and cleaned up - all the problems are in the horn not the wiring. There is a set of contacts and diaphragms that make them work and apparently they corrode up this failure is a common problem. They are pretty tedious to take apart but I would suggest you might want to put a volt meter check right at the horn end before you take too much more apart.


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[2islanders]

Yes, I took them into the shop too. Too fussy with little parts for the top of the boat for me. Left the brackets on the boat and just took the horns themselves. The wiring was tight so choose where to cut thinking about reconnecting. Cleaning the contacts didn’t do it and had to take them right apart carefully saving the paper gaskets for the diaphragms. Good luck.


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[TylerFromEverett]

I have a 2014 21-EC. My charger failed. I called Pro Mainer and they sold me one direct for about $270. Just an FYI if your charger is on its way out.

 

[harley]

Which one did you get?..I did hear back from them and they say it could be fan hitting something (it does look out of place) or sign of on its way to failure. Promariner sent me link to the Pronautic 15. I have installed one of those in my last boat and really like it. Fortunately it hooks up the same was as the old charger which saves time, even though it is 50% more expensive than other options. Most of their other chargers are hardwired with cables to run to the battery banks where as the Pronautic would utilize the current wires brought to the charger location. Most of my other marine chargers lasted decades, so the one used in the 21EC must have not been appropriate for the installation location. The Pronautic series is much more robust and protected.

I have a 2014 21-EC. My charger failed. I called Pro Mainer and they sold me one direct for about $270. Just an FYI if your charger is on its way out.

 

[TylerFromEverett]

Which one did you get?..I did hear back from them and they say it could be fan hitting something (it does look out of place) or sign of on its way to failure. Promariner sent me link to the Pronautic 15. I have installed one of those in my last boat and really like it. Fortunately it hooks up the same was as the old charger which saves time, even though it is 50% more expensive than other options. Most of their other chargers are hardwired with cables to run to the battery banks where as the Pronautic would utilize the current wires brought to the charger location. Most of my other marine chargers lasted decades, so the one used in the 21EC must have not been appropriate for the installation location. The Pronautic series is much more robust and protected.

I have a 2014 21-EC. My charger failed. I called Pro Mainer and they sold me one direct for about $270. Just an FYI if your charger is on its way out.

I got the 1220p. I replaced like for like. Took about 15 minutes to swap out. I used my phone to take a photo of the connections before I disassembled. You’re kind of working upside down and backwards so I set up a little mirror to see the terminals when I was hooking the new one up. I think some people have upgraded to bigger chargers but I think they have a bigger footprint. I don’t have an AC or anything like that so I didn’t need to upgrade.

 

[harley]

After spending many hours trying to fix the old horns I bought a new set...installed in a fraction of the time I wasted trying to get the old ones to work....super loud now. Very happy.

What happened with the old ones is this:
I would open them up....clean points...adjust points...get sound but not full because the back cups where not on yet. Full voltage at horn (12.3-13.3).
Then...when I went to put the back cup on the horn...it would not work...take it apart...works...put it together...not work. Both horns would be silent...never had just one firing. Points look good. Gap could be the issue.


Harley