Hylas 44 steaming light

[SVPlanSea]

I haven't used the boat yet.  I just acquired her a few weeks ago.  The previous owner (of 9yrs) used her only on San Francisco Bay and only in the daylight.  He didn't know or care if the lights worked or not.  He had everything else routinely maintained by professional marine services techs.  I am getting the boat ready to move from San Francisco up to Portland OR in April and to spend June, July, Aug, Sept  cruising NW USA and BC.  Hence, I MUST have all proper lights operational for sailing, motoring, and anchoring.  All lights work as required with exception of the obstinate steaming light.  The "RUN LTS" switch powers up the bow red&green lights and the stern white light for sailing.  The "TRI LT" switch powers up the red/green/white tri-lights on masthead well. "ANCHOR LT" switch lights up the mast top anchor light.  No switch gets power to the darn fwd shining white steaming light at the first spreader which would be needed when motoring in combination with r&g bow light and white stern light.  I'll get that going with a bit more investigation.  There is also a switch for "STROBE LT" that does nothing that I can see at this time.

[tbglynn]

JR,

Dumb question.  Does your bow light switch also turn on the bow light?  If so, how do you sail at night without displaying the steaming light?

Tim

[SVPlanSea]

Thanks Tim and JR,
Very helpful information.  I've gone up the mast several times and checked for voltage at the steaming (bow light)/deck light fixture after cleaning up those connections and with all switches thrown to on positions.  No juice joy. Sounds like it could be fuse at mast base bus bar which I now know to look for thanks to JR, a wire connection there, or at the "bow light" switch.  At least those seem like most probable places to look next.  Thanks a ton to both of you.
Kind regards,
Kevin

[Ripple]

Kevin, on our h46, the bow light is the steaming light. We also have a panel of glass fuses near the base of the mast for all the wiring in the mast. If your boat has that, it may help track voltage paths. JR

[tbglynn]

I can help with the tie switch.  It is a battery tie to combine house bank and starting bank if you don’t have enough juice to crank.  It only works when you hold it to avoid accidentally draining your starting battery.  On my boat, there is another switch in the engine room that does the same thing, but stays on.  It’s secret.  Only I know it’s there.

Your breaker panel is the earlier version and different from what we have.  I would turn all of those breakers on and then turn all the switches on the port panel in the cockpit on.  If still no joy, I’d drag myself up the mast to find out if I have power to the fixture.  If you hate climbing as I do, first dig around at the base of the mast.  There are a bunch of connections down there and, on my boat at least, well labeled.

Tim

[SVPlanSea]

cockpit switch panel attached this time

[SVPlanSea]

Thanks Tim,
Photos of main panel left side switch stack is attached with one of the cockpit port side switches. 
Switch panel photos attached.  I have tried throwing all these switches at both panels to on and not achieved voltage at mast steaming light.  I haven't checked to deck light for voltage in that switch condition.  It needs new bulb is is not much on my priority list at this time other than as a diagnostic info bit as you suggest.

I don't see any function from the bottom row of switches in cockpit.  No labels or result anywhere from turning these to on.  The "TIE switch is also a mystery.  It doesn't click and stay to an on position.  I hear a click down below when I push the switch up, but the switch pops back down when released.

Strobe light on both panels seems to be unused as there is no strobe light on the boat.  Same for deck lights unless this is a synonym for spreader light.  Bow light? I have no clue.  At least I know what an anchor light and tri-light are - and they work.  Also I know that run lights equates to sailing lights (bow r&g and stern white).     

[tbglynn]

Mine is hull #84, 1991.  This is a recurrent mystery objectively resolved before each passage.

The breaker on the panel, in Egraine the second switch from the top on the right hand side above the nav station, must be on.  That energizes the running lights.  Just for fun, eliminate the variables and turn all the 12v breakers on. 

Then it is controlled by the panel on the port side of the cockpit. It should not require the ignition to be on or anything else, but which particular switch turns on the steaming light, a matter of experimentation.  The steaming light and the deck light are the same fixture, so if you can get the deck light to light up, you have power to the fixture. 

Tim Glynn
S/v Egraine

[SVPlanSea]

Hello all-
I am the new owner of a 1989 Hylas 44.  Does anyone know what switches need to be thrown to send voltage to the steaming light?  I replaced the steaming bulb and cleaned up the wire connection terminals within the steaming/deck light fixture, but get no voltage to the wires for any logical combination of switch positions.  The wires and terminal ends now look excellent in fixture.  Former owner used the boat only for day sails on SF Bay for 9 years. He does not recall the switches that power up the steaming light other than that it was not obvious and he wishes he had written it down.  I can't easily chase down a voltage fault (if there is one at all) without knowing which switches are supposed to send voltage to the light bulb.  The main electrical panel at nav station does not have a switch named "steaming" or similar as one would logically expect.  Nav station panel does have "Run Lights" switch which lights up bow R/G and stern white light.  There are also two rows of switches on port side of cockpit.  The top row is labeled from left to right as strobe LT, Winch up/down, Compass LT, Blower, TIE, Spreader LTs. Bottom row is not labeled at all.  I tried switch combinations of many kinds with engine running in case that is key for some reason in steaming light circuit logic.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.  I need to get the steaming light operational prior to an April trip from SF Bay to Portland OR where we intend to base the boat while preparing for a summer of cruising Puget Sound and up BC coast.

Thanks,
Kevin