Jabsco remote spotlight

sprink56

sprink56

New Member
Oct 28, 2008
1,288
West Palm Beach, Fl
Boat Info
1979 255 Liberator
Engines
twin Mercruiser 450 HP I/O on Bravo I Drives
Has anyone torn into one of these?

Mine rotates 360 degrees but doesn't move verticaly. I have noticed that it also will not stay on an even horizontal plane in rough water.

I am not afraid to tear into it myself but after a bit of searching on the web can't find a parts list or a drawing of the guts of this rig.:huh:
 
I went through several of these on each of my SRs. Basically, they are a poor design and the constant pounding they take in rough water breaks them. I did a remove and replace about every two years.
 
sprink56 said:
Has anyone torn into one of these?

Mine rotates 360 degrees but doesn't move verticaly. I have noticed that it also will not stay on an even horizontal plane in rough water.

I am not afraid to tear into it myself but after a bit of searching on the web can't find a parts list or a drawing of the guts of this rig.:huh:
Click to expand...

is that the one with full metal housing or plastic?
there is easy fix for metal one :)
 
We had that same problem with our 350EB last year. It was the control switch with the toggle. We had a real problem getting the correct replacement switch.

Just happen to be walking the aisle at West Marine and found it in stock. We were shocked! It was about $125.00 but it fixed the problem.
 
boatmailster said:
is that the one with full metal housing or plastic?
there is easy fix for metal one :)
Click to expand...


Just installed the 6-inch version with the all metal housing on my AJ. What is the easy fix for the metal units? (just in case it happens to me).

Sorry, not trying to hijack the thread.
 
If you determine that the control stick is not the problem this outfit if FL:
http://www.lbharveymarine.com/

will rebuild the light for you if you send it to them. I had them do the one on my old boat, a 95 290. It was years ago and I can remember what it cost to have done. The guy was very knowlegeable about the units and advised me that in order to avoid damage to the motors and gears in the light in heavy seas you should always store the light "nested" with the unit pointed down to the deck facing foward. He said this this simple practice will take the weight of the light off the motors and gears when the boat slams down. It also helps keep water from getting up inside the housing. He said most people like the store the lights in the level horizontal position because they look better. He also recomended that I fire up the light every few weeks and excercise the motors. I have followed both of these suggestions and have yet to have any problems with the light on my 370, though I did replace the joystick at the helm when it began to act up.
 
Are you guys talking about this light - the big fugly de-chroming metal cannister sitting on the forward section of my flybridge? Besides being a tad more powerful than a Maglite, mine is tempermental at best. I never use it - I have a handheld which is much easier to quickly pan and aim when searching for a marker - but it's an eyesore and any replacement I've seen is obscenely expensive.

ForwardCanvas.jpg
 
Yes Ron that is the light. I never noticed where it is mounted on your boat. I would imagine that when you turn it on it lights up you deck and screws up your night vision. Mine is mounted at the end of the bow and works great. You know how much time I spend out after dark and I would not go out with out it. I have a hand held too but again it lights up the deck of the boat and screws up your night vision. If you keep these lights maintained they work very well. Mine is very responsive to the joystick and switches back and forth from flood to spot easily.
 
Jon
To be honest, it is God-awful for illumination. I'm thinking mine is either an older crummy model or it is just not working well. The handheld and its 1 bazillion candlepower is really tough on nightvision, but if I hold it out in front of me and make sure the beam doesn't hit the foredeck, it's much more convenient than the tin can. From my vantage point up high, it's easy to prevent it from messing with my pupil dilation.
 
Ron, it sounds like your light needs some attention. I dont understand why Sea Ray would have mounted it where they did. It could be out on your foredeck like it is on the Sundancers. On my 290 the light was mounted on a small platform at the top of the bow rail at the front of the boat. The power and control cable was actually threaded inside the bow rail its self and came out in the engine room where the end of the rail was attached to the hull side. On the 370 the light is mounted on the very front of the deck on the port side of the anchor hatch, with the power and control cable running through the boat from the helm. In this location it is usefull to illuminate the anchor and windlass when setting or retreving the anchor at night but just tilting and rotating it to focus on the archor in the flood light mode. I have also used it point aft and illuminate the deck when setting dock lines in my slip at night or to help make the boat more easy to see when anchored in the path of the half druken armada that is rushing to leave after the Toms River fireworks or other such night time boat mobs.

I have used the handhelds many times and the remote spotlight set up it much easier to use if you are operating it alone along with driving the boat, which as you know I almost always am. I rely much more on the radar when I am out at night then the spot light. As I approach a nav aide that I have already identifed on the radar I hit it was a quick burst of light for a second or two just to to verify the location.
 
J Levine said:
If you determine that the control stick is not the problem this outfit if FL:
http://www.lbharveymarine.com/

will rebuild the light for you if you send it to them. I had them do the one on my old boat, a 95 290. It was years ago and I can remember what it cost to have done. The guy was very knowlegeable about the units and advised me that in order to avoid damage to the motors and gears in the light in heavy seas you should always store the light "nested" with the unit pointed down to the deck facing foward. He said this this simple practice will take the weight of the light off the motors and gears when the boat slams down. It also helps keep water from getting up inside the housing. He said most people like the store the lights in the level horizontal position because they look better. He also recomended that I fire up the light every few weeks and excercise the motors. I have followed both of these suggestions and have yet to have any problems with the light on my 370, though I did replace the joystick at the helm when it began to act up.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. Miami is about an 1~1.5 hour drive for me...I might just take the assembly to them for service. :thumbsup:
 
I remembered that my joy stick station has 2: fuses. I guess one is for light and one is for motor. It may be a fuse for each of 2: motors.:huh: I'll call the folks in Miami and see what the deal is. I miss being able to adjust it up and down.

I really like mine. It's great for spotting obstructions and markers and is far enough out front to not "flare back" and impede night vision. I have a 3 million CP Vector handheld but it "flares back" terribly.
 
Yes one larger fuse is for the light circuit and the other smaller one is for the motor. You can actually take the joystick completely apart to see if it is just crudded up. If it is, hit it with some terminal cleaner and then reassemble it with some dielectric grease. When I had trouble with the motor in the light it had basically broken and collapsed. I was living in NC at the time and came down hard off a bid swell in the Neuse River and the light just banged down and that was all she wrote. When the joystick goes the thing just gets jumpy in its operation.
 
sprink56 said:
Metal...whats the fix?:huh:
Click to expand...


there is design problem on that spotlight but..


remove light bulb and check for broken plastic gears (they can be replaced). If none of gears are broken notice that there is cork washer on vertical sweep gear. That cork washer is design to work like clutch between gear and motor and prevent gear teeth being damaged when you force spotlight up or down. Problem is that over time cork become old and doesn't provide enough friction between parts. You may want to replace that cork washer or go easy way and saturate it with crazy glue and make semi permanent bond with plastic gear. So far I had a good luck with few spotlights.
 
Sounds like I have a joystick problem. Do you guys have any problem with the chrome finish? Mine needs a re chroming - it looks awful. SR actually did do a nice job with mounting it. It's got a platform molded into the fiberglass on the front of the bridge.
 
Hi everyone ! I have got the same light on on my 2001 260 sundancer & was very interested to read all the threads . My light works on flood & spot & goes up & down & goes to the left but not the right ,sounds like I may have to strip down the 4 way toggle switch .
Also I can move the light about fairly easily by hand so I may also have to check out those cork washers. Obsession (Dorset UK)
 
On mine one fuse for each filliment. On my last boat I had the same problem, it would move horizontally, and not vertically. The owner before me was as meticulous about record keeping as he was the boat itself. In the owners packet I found the manual for the light, and they actually sold spare gears! I replaced them, it was cheap and a piece of cake to do. It worked fine from then on.
 
I have had the jabsco on my boat since new (1987 model) I replaced the light x 1 in 2003. I replaced the toggle switch X 1 about the same time. That fixed her up nicely. Again now I have problems with the rotation. I checked the servos and they work fine so my problem must be in the toggle switch. I am trying to find out how to check the terminals for current to the various servos. A new toggle will probably cost at least $200. The entire light with toggle and wire is around $500 (5 inch). The price varies depending on where you find it.
By the way, it is very easy to remove the 4 screws, remove the head lamp (it costs $100) so do not bang it around! lift up the housing and you have full access to the servos and gears. They may just need cleaning, a shot of WD 40 or something. I just went into mine and saw a nylon gear tooth broken off and still in the teeth of the female gear.
I hope this helps you some.

Glenn
 
Have now opened up switch & found that toggle switch must have got pushed in ( by last owner) which stopped switch contacting but strangely only on the right,but managed to click it back into place & now works perfectly ! ! !
The light unit itself was quite loose but I tightened all the screws & is now solid as a rock .
 
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