1994 sundancer cabin lights go off and on randomly

MichaelTG

MichaelTG

New Member
Apr 10, 2023
22
Cambridge, MD
Boat Info
1994 Sundancer 270
Engines
454 Mercruiser w/Bravo II Drives
Okay so this is going to be a hard one! I have looked everywhere and have not seen any posts about this. I have a 1994 sea ray sundancer 270 and when I turn the cabin lights on they stay on for about 15 minutes and then start to turn off and then on on repeat until I flip the switch. If I let them sit for a few minutes and then turn them on they will stay on again for about 15 minutes before doing the same thing again.

so far I have checked the switch and cleaned all contacts as well as checked the breaker on the dash and cleaned them as well. I have also tried running the lights with the battery charger on and with it off and have no difference. I have also pulled out each individual light and cleaned inside the sockets.
 
When you say "on and off" is that completely off? an then completely on again (full brightness)?
Or are they dimming and brightening slowly?
 
MichaelTG said:
Okay so this is going to be a hard one! I have looked everywhere and have not seen any posts about this. I have a 1994 sea ray sundancer 270 and when I turn the cabin lights on they stay on for about 15 minutes and then start to turn off and then on on repeat until I flip the switch. If I let them sit for a few minutes and then turn them on they will stay on again for about 15 minutes before doing the same thing again.

so far I have checked the switch and cleaned all contacts as well as checked the breaker on the dash and cleaned them as well. I have also tried running the lights with the battery charger on and with it off and have no difference. I have also pulled out each individual light and cleaned inside the sockets.
Click to expand...

Start by replacing the switch, there isn't anything you can look at or clean. It sounds like the switch is heating up and the contact is warping to slightly off. It is either that or the breaker. When this happens again feel for heat around the switch and or the breaker. I would just replace both and be done.

There is an outside chance like @techmitch said that a ground could be loose as well, but more then likely it is the breaker and/or the switch.
 
hughespat57 said:
When you say "on and off" is that completely off? an then completely on again (full brightness)?
Or are they dimming and brightening slowly?
Click to expand...
Yes it is completely off and then on as if I am flipping the switch but I’m not!
 
SKybolt said:
Start by replacing the switch, there isn't anything you can look at or clean. It sounds like the switch is heating up and the contact is warping to slightly off. It is either that or the breaker. When this happens again feel for heat around the switch and or the breaker. I would just replace both and be done.

There is an outside chance like @techmitch said that a ground could be loose as well, but more then likely it is the breaker and/or the switch.
Click to expand...
Got it! I am going to move the connections on to the galley D.C. switch since I know that light works and doesn’t have the issue. The only time it happens is when I have the Cabin Main switch on.
 
Upon further testing it seems the more light bulbs I take out of the fixtures the longer it stays on?
 
It really acts like an autoreset breaker that shouldn’t be used an boat for this reason.
How did you check the helm breaker? It should have a push button.
An auto reset will look like a small square tin can with terminals.
 
^^^^ +1

It seem like is load / heat related problem, which both point to the CB
 
Probably should have said something sooner. The light fixtures are crap and even mine behave like that. Changing bulbs to leds helped but the tell tale sign is that when the lights go out....you can hit them and they come back on for a while.

I'll speculate that the fixture itself is the problem possibly with either the ground side or + side having an issue with corrosion and maintaining optimal contact with the bulb. Yeah.....I should have fixed it by now but it just isn't that big of a deal.

There are no electronics on the fixtures just a positive and negative wire that connect to the other fixtures up/down stream and then back to the switch. If you are losing a bank of lights.....then your problem is in ground or switch connection.

There is no breaker for these lights....it is a bayonet fuse located next to the helm......unlikely to be the problem.
 
PlayDate said:
Probably should have said something sooner. The light fixtures are crap and even mine behave like that. Changing bulbs to leds helped but the tell tale sign is that when the lights go out....you can hit them and they come back on for a while.

I'll speculate that the fixture itself is the problem possibly with either the ground side or + side having an issue with corrosion and maintaining optimal contact with the bulb. Yeah.....I should have fixed it by now but it just isn't that big of a deal.

There are no electronics on the fixtures just a positive and negative wire that connect to the other fixtures up/down stream and then back to the switch. If you are losing a bank of lights.....then your problem is in ground or switch connection.

There is no breaker for these lights....it is a bayonet fuse located next to the helm......unlikely to be the problem.
Click to expand...
This is exactly what happens! If I hit them they will go back on for a bit. I was thinking of LEDs as well.
 
hughespat57 said:
It really acts like an autoreset breaker that shouldn’t be used an boat for this reason.
How did you check the helm breaker? It should have a push button.
An auto reset will look like a small square tin can with terminals.
Click to expand...
The circuit breaker at the helm just says "lights". I pulled it and cleaned the contacts but it is still having the issue. Do you think I should just replace the breaker?
 
Bill Curtis said:
^^^^ +1

It seem like is load / heat related problem, which both point to the CB
Click to expand...
The switch does get warm after awhile. The boat has two separate D.C. light toggles. One is connected to a florescent light above the galley and the other switch controls both that light and all the little swivel lights located throughout the cabin. If I just turn on the florescent galley light I have no issues and that light stays on. It is only when I turn the rest on that I have the issue with ALL of them. This leads me to believe it has something to do with the CB as I am assuming all cabin lights are wired to the same breaker. I wish I had a wiring schematic for the boat but it seems to not exist on the internet for my model and year!
 
What happens when you do not turn on the fluorescent light but turn on the rest?
 
PlayDate said:
What happens when you do not turn on the fluorescent light but turn on the rest?
Click to expand...
If I have the fluorescent off but the rest on they still have the issue. It is driving me crazy that I can not figure this out!
 
MichaelTG said:
If I have the fluorescent off but the rest on they still have the issue. It is driving me crazy that I can not figure this out!
Click to expand...
With the fluorescent off....do all the cabin lights go off after 10-15 minutes?
 
If they all go off then you need to pull the light fixture which is close to the switch. The ground and + wire daisy chains from one fixture to another. If they are all going out then you should find a bad connection at the first fixture.....either ground or +. If you don't find a problem.....run a + 12volt jumper to the fixture directly and report back.
 
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