Why is my remote spotlight not working?

[GJarrett]

This is a real headscratcher, I sincerely hope someone can help. This is really, really weird; and a long story that I will make a lot shorter by leaving out a whole lot of troubleshooting steps already taken that don't matter anymore.

2002 260 Sundancer w/a bow mounted Golight wireless remote spotlight that quit on us. After much troubleshooting and parts replacement that did not work, I elected to buy a brand new Golight 2007GT wireless remote spotlight to replace it. It does not work either. Every step I mention below has been triple-quintuple doublechecked and verified countless times to no avail.

The boat wiring at the bow reads 12v on a multimeter; it is getting 12v power.
Polarity is correct.
The remote works.
I removed the spotlight, took it to my SUV and connected to its battery. The light works and the remote works while connected to the SUV battery.
Back to the boat, check voltage at the connection, yep 12 volts, reconnected, light is dead again.
Strip wires at the ends to make sure they are fresh/noncorroded before reconnecting, still dead.
Repeat above, take the light back to SUV, yes it works.
Reconnect to boat, no it doesn't.

What am I missing? How in the world can a brand new, perfectly functioning spotlight not work on the boat with a verified correct polarity 12v, when it does work when I test it on the SUV?

 

[royalpiper]

Do you have a remote controller problem?
I had problems with my factory spotlight on my 2003 260.
Decided to forego that spotlight completely.
I installed 2 LED lights with plenty of coverage that are hard wired to switches on the dash.
Found them on Amazon and they work great. The covers are from Amazon as well.
All for about 75 bucks.

 

[Stingrayaxe]

RFI interference between the remote and the light? Try turning everything else off except that circuit. Test the remote. If by chance it works start turning circuits back on and testing until it doesn’t work again. Whatever is on that circuit is causing interference.

 

[GJarrett]

Thanks for the suggestion. I try troubleshooting next week when I get back. I don't think it's a remote issue since it works when powered by the SUV battery.

 

[Stingrayaxe]

Thanks for the suggestion. I try troubleshooting next week when I get back. I don't think it's a remote issue since it works when powered by the SUV battery.

The RFI may only be around the boat. Moving it to another location eliminates the interference and now it works. Put it back on the boat where there may be interference causes the signal from the remote to be blocked.