Fixing a DC Electrical Short in LED Lights

Not every job turns into a two-day ordeal. Think positive and get to it. You're just as likely to get lucky.

[ Follow our Track ]

[ Sea Chest Foundation Store ]

[ Support Seeker via Pateron ]

[ More ]

[ Music ]
"Trickin Pickin" performed by Doug Waterman

[bigbadvoodoodad]

One suggestion I have is to get in the habit of staggering your wire splices. Less possibility of shorts such as this and the wire bundle is smaller and can fit through tighter spaces, and it's another way of identifying wires as to not get things hooked up incorrectly.

[MotorSailingforOldDudes]

Hey mate. Built my boat 24 years ago, lived aboard ever since. Wired it all with tinned copper. Only plain copper was supplied in engine looms. Sorry, but the only wire I have had problems with is the engine looms. Think tinned copper on a boat is very worth the bit extra in cost. Love your vids dude.😊😊

[drewdarling]

video ideas---
1-Deck tour
2-in side tour
3-below bilge/engine room
4-how systems have been working, things you want to change, batteries/solar and genset usage
5-overall technical tour (1 or 2 parts)
6-start to finish with the transfer case ( your thoughts on how things could change and the overall prospective of the situation)

[jakobrebeki]

I bought my multi meter many years ago and there have been many a time it has been an absolute blessing. I made up a spare set of leads with just small Croc clips, they have been handy as well. It just makes sense to have one on standby. Thanks Doug....

[stevenlein]

Here's a tip for you, those LEDs that make up the "light bulbs" are called COB LEDs that stands for Chip On Board. Each LED has an integrated circuit built into it to regulate power going to the led. When doing a continuity check I have found that they don't play well with most multimeters. Open Line shows for continuity or diode check and resistance is near megaohms. They don't need much voltage to light up as low as 3 or 4 volts will turn some 12volt COB LED on. So you may have not have had a direct 12 volt short. Salt water and a break in the insulation may have provided a resistive path instead of a short, enough of a path to carry 3 or so volts.

[hondaben]

When in doubt, figure it out! Great job Doug and crew. Wire nuts are just like most things, when used correctly, all is good. Once tight, always give them a good pull test to ensure it's grip.

[lloydwright]

I've been watching Doug since the first day the materials were dropped off in his driveway. I'm so impressed with how volunteers from all over the world came together without any emotional outbursts. Everything ran brilliantly and smoothly! How does that happen?

I frequently commented on the videos and always received a response. I once posted a negative question, expecting a critical reply, but instead, I received one of the most positive and encouraging responses, which stunned me. Sv Seekers has definitely changed my outlook on life. I've come to the conclusion that Doug is both inspirational and a genius. Thank you, Doug!

[mySeaPrince_]

One of my tests if things aren't making sense is to use the pointy probes and push them through the cable insulation either side of the connection.. then First with the power on see if there is any resistance.. volt meter usually shows but you could try amps .. then if no joy use the resistance/continuity.. beware don't use it when power on or bad things can happen to the multimeter..
Yep power cords are useful...
Been trying to workout how to calculate wire size as I've been using 2 x 3 core power cords.. one for + & other - ... so what is 3 x 1.5m2 added together? I consider it 4mm2 but could be more?
Was watching Helene .. she mostly missed you.. good job you weren't on the other side with 20ft storm surge.

[rgarizonahomestead]

Nice fix. Take care and have a fantastic weekend

[diltzm]

They make wirenuts filled with silicone for use in wet locations. They're blue and work quite well. I'd also recommend using a megger on the lines to test their insulation as your original crimps looked great.

[hardastern]

Great fix, Doug. Were there a couple of LEDs on the way out in there? Maybe another impending repair?

[SirJaxxSirJaxx]

Why didn't you check for continuity between the wires and the boat itself? You might have found some errant current while chasing down short circuit.

[lonestar]

I'm chasing down a short in my trolling motor pedal right now. Your videos always get me off the couch and doing stuff. Thanks Doug.

[palharley]

The LOW Z position on the meter is also great for working with AC or DC, does both at the same time. The clockwise AC/DC settings have about 10 Meg ohms across the leads. The LOW Z puts about 1 Meg ohm across the leads, it's much better at eliminating false crosstalk readings. Also looks lite the LED bulbs are starting to loose individual LEDs, saw a few flickering when you turned them forward facing lights.

[jcrodriguez]

Que so, ima be that guy… I wired up my little seventeen foot CC with some copper, I did regret it. See it almost left me and my kid stranded twenty miles off shore. This is one season. I got lucky I had a toolbox and extra wire to fix the issue(more copper). Here is what I’ve learned from that, the subsequent fix and my other boat which has a lot of copper(previous owner). My CC is open to the elements, main problem. The failure occurred in the battery box at the back of the boat, but not in the console. Although after replacing, I could see where it would eventually fail. Once the oxidation started, it worked its way down the line a few feet, talk about crazy. So now compare that to my 27 foot older boat that’s a cabin cruiser with a shit ton of copper in the cabin. and spent some time on salt. It shows some oxidation on the copper, but not so much that I’m worried about it. Most is for cabin lights, stereo, etc… I replaced all the important wires with tinned wire as I don’t wanna be that other guy being towed by SeaTow. It seems that so long as you keep it in the dry areas, it’s fine, for a while anyways. That’s my two bits

[BenjaminT.Minkler]

yeah, I've used extension cords with the ends cut off for all kinds of wiring jobs - like speaker wire, where my home theater surround system has 4 rear speakers and would require hundreds of feet of expensive wires to run all of them, I just used two heavydudy extension cords with the 'ground' as a common per one set and another for the other, was a much cleaner looking install with just the two white cords along the ceiling edge trim splitting into shorter runs of speaker wire to each along the back and side walls

[okiedoke]

Man you couldn't have been more on point with that handshake

[MargaretLeber]

"open line"? Nah.... Out of limit. Infinity.

[NeilCharlton-tvmp]

Wire nuts in a marine environment!. Are you kidding? Wow

[charleswidmore]

another beautiful day out on the water. thanks for sharing it with all of us landlubbers.
I see a storm is coming towards Florida. is the any chance you could do a live stream of some of it?