[C320-list] DOWN: Windlass, ST 60s, ST4000+...UP:~12 V in rail...

[Scott Thompson]

more thoughts:

On my boat the only circuit active when the battery switch is on NONE 
is the automatic bilge pump, which is wired to bypass the battery 
selector.  It does go through a breaker on the panel, however.  You 
might shut off the breaker to see if it makes a difference.  The bilge 
pump float switch, being located in the bilge, has all kinds of 
potential for causing stray current leaks, especially if the bilge is damp.

Think about disconnecting each battery at the battery terminals as the 
ultimate way to isolate sources.

The pulpits may be bonded to ground somehow.  If both pulpits are 
energized even when the lifelines are disconnected then the problem is 
likely related to a common ground for the pulpits that is not 
sufficiently well bonded to battery ground and is somehow getting a 
stray current.

Scott

Chris Willems wrote:
> Thanks for the feeback, Scott.
> 
> Um, ahem... yes, I was trying to get at the windlass
> through the upper panel, not the lower... Thankfully
> Chris Burti solved that problem for me by suggesting
> the obvious (futz with the circuit breaker).
> 
> I appreciate your (again, obvious) suggestion to
> disconnect the lifelines and check to see if the
> source is in the bow or stern.  I am getting the
> voltage readings with battery 1, 2, both, and NONE!  I
> get current between the stern rail and the backstay,
> the stern rail and the wheel (NOT between the wheel
> and the backstay - so I don't think the leak is from
> the mast), between the bow pulpit and the forestay
> deck plate, and between the bow pulpit and the
> windlass.
> 
> Your tale of navigation light and oil pressure lamp is
> instructive.  I will continue to work (and enjoy) this
> puzzle.  I will get behind the circuit breaker
> tomorrow and see if the speaker wires are hooked up. 
> BTW, is this where they might have ended up?  Perhaps
> they got hooked into the VHF (which is mounted to
> starboard side of the circuit breakers, hmmmm, it is a
> lousy VHF... maybe that's the source - can't wait to
> hunt this down tomorrow!)
> 
> The weather cleared out beautifully today here in
> Southern Connecticut, and we had a great sail!
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Chris Willems, "Chrysalis" #828
> 
> ****
> 
> I had to reinstall my windlass a few years ago (the
> factory or dealer or
> PO had installed it upside down!) and my recollection
> is that removing the
> wood panel was the hardest part.  You pull it back
> into the V-berth, and
> since it is a tight fit, getting one of the edges
> loose to do this was the
> hard part.  My recollection is that you had to pull
> one particular edge
> out first, but I don't remember which one.  After the
> panel was out, all I
> had to do was roll over on my back and stick my head
> in the exposed space
> below the fiberglass panel and I was then able to see
> and reach the
> Windlass.  This is not a pleasant place to be working
> on a hot day.
> 
> By the way, you are removing the wood panel below the
> V-berth shelf, not
> the one above the shelf, right?  Access behind the
> upper panel is blocked
> by fiberglass but access behind the lower one is not. 
> You have to go in
> from below unless you want to start cutting panels for
> better access.
> 
> I would not do anything with tools on the Windlass
> unless you are certain
> that the breaker is off.  You don't want to create an
> accidental short on
> those large cables going back to the battery.  Turn
> off the main battery
> switch before putting a wrench up there near the
> terminals.
> 
> To that end, I would think about some preliminary
> first steps to isolate
> your electrical leak:
> 
> First, when you say that you are getting voltage on
> the stern or bow
> rails, how exactly are you measuring?  Between each
> rail and what other
> location?  Are you running a lead all the way back to
> the batteries?  To
> the windlass?  The chainplates?  This could matter.
> 
> Second, I would disconnect the lifelines from the bow
> and stern pulpits,
> remove anything else attached to the rails that might
> carry a small
> current, and then measure again in order to isolate
> the source, assuming
> that the source is a stray voltage to a single point
> on the rail /
> lifeline system.  (The lifelines could easily carry a
> voltage from the bow
> to stern or vice versa.)  This should help isolate the
> problem.
> 
> Third, I think it far more likely that a voltage leak
> into the rail would
> be coming from something attached to the rail than
> from the Windlass.  I
> would be suspicious of the navigation light circuits. 
> I'm not sure how
> current to the Windlass would energize the rail. 
> Maybe through the anchor
> chain to the bow roller to ??? if you have chain on
> the windlass?  Another
> not so obvious path would be a connection through the
> mast to a halyard to
> the rail, or maybe some under the deck connection
> between the forestay and
> the bow rail.  These would seem to be longer shots.
> 
>