Electrical Problem: '90 Checkmate Vision 221

[pdk3rd]

Good Morning Everyone...

New to the forum but have had my Vision 221 for about a year. I've run into an electrical problem that I cannot seem to figure out...

This spring the motor for my hatch cover stopped working. Although with that, the radio, horn, lights and bilge pump have also ceased. Everything else electrical works fine.

There a separate circuit breakers for each component and they have all been reset numerous times. The hatch cover motor works perfectly if I hot wire it.

I'm really stumped... I must be missing something, somewhere but don't know where else to look. Even by-passed the main engine compartment circuit breaker with no success.

There is obviously a commonality here.... A wire or circuit breaker I am missing. Just curious if anyone else has run across a similar situation or might have more knowledge of this electrical system that I. Looking for some advice...

Thanks to all in advance.

Phil

 

[Old Navy]

Maybe they share a common grounding wire that is bad or loose

 

[Wrenchmate]

I have a 92 convincor so don't know if their close to the same or not but I
have two red wires that hook to the battery along with the battery cables
that have fuses in the line with the old glass stile 30 amp fuses.
One runs the hatch for sure and the other the trim, plus if you keep those
connections cleaned up the hatch works a little faster.
Look for fusable links coming off the batteries.

 

[Jimway]

Welcome aboard. Like Wrenchmate said, you may have a loose ground. Hook up your test light to the positive side of the battery and make a check of the various grounds. Then hook to the negative side and chase power around to all of the various components. If you have good grounds, but several components that suddenly don't work, chances are you are looking at a non functioning overcurrent or short circuit protection device( fuse, fuseable link, circuit breaker) or just a plain bad or loose connection.

 

[nathan]

like Jimway and others have said most electrical issues come down to a ground, short or open circuit.

 

[DownNDirtyNeil]

hear are some general rules to troubleshooting wireing problems:
1 kiss kip it simple. all boats are just a few simple circuts don't over think them
2 use a good meter. duhhhh a test lite wont show voltage drop under load.
3 know how it should be wired. know don't assume theres just no replacement
4 follow the path of the power make sure your getting both voltage AND AMPRAGE.
oms law states impeadance, voltage, and amprage are all related its the law
5 grounds are just as important as power. know there good
6 do a voltage drop test in the power and ground side, it will show a loss in amperage
7 always test with a fully charged battery.
8 don't be afraid to seek a pros input. most of us that are good at it can usually find the problem inside an hours labor.

 

[Cushman]

I tend to lean toward a loose or faulty ground also. One other thing I would look for is if those circuit branches have a common harness connector which may have vibrated loose.

I have one of these which is very handy in chasing down those electrical problems.

http://www.powerprobe.com/pp2.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr6abi96KCE