[Rhodes22-list] steaming light fun .... mystery partially solved ... curiouser & curiouser

[Mike Cheung]

Lowered the mast, both bulbs in the masthead are fine.  They're wired
together at the bottom and there is power there.  I'm confused.  Gonna pull
the masthead light assembly and see if something has come loose there.  Mike



Mike Cheung wrote:
> 
> Aha .... pulled the cable end of the connector apart at the base of the
> mast and found that the two bulbs at the top of the mast share the same
> connection.  They are wired separately, but are stuffed into the same pin
> on the connector.  So, Muireann cannot show the forward masthead light
> separately from the aft masthead light.  May need to rewire that in the
> future.  The upshot is that it pretty much has be to a problem at the
> masthead for the forward light, either the bulb or a crappy connection. 
> Next step is to drop the mast and get to the masthead fixture for a look
> see.
> 
> Still planning on a Chesapeake run this Friday through next Wednesday. 
> The weather for the early part is not encouraging, but looks better from
> Monday on.  
> 
> Sketchy plans still: 
> 
> Friday, launch in or near the Magothy, overnight nearby; probably on the
> hook
> Saturday, Annapolis for the afternoon, dinner and overnight; probably on a
> mooring if we can get one
> Sunday through Tuesday .... cruise the Chesapeake roughly between Rock
> Hall (to the North) and the Choptank (to the South); we'd like to hit Rock
> Hall, St Michaels, and maybe Kent Narrows enroute between them, but the
> wind and weather will have a lot of say in when we end up where.
> Wednesday, back to our launch point, haul out, and head back to Ohio. 
> 
> Will firm things up a bit if I can after looking over the cruising guides
> piled on my work table and maybe connect with some of you Chesapeake
> Rhodies (Mary Lou and the Crab Alley Rhodie esp.) if things work out.
> 
> For the Chesapeake Rhodies ... a question or two .... It sure looks like
> in most places in the cruising range we're planning to use that we should
> be able to cross the Chesapeake in about an hour or two.  Is that pretty
> much your experience?  It also looks like St Michaels to Rock Hall (or
> vice versa) should be easily done in a day of sailing.  Is that
> reasonable?
> 
> We'll probably dry provision Muireann and plan to take dinners ashore most
> nights.  It's our first long cruise and I don't want it to be too much
> like camping for my Admiral.  I'm thinking that of the five nights we
> won't spend more than two on the hook, but since I'm not making marina
> reservations, that could be an underestimate.  
> 
> Muireann is sporting her new sails so she'll be a red hulled R22 with
> black Sunbrella on the sails.  She's got her hull number (113) on her
> genoa.  
> 
> Mike Cheung
> s/v Muireann
> 
>  
> 
> Mike Cheung wrote:
>> 
>> I'm troubleshooting a recalcitrant steaming/anchor light and am slightly
>> perplexed.  The forward masthead/anchor light, which is also the steaming
>> or running light, has not been lighting so far this season.  I finally
>> carried a multimeter up to Muireann and checked things out more
>> quantitatively.  As you know there are four pins on the mast wiring
>> harness for lights.  The one at 10 o'clock appears to be the ground.  The
>> next one clockwise at 2 o'clock or so appears to be the aft anchor light
>> and is working when the anchor light switch is on.  One would expect that
>> another pin would also be energized then for the front anchor light /
>> steaming light, but it is not.  Okay, maybe that's the problem because
>> the front light is not lit when running light is selected either.  But, a
>> check of continuity shows continuity only between the ground pin and the
>> aft anchor light pin.  This implies that both the foward anchor light /
>> steaming light bulb is out (hence not continuity) and that there is a
>> problem getting power to whatever pin it is connected to on the four pin
>> harness.  Since the probability of this is the product of the individual
>> failure probabilities, I'm suspicious.  Anything I"m missing here?
>> 
> 
> 

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