Intermittent Nav light issue

kbmosk

For no known reason the Nav light breaker trips.. sometimes it takes reset and sometimes can't be done. Happens very infrequently, but troublesome. Cannot reproduce to start elimination testing. Is there anything else besides nav and mast lights connected to that breaker? I replaced the breaker but of course that wasn't the problem. I would appreciate any guidance or suggestions

jetfixer

You didn't say whether or not you have LED lights or incandescent. If LED, check for loose wiring at the fixtures. The stern light, even if it's an LED bulb, will still have the same base as an incandescent. Check for loose bulb, wiring, or moisture in the socket. If they're all incandescent, check to see if the bottoms of the bulbs have rounded solder contacts, or if they look like they are flattened. If they're flattened, replace them. Due to vibration, the bulbs will, over time, get loose in the sockets and will cause slight electrical arcing. This arcing will burn away a small amount of the solder that makes contact with the base. When even a small amount of solder is lost, so is good contact with the socket points. This causes even more arcing. Strong arcing will cause the bulb to pull excess current, tripping the circuit breaker. Sometimes the bulb will make contact and function, sometimes the arcing will trip the breaker. That can be why it happens intermittently. As for loose wire connections, both positive and ground, the same thing occurs; high current draw when you switch them on can trip the circuit breaker.