12 volt system "lights"

Hi, I'm the proud owner of a cal pt 27 in washington. I have a question about the cabin lights running on a 12v system. Every time i turn my cabin lights on it only lasts for a few minutes then i burn a fuse? To any one that knows or has delt with this problem before, I need the advice.

What size fuse? On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 9:45 PM, ryanclark122 <ry… [at] yahoo.com>wrote: > > > Hi, I'm the proud owner of a cal pt 27 in washington. I have a question > about the cabin lights running on a 12v system. Every time i turn my cabin > lights on it only lasts for a few minutes then i burn a fuse? To any one > that knows or has delt with this problem before, I need the advice. > > >

--- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, "ryanclark122" <ryanclark122@...> wrote: > > Hi, I'm the proud owner of a cal pt 27 in washington. I have a question about the cabin lights running on a 12v system. Every time i turn my cabin lights on it only lasts for a few minutes then i burn a fuse? To any one that knows or has delt with this problem before, I need the advice. > its a 3 amp fuse, not sure if thats the right size thats just what was there

Ryan, I won't bother with accepted symbols, just words.... Assume you have lights that are rated for 120 watts. Current is measured in amps. Watts = Current * Voltage 120 = Current * 12 120/12 = Current 10 = Current With a 3 amp fuse, the maximum amount of watts you can use without blowing the fuse would be about 35 watts. How many total watts does your cabin lights require? I'm guessing someone installed the 3 amp fuse because they couldn't read/see or that was the only thing available at the time. --Michael-- From: ryanclark122 <ry… [at] yahoo.com> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Tue, January 18, 2011 2:25:01 PM Subject: [Cal_Boats] Re: 12 volt system "lights" --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, "ryanclark122" <ryanclark122@...> wrote: > > Hi, I'm the proud owner of a cal pt 27 in washington. I have a question about >the cabin lights running on a 12v system. Every time i turn my cabin lights on >it only lasts for a few minutes then i burn a fuse? To any one that knows or has > >delt with this problem before, I need the advice. > its a 3 amp fuse, not sure if thats the right size thats just what was there

Also the question of whether the fuses are slo-blows. It sounds like they are and may be under-amped. Do you have an ammeter indication of current drain when you flip on the switch? Cheers Charlie From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ryanclark122 Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 2:25 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] Re: 12 volt system "lights" --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, "ryanclark122" <ryanclark122@...> wrote: > > Hi, I'm the proud owner of a cal pt 27 in washington. I have a question about the cabin lights running on a 12v system. Every time i turn my cabin lights on it only lasts for a few minutes then i burn a fuse? To any one that knows or has delt with this problem before, I need the advice. > its a 3 amp fuse, not sure if thats the right size thats just what was there ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links

thanks, im learning something new every day! im not sure what watt those lights are. With that formula i can figure it out, thank you for the info and your time. --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, Michael D <mddfl@...> wrote: > > Ryan, > > I won't bother with accepted symbols, just words.... Assume you have lights > that are rated for 120 watts. Current is measured in amps. > > Watts = Current * Voltage > > 120 = Current * 12 > > 120/12 = Current > > 10 = Current > > With a 3 amp fuse, the maximum amount of watts you can use without blowing the > fuse would be about 35 watts. How many total watts does your cabin lights > require? I'm guessing someone installed the 3 amp fuse because they couldn't > read/see or that was the only thing available at the time. > > --Michael-- > > ________________________________ > From: ryanclark122 <ryanclark122@...> > To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > Sent: Tue, January 18, 2011 2:25:01 PM > Subject: [Cal_Boats] Re: 12 volt system "lights" > > > > > --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, "ryanclark122" <ryanclark122@> wrote: > > > > Hi, I'm the proud owner of a cal pt 27 in washington. I have a question about > >the cabin lights running on a 12v system. Every time i turn my cabin lights on > >it only lasts for a few minutes then i burn a fuse? To any one that knows or has > > > >delt with this problem before, I need the advice. > > > its a 3 amp fuse, not sure if thats the right size thats just what was there >

yeah i think they are it happens slowly, Im leaning towards them being under amped now. Ill try some different fuses and see if that fixes the problem. thanks for the advice --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, "Husar, Charlie [USA]" <husar_charlie@...> wrote: > > Also the question of whether the fuses are slo-blows. It sounds like they are and may be under-amped. Do you have an ammeter indication of current drain when you flip on the switch? > > Cheers > Charlie > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ryanclark122 > Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 2:25 PM > To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > Subject: [Cal_Boats] Re: 12 volt system "lights" > > > > --- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, "ryanclark122" <ryanclark122@> wrote: > > > > Hi, I'm the proud owner of a cal pt 27 in washington. I have a question about the cabin lights running on a 12v system. Every time i turn my cabin lights on it only lasts for a few minutes then i burn a fuse? To any one that knows or has delt with this problem before, I need the advice. > > > its a 3 amp fuse, not sure if thats the right size thats just what was there > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links >

Each bulb is probably an amp. My guess is you should fuse for the wire gauge which may be much higher. Or you could just put in a 5amp fuse. Allen On Jan 18, 2011 11:25 AM, "ryanclark122" <ry… [at] yahoo.com> wrote:

Or, as long as your at it you could start putting in led replaacement bulbs. Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless From: Allen Edwards <al… [at] PaloAltoPhoto.com> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Tue, Jan 18, 2011 20:34:21 GMT+00:00 Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Re: 12 volt system "lights" Each bulb is probably an amp. My guess is you should fuse for the wire gauge which may be much higher. Or you could just put in a 5amp fuse. Allen On Jan 18, 2011 11:25 AM, "ryanclark122" <ry… [at] yahoo.com> wrote:

On 1/18/2011 4:44 PM, d_… [at] yahoo.com wrote: > Or, as long as your at it you could start putting in led replaacement > bulbs. Great idea. That solves two problems--fuse blowing and battery life. But before doing that, maybe it would be a good idea to remove all but one bulb from the circuit, using the original fuse. See if it blows. If not, add another bulb. Still OK? Then it's probably a simple over load from too much wattage (too much current). If it blows on one bulb or two, then it's not the bulbs causing the overload, but some sort of not-quite-short circuit--some high resistance short. Chris Campbell > //

If you have more than two bulbs then your fuse is too small. Those standard 12 volt bulbs are 1 amp each. The fuse blows at 3 amps so 3 bulbs should blow it although it might take some time to blow. I don't know your wire size but my cabin lamp fuse is 15 amps. My wire is #10. Allen On Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 1:58 PM, Chris <cc… [at] lsnm.org> wrote: > > > On 1/18/2011 4:44 PM, d_… [at] yahoo.com wrote: > > > Or, as long as your at it you could start putting in led replaacement > bulbs. > > > Great idea. That solves two problems--fuse blowing and battery life. > > But before doing that, maybe it would be a good idea to remove all but one > bulb from the circuit, using the original fuse. See if it blows. If not, > add another bulb. Still OK? Then it's probably a simple over load from too > much wattage (too much current). If it blows on one bulb or two, then it's > not the bulbs causing the overload, but some sort of not-quite-short > circuit--some high resistance short. > > Chris Campbell > > ** > > > >

My cabin lights are on a 15 amp circuit breaker and I have 5 on each circuit plus one or two small fans as well. Wires are 14 gauge except the fans that are 12 gauge. Rarely are they all on at once, but it has occurred on either circuit at one time or another without any problem at all. Should you increase the fuse amperage and still have problems, than you probably have a worn wire somewhere that is shorting the circuit, but your first course of action is a larger fuse or circuit breaker. Don Dutton, 1986 Cal 33-2, "Quantum Evolution" "Twenty Years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ........Mark Twain From: Allen Edwards <al… [at] PaloAltoPhoto.com> To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Tue, January 18, 2011 4:52:26 PM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Re: 12 volt system "lights" If you have more than two bulbs then your fuse is too small. Those standard 12 volt bulbs are 1 amp each. The fuse blows at 3 amps so 3 bulbs should blow it although it might take some time to blow. I don't know your wire size but my cabin lamp fuse is 15 amps. My wire is #10. Allen On Tue, Jan 18, 2011 at 1:58 PM, Chris <cc… [at] lsnm.org> wrote: >On 1/18/2011 4:44 PM, d_… [at] yahoo.com wrote: > >>Or, as long as your at it you could start putting in led >>replaacement bulbs. >> Great idea. That solves two problems--fuse blowing and battery life. > >But before doing that, maybe it would be a good idea to remove all but one >bulb from the circuit, using the original fuse. See if it blows. If not, >add another bulb. Still OK? Then it's probably a simple over load from too >much wattage (too much current). If it blows on one bulb or two, then it's >not the bulbs causing the overload, but some sort of not-quite-short >circuit--some high resistance short. > > >Chris Campbell > > >>