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Post by footy3 on May 14, 2023 7:44:23 GMT -5
One of my underwater lights went bad, I guess it got a leak and 7 of the 10 lights in it were not working. Kind of aggravating because I keep the boat on a trailer whenever not in use, so it is only in the water when we are actually on it.
I ordered the new light and yesterday figured, i have a spare 30 minutes let me quick knock this off......
In removing the old light the housing came apart and the wire snapped of the circuit board, leaving me about 2 inches of wire. SO far can't tell if the used 4200 or 5200, but I cannot pull the wire through it at all. I was able to poke through the sealant a bit with a small nail, so I'm hoping it's 4200. Looking from the inside, it appears that the hole through the hull is at an angle starting right where the stringer attaches to the hull and goes at an angle under the stringer. My arms seem to be about 2 feet too short to reach anything useful, but honestly I didn't spend too much time.
I will dig into it next time i have a few hours, but for now I guess I am on the hard until I finish this. Wondering if anyone has replaced one of these and has any pro tips? Thanks...
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Post by DMBekus on May 14, 2023 9:26:07 GMT -5
The same thing happened on my 245DC. I was able to get a replacement light from SF. My memory is vague on this, because I forget which boat, car, machine I do what to. But I believe I had a similar problem with the wire breaking and not being able to pull and I ended up drilling right through the original hole at a better angle and intercepted the wire where I could reach it and reconnect
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Post by fishnfool on May 14, 2023 9:34:02 GMT -5
I haven't replaced the factory underwater lights but I have replaced one of my Lumitec lights that went bad.
Unfortunately whatever moron installed mine used 5200 so in removing the light some gelcoat came with it which I had to fix.
Best thing to do is clean it up and remove as much of the old sealant as possible so when you apply new sealant you get a good bond and seal. I'd recommend 4000 which is good foe below the waterline applications and it will be easier to remove when you have to replace the light next time.
Hard to tell what your situation is like without pics but I assume your new light has a length of wire attached to it, so fish it through thr hole and into the bilge and splice it in wherever the old light was tied in. You could tape the new wire to the old and use the old to pull the new wire through.
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Post by footy3 on May 14, 2023 11:46:11 GMT -5
I think I'm going to run through the existing hole with the wire and sealant with a drill bit to clean it all out, like Dave suggests, and try to use a fish tape to "push" the new wire through. There's no way I'll be able to pull the new taped to the old through the existing sealant, I cannot get the wire to move out through the sealant, so going in will be no better. I kind of figured that was going to be the only way, but always holding out hope someone has figured something better...
Thanks and still open to any suggestions.
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Post by captainwill on Apr 20, 2024 9:37:14 GMT -5
I have the same issue. Light went bad. Wiring snapped. No slack and no way to pull the wire out as it seems to be integrated with the stringer. Zero access from the bilge. Totally cut off. Any suggestions?
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Post by DMBekus on Apr 20, 2024 10:07:04 GMT -5
I drilled a new hole and pulled
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Post by captainwill on Apr 20, 2024 11:35:34 GMT -5
Was there extra slack you could pull?
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Post by footy3 on Apr 20, 2024 16:50:11 GMT -5
Was there extra slack you could pull? not a bit. I'm a bit embarrassed to say, this project seemed like such a PITA for something I completely don't need or use I still haven't touched it.
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Post by captainwill on Apr 21, 2024 12:01:16 GMT -5
DMBekus, was there any wire slack for you once you redrilled?
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Post by DMBekus on Apr 21, 2024 14:38:31 GMT -5
I ran new wire from new light to exsitng wire in bilge and connected, which left plenty of slack.
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Post by captainwill on Apr 21, 2024 16:51:59 GMT -5
Thanks, if you have any pictures of where the wire enters the bilge that would be helpful. I will see if I can snake a new wire.
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Post by captainwill on Apr 23, 2024 16:50:37 GMT -5
Update: just took a little elbow grease and working a steel fish tape to the 10:00 position. Then cleaning it out manually with a drill bit by hand or round long file. After that the wire could easily be feed up. Thanks for all the tips!
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