Couple items I find useful when troubleshooting electrical problems are alligator clip test leads. Clip one end to your multimeter probe and then the other end to a ground or positive. Will free up one hand and make things easier.
I made one that is about 20 feet long. I can clip it to the battery negative post and be assured I have a good ground for testing around much of a boat. Also lets me check continuity of long wire runs. Clip it to one end of the wire then touch probe to the other end even if it's at the other end of the boat. Dennis C. On Sun, Apr 30, 2017 at 11:59 AM, Kevin Paxton via CnC-List < cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > Hey Rich, thanks for those steps. I will definitely check the breaker > itself as you described. I did however try to connect it to the input side > of the breaker directly with nothing happening. So even if the breaker is > bad, it was out of the circuit. I definitely need to find out what voltage > I'm getting at the breaker panel though. > > I'll check it with the multimeter hopefully today if I have time. > > Kevin > > On Sun, Apr 30, 2017, 11:41 AM Rich Knowles via CnC-List < > cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > >> Hi Kevin. >> >> I suggest the following steps: >> >> 1. Use a decent digital voltmeter to test the circuit as follows. If you >> don’t have one, head off to the store with at least $25.00 in your hot >> little hands and buy one. It will be very useful. >> 2. Make sure the panel breaker feeding the fan is turned on. >> 3. Using the meter, check for battery voltage between the output >> connection on the breaker feeding the fan and ground. >> 4. If there is no voltage on the output of the breaker, check the input >> side of the breaker to make sure it is getting power. You should now know >> if the breaker is good or not. Replace if needed or move the fan wire to >> another known good breaker. >> 5. Check the connections on the wire feeding your fan. Are they crimped >> properly? If in doubt, redo them. >> 6. If you have determined that electricity is present at the feed end of >> the fan wire and the fan is still not working, measure across the >> connections at the fan both with the fan switch turned on and off. There >> should be voltage present. If not, or if the voltage drops drastically when >> the fan switch is turned on, check your connections and the wire you >> installed carefully. >> 7. You should have found the problem by the end of step 6. >> >> There may be some shaky connections in the fan itself that may have >> caused it to run at the battery and not when installed. Wiggle the wires….? >> >> Hope this helps. >> >> Rich. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Apr 30, 2017, at 11:55, Kevin Paxton via CnC-List < >> cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: >> >> I'm trying to install some cabin fans. (https://www.westmarine.com/ >> buy/caframo--sirocco-cabin-fans--P012_361_002_507). >> Amperage High: 0.31 Amps >> Medium: 0.24 Amps >> Low: 0.14 Amps >> >> I wired it all up yesterday to my breaker panel and when trying to turn >> it on, nothing happened. I then took it off the wall and connected it >> directly to the battery, and it worked just fine. I then tried to connect >> to directly to the feed line of the breaker panel and it didn't work. >> >> I'm not an electrical expert but I would think connecting it the way I >> did to the breaker panel would not have a large voltage drop. I was using >> 16awg from the breaker to the mounting location. I might be a little low on >> the gauge of wire for that length I admit. That was my first guess. But >> connecting to the panel line feed directly still didn't do anything and >> that baffled me. >> >> Any ideas on what could be going wrong? The batteries are new last year. >> My battery meter was saying approx 70% charge capacity when doing all of >> this. The cabin lights and other electronics were working while I was >> trying to do this too. >> >> I'm at a complete loss here. >> _______________________________________________ >> >> This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you >> wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: >> https://www.paypal.me/stumurray >> >> All Contributions are greatly appreciated! >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you >> wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: >> https://www.paypal.me/stumurray >> >> All Contributions are greatly appreciated! >> > > _______________________________________________ > > This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you > wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: > https://www.paypal.me/stumurray > > All Contributions are greatly appreciated! > >
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