Fire hazard

Hello from France
Running a Grand Banks 36 for 19 years (time flies…), I nearly set her on fire after a short circuit on one light of the electrical breakers panels. After the fireworks, I disconnected the DC wires but I now rely on my Iphone light.
I wonder if any GB owner faced such a problem and where I can find (safer) replacement lights
Thanks for your help
Jean

Welcome aboard. How about a photo of the problem light.

Bonjour,
Bienvenu d'abord. ALL your circuits should be fused to prevent "fireworks". Peut etre...it is time to re-trace all your wiring and make sure it is ALL fuse protected. I've replaced some lighting with LED strips in our old fluorescent fixtures although this may not help your short circuit problem but they DO draw much less current.





The example above appears to be multi couloured but it is available in various whites, as well. Wire up and peel off the adhesive strip on the back.

Jean,

Bienvenue à TF. And congratulations on your 19 years with your GB. Obviously she's a keeper!

If I'm reading you correctly, this is some sort of lamp that illuminates the breaker panel so you can see the labels, etc. I added a photo below of this type of lamp near the helm of a 1991 GB 32. An arrow points to it. Maybe this is what you have?

I wonder, do you know if you had a short circuit, or if maybe the lamp or wires just heated up (resistance). That could start a fire or melt without even tripping a breaker.

At any rate, this seems like a great spot for an LED bulb. Much cooler temperature.

If you want to re-use the fixture (or maybe use a new fixture of the same style), I have found Marine Beam to be a great place to get LED replacement bulbs (to replace old incandescent bulbs). They are good quality plus they help you identify which bulb will work as a replacement.

If you need further help, they actually answer the phone and do not say "Dometic, we have taken over nearly every small company, can we generically help you?" Nope, you are likely to get Jeff on the line and he will be happy to talk intelligently about his products.

Here is a link directly to their replacement bulb page:

https://store.marinebeam.com/led-replacement-bulbs/

They also make entire fixtures, although I don't see one that matches the style I showed on the 1991 GB.

Other brands or solutions may work too of course.

You would not have "fireworks" if the supply to the light had a properly sized fuse or circuit breaker protecting the wiring.

Here is the faulty device

Very crude indeed, with no fuse as it appeared afterwards.
Jean

Hi Frosty
Yes it’s the same device except AC and DC panels are separate with a light on each. Meanwhile I posted a photo.
The problem is that the contact is (was…) made by the interruptor lever you can see below. The insulation rested on a sort of rubber sock which went away to age and the contact was made with the frame hence the short circuit.
Very reluctant to restore these f… lights and looking for a replacement. Unfortunately the GB yard is currently lockdowned by the malaysian govt thus no help available for the time being
Will keep on gold digging but would advise GB boater to check if fuses are present
Thanks for your assistance
Jean

Looks like you figured out exactly how it happened. Good sleuthing. So glad it wasn't worse! And as you say, this situation may be out there on a whole bunch of GB's (and other boats too of course).

I did a little bit of searching on "courtesy lights" to see if I could find one similar in style and function to yours. Here is one that popped up on Defender (US marine supplier website).

https://www.defender.com/product.js...ight&path=-1|65136|2312540|2312543&id=5531089

Or you could possibly retrofit yours with a new LED bulb and new wiring. So basically just using the shell of the old light for looks.

Here is a pic of the light shown above at Defender: