Moved the Lights, Now What

pajoube · Nov 21, 2003

Moved the two lights on my 425 from the factory location to the underside of the canopy. I drilled holes into the ROPS pipes and ran the wires up to the lights, which I mounted, directly to the canopy.
Tested the first light after wiring and it seemed to be ok but when I wired the second light I got nothing. Do you think it is not getting a good ground?
Getting no electrical at all now. Probably tipped the fuse.
PJ

Charlie_Iliff · Nov 22, 2003

Paul:
I have done a fair amount of trouble shooting of lights on trailers, and the ground is almost always the problem. On the PT, I have put ground studs both on the front section and the back, and have run ground wires from the battery negative. A wire from the ground lug to the tilt seat cured an intermittent fault, and I will run a separate ground wire to any added light. Chassis ground isn't bad, but I've never seen a separate ground wire fail.

pajoube · Nov 22, 2003

Charlie,
As the lights are now on the ROPS canopy, you would run a seperate ground wire down to the negative battery? Or would a seperate ground wire to a stud located up on the canopy work? I assume the canopy which is bolted to the frame makes enough contact to ground.
Thanks Charlie
PJ

Charlie_Iliff · Nov 22, 2003

Paul:
I've set mine up so I can run a ground wire from the light up on the canopy down to the ground lug in the center tunnel between my feet. That lug has a wire back to a similar lug in the back section, which is connected to the negative pole of the battery. That way I can ground anything to the frame, but run a redundant ground which connects to the battery by wires. (On a trailer, I do the same thing, with separate ground wires from the connector to the lights, supplementing the ground to the frame through the mounting bolts. Most harnesses only have one wire to the light, which I supplement with a ground wire.)
On my PT, I don't think there was originally any ground wire connecting the front and back frame sections. The ground path, therefore, was through the two greased joints, the turning cylinders, and perhaps such things as the throttle cable. I may have missed a ground wire that runs to the back of the instrument panel, but I don't know of one. I had a tilt seat malfunction after greasing the center joint, which was cured when I added the ground wires. Maybe that was coincidence. but it reinforced my belief in a separate ground wire whenever I have a chance to install one.

pajoube · Nov 22, 2003

As you can tell, I do not have much experience with lights and grounding.
Couple more questions:
- did you run your ground wire inside the ROPS pipe?
or tape it to the outside?
- I assume each light will need its own grounding wire.
or can you tie them together?
Thanks Again Charlie,
PJ

MossRoad · Nov 22, 2003

Paul,
Here's what I did....
Run one hot wire up to the canopy and split it like a Y. Then run each end of the Y to the + terminal on each lamp. Then, before you bolt the lamp down to the canopy, make sure there is good metal to metal contact between the post and the canopy by using a star washer that will cut through the paint of the canopy. If there is paint insulating the post from the canopy, there will be no ground for the lamp, as the - terminal inside the lamp housing is attached to the post. Hope this helps. Also, invest in a cheap multi-meter. It helps when trying to find these intermittent problems. $10.00 at radio shack or your auto parts store.

pajoube · Nov 22, 2003

Thanks MossRoad,
I never gave it a thought about removing the paint between the contacts. That is the first thing I will try.
Never fails, moved the lights on Friday evening and then it snowed 6 inches and me with a machine that won't start. Saturday morning I bought new fuses and it fired right up but will blow the fuse if I turn on the lights. Next step is to be sure the ground is correct.
PJ

MossRoad · Nov 22, 2003

If the fuse blows when you turn on the lights, you may have nicked a wire pulling it through the drilled holes. The bare hot wire might be touching a metal burr somewhere. That's where I'd start looking. If you had an OHM meter, or even a simply continuity meter, you could disconnect both ends of the hot wire, then put the meter between either end of the wire and ground. If it shows a connection to ground, the wire is definately nicked. Worse comes to worse, move the lights back to their original spot and see if they work there, then wire the thing for the lights up high. Check the new wiring with a meter, then move the lights.

pajoube · Nov 22, 2003

Reading your post made me think of the problems and work involved getting those holes lined up and drilled, at least that part is done if I have to run new wire. Waiting for a day that is warmer to tackle the short or grounding (-5 right now).
Thanks to you and Charlie I have some good ideas.
PJ

MossRoad · Nov 22, 2003

-5! WOW. It's 58 here in Northern Indiana at 11:00pm. We've had a really mild spell. Supposed be in 60's tomorrow then start getting colder Sunday evening, but only near freezing one day, then back up to high 30's again. Very mild November.