J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Wiring

Recently my steaming light failed, and after confirming that the unit is working up the mast, I need to find where the failure is in the system. At the control panel, the current is going into the wiring harness, but it is dead at the splice under the head area. The strange thing is that the color of the wires going into the harness at the control panel doesn't match the five pairs of red and black wires that emerge at the other end. I cannot find where there are splices within the harness; does anyone know where they might be? Wherever I have cut the wires, I can see corrosion on the copper strands, so a failure is not surprising. I can always run a new wire, but would prefer to stay with the factory harness if possible.

I noticed the same dark corrosion problem with the wires on my boat. The wires do appear to still work. But I suspect there is increased resistance and therefore higher power use.

I also noticed the difference in wire coloring. Turns out, if you uncover the wire harness from the control panel far enough, you will find that the colored wires end and labeled wires begin. Each wire will have a numbered tag on it. A corresponding tag will exist near the base of the mast. If you dont find this, you get the fun job of checking for continuity. Another source is the J30 website in the Articles of Interest section. There you'll find a set of wiring diagrams from a newer (later model) J30. The diagrams arent exactly correct for the older boats. But they are a help none the less.

Good Luck