NASA Supernova Combi Masthead LED Nav Light - Still Gnawing at the same bone !

[STATUE]

Alright, so some of you will have had enough of this, but good guidance should never be exhausted.

This light still will not work.

I have attempted continuity tests from the bottom of the mast, but trying this with LEDs at the top seem to be of questionable sense.

So I have bypassed the DPDT switch and took a 12V DC battery up to the bottom of the mast and connected the Neg & Pos leads coming down from the mast directly to the battery - NOTHING !?

Would this test not work because by bypassing the DPDT switch, I have also missed out the Neg bus, which I presume gives a GROUND in the circuit?

Help ! Please.

 

[pvb]

It's either a broken connection somewhere in the cable to the light, or a broken light. As it's a Nasa product, I'd suspect the latter.

 

[rogerthebodger]

It's either a broken connection somewhere in the cable to the light, or a broken light. As it's a Nasa product, I'd suspect the latter.

That's why I gave up on my NASA Nav lights after repairing on 3 times and sending it back to NASA for then to tell me why it kept blowing the LED's themselves. NASA could not answer my question just wanted my to pay for repair and modification.

 

[VicS]

Alright, so some of you will have had enough of this, but good guidance should never be exhausted.

This light still will not work.

I have attempted continuity tests from the bottom of the mast, but trying this with LEDs at the top seem to be of questionable sense.

So I have bypassed the DPDT switch and took a 12V DC battery up to the bottom of the mast and connected the Neg & Pos leads coming down from the mast directly to the battery - NOTHING !?

Would this test not work because by bypassing the DPDT switch, I have also missed out the Neg bus, which I presume gives a GROUND in the circuit?

Help ! Please.

If you connect the leads at the base of the mast directly to a 12 volt battery. Either the tri-colour or the all-round white should light . If you reverse the connections ( ie swap pos and neg) then the other one should work.

There is no "ground" involved just 12 volts onto the two leads. The electronic jiggery pokery in the asembly will light the tri or the ARW depending on the polarity of the connection


If you get neither to work I think I would suspect the wiring ... maybe.
If one works but the other does not then the wiring is good but the non working one is almost certainly duff. Still not a lot of help though if one works and one does not !

 

[Kwik Decision]

So I have bypassed the DPDT switch and took a 12V DC battery up to the bottom of the mast and connected the Neg & Pos leads coming down from the mast directly to the battery - NOTHING !?

Would this test not work because by bypassing the DPDT switch, I have also missed out the Neg bus, which I presume gives a GROUND in the circuit?

Help ! Please.

You do not need a separate "ground" in the circuit, connecting the cables directly to the battery terminals would have got either the tricolour or anchor light to operate, if everything was working properly. Reversing the cables on the battery would get the other light operating. As others have said, either the cable up the mast, or the light itself may be at fault, or a third option is a problem with the cable join at the top of the mast (these lights are supplied with about 12" of cable, thus there has to be a join up there). Unfortunately you are looking at a trip up the mast to resolve this.

Edit: I'm a slower typist than Vic!

 

[STATUE]

You do not need a separate "ground" in the circuit, connecting the cables directly to the battery terminals would have got either the tricolour or anchor light to operate, if everything was working properly. Reversing the cables on the battery would get the other light operating. As others have said, either the cable up the mast, or the light itself may be at fault, or a third option is a problem with the cable join at the top of the mast (these lights are supplied with about 12" of cable, thus there has to be a join up there). Unfortunately you are looking at a trip up the mast to resolve this.

Edit: I'm a slower typist than Vic!

Thanks everyone, I know you experts are out there and thank heavens for that.

By the way, NASA have come back to me very swiftly to say even if the LEDs are okay the circuit would still be an OPEN one, so a continuity test would not work.

Thanks