What's this do then?

See, we were sitting on the boat on Monday morning, yes Monday, when Kwackers and his mate wet Terry arrives looking fer a brew. As a passing thought I says to Kwackers 'any idea what this switch might do?' after the usual 'is it this, is it that are there wires to it' etc. etc. Kwackers says 'put a pic on the forum, somebody'll know'. 'Nah, it'll end up with the Major and Tom etc. taking the urine' says I. 'no it wont, somebody'll give yer a definite answer' says K.

Well, it looks like I was right up to yet, so can I direct my question to the more discerning forumites who operate outside of the North Wales area please? That way I may just get a sensible answer, arrumphh ( donno how yer spell that but the Majors always uses it to good effect)
 
Philiz said:
See, we were sitting on the boat on Monday morning, yes Monday, when Kwackers and his mate wet Terry arrives looking fer a brew. As a passing thought I says to Kwackers 'any idea what this switch might do?' after the usual 'is it this, is it that are there wires to it' etc. etc. Kwackers says 'put a pic on the forum, somebody'll know'. 'Nah, it'll end up with the Major and Tom etc. taking the urine' says I. 'no it wont, somebody'll give yer a definite answer' says K.

Well, it looks like I was right up to yet, so can I direct my question to the more discerning forumites who operate outside of the North Wales area please? That way I may just get a sensible answer, arrumphh ( donno how yer spell that but the Majors always uses it to good effect)
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Taking the urine indeed...........

It's actually called "getting your own back first" :p
 
If it has no effect on the navigation equipment i'm inclined to suspect that it is a pre-wired switch for something. It may be that the other navigation switch was designed to operate the compass and any other factory fitted navigation type electrics and the switch in question was fitted to be used by a plotter/radar etc and the original boat supplier or owner used the switch to the right for your plotter etc, leaving the one on the left doing nothing.

It may also be that the all of the navigation electrics are supposed to go to the switch on the right and the one on the left is for auto pilot, if fitted.

All the above is obviously just a guess. Do you not have a handbook with the boat ? Not the same boat, i know, but my Merry Fisher has a handbook with explanation of the switches and a wiring schematic, perhaps yours should have the same ? How about connecting an ammeter to the wiring on the back of the switch and seeing if it actually draws any current if you switch it on ?
 
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PaulGooch said:
my Merry Fisher has a handbook with explanation of the switches and a wiring schematic, perhaps yours should have the same ?
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Exactly my thought: afaik it's part of the CE-marking requirements. Though I'm not 100% sure it's mandatory.
 
Philiz said:
See, we were sitting on the boat on Monday morning, yes Monday, when Kwackers and his mate wet Terry arrives looking fer a brew. As a passing thought I says to Kwackers 'any idea what this switch might do?' after the usual 'is it this, is it that are there wires to it' etc. etc. Kwackers says 'put a pic on the forum, somebody'll know'. 'Nah, it'll end up with the Major and Tom etc. taking the urine' says I. 'no it wont, somebody'll give yer a definite answer' says K.

Well, it looks like I was right up to yet, so can I direct my question to the more discerning forumites who operate outside of the North Wales area please? That way I may just get a sensible answer, arrumphh ( donno how yer spell that but the Majors always uses it to good effect)
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Hurumph. I helpfully posted your pic so more people can see it, suggest you try Dickies and all I get is a torrent of abuse. You'll be lucky if your dawgs get their treats this weekend. (Please picture an arms crossed with miffed look smiley here)

PS. Want to help me clean the RIB tubes on Saturday? There may be a mug of tea in the offering.
 
PaulGooch said:
If it has no effect on the navigation equipment i'm inclined to suspect that it is a pre-wired switch for something. It may be that the other navigation switch was designed to operate the compass and any other factory fitted navigation type electrics and the switch in question was fitted to be used by a plotter/radar etc and the original boat supplier or owner used the switch to the right for your plotter etc, leaving the one on the lef doing nothing.

It may also be that the all of the navigation electrics are supposed to go to the switch on the right and the one on the left is for auto pilot, if fitted.

All the above is obviously just a guess. Do you not have a handbook with the boat ? Not the same boat, i know, but my Merry Fisher has a handbook with explanation of the switches and a wiring schematic, perhaps yours should have the same ? How about connecting an ammeter to the wiring on the back of the switch and seeing if it actually draws any current if you switch it on ?
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See, now that's the sort of sensible reply I'm looking for. It's occured to me it may be a spare for auto pilot etc. but I was hoping someone might have the same boat and would be able to give me a difinitive answer. My book just refers to the switch as 'Navigation' so very useful. Haven't seen a wiring diagram but things might have changed book wise as boat is 2000. Good idea re-ammeter, hadn't actually thought of that.
 
Well on mine if you connect a multimeter to the cables and switch on the switch the needle swings to +13v and when you switch the switch off it goes back to 0v.
Also the stuff I have connected to it works when I switch it on and doesn't when I switch it off.
Also if I hadn't insisted on not having the plotter mounted up there when Benny made it (default position) it would have switched it on I am told. The cable runs up the stbd windscreen pillar and just flops about behind those woden panels. On the subject of those, I would strongly advise that you epoxy putty some 3mm nuts behind there and use machine screws instead of the self tappers if you mount anything remotely heavy up there (don't ask how I came to this conclusion)


So, yes I know it for a fact (ish) on mine anyway.
 
Philiz said:
Thank you, can I just ask if you know that for a fact and where abouts the cable terminates? I'm thinking I might be able to use it for upstairs plotter.
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Further to my earlier guess and the information from David, that's just what the switch would have been intended for, overhead electronics and/or nav kit "upstairs".

With reference to post #3, is now a good time to PM you with my postal address for the coconut ? :)
 
David2452 said:
Well on mine if you connect a multimeter to the cables and switch on the switch the needle swings to +13v and when you switch the switch off it goes back to 0v.
Also the stuff I have connected to it works when I switch it on and doesn't when I switch it off.
Also if I hadn't insisted on not having the plotter mounted up there when Benny made it (default position) it would have switched it on I am told. The cable runs up the stbd windscreen pillar and just flops about behind those woden panels. On the subject of those, I would strongly advise that you epoxy putty some 3mm nuts behind there and use machine screws instead of the self tappers if you mount anything remotely heavy up there (don't ask how I came to this conclusion)


So, yes I know it for a fact (ish) on mine anyway.
Click to expand...

Great, thanks very much for that. My main plotter is mounted in the fascia, not in the overhead wooden panels, heaviest thing in there is the VHF which has stayed put so far! I'm thinking if I pick the wire up behind the panels, I might be able to run it to the plotter and VHF I'm putting up on the flybridge.
Do you like coconuts?
 
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