If you plan to add additional deck lights to your boat, you'll need to turn them off when you get underway. If you don't need more deck lighting, but you want to be able to turn off your boat's navigational lights during times when they're neither required nor needed, you need a switch other than your general light switch. The easiest solution to the need for more switches to handle your special lighting needs is a toggle switch for each, installed on your boat's dash.
Items you will need
Drill
Toggle switch
Red electrical wire
Green electrical wire
In-line fuse holder and fuse
Liquid vinyl electrical sealant
Drill a hole in your dash to mount the toggle switch. Pay attention to what's behind the location where you are drilling so that you don't cause "collateral damage" to other controls.
Remove the mounting ring from the threaded collar of the toggle switch by turning it counterclockwise to unscrew it. Push the toggle switch up through the hole you drilled in the dash. Screw the mounting ring back on to the threaded collar.
Connect the red wire that will be attached to the power supply to the longer prong on the toggle switch. Connect the common grounding bus and the shorter prong on the toggle switch with green wire.
Attach one wire of the in-line fuse holder to the middle post of the toggle switch.
Connect the wire from the lights to the remaining wire of the in-line fuse holder.
Attach the power supply wire to the circuit breaker panel of your boat.
Open the in-line fuse holder and insert a fuse of the correct size. Close the in-line fuse holder.
Warnings
- This project involves working with electrical systems. Appropriate caution is advised.
Tips
- Before inserting the fuse in the fuse holder, coat the connections to the toggle switch and the connection between the in-line fuse holder and the wire from the lights with a liquid vinyl electrical sealant.
References
- This Old Boat; Don Casey; McGraw-Hill Professional, 1991; p. 282 ff
Tips
- Before inserting the fuse in the fuse holder, coat the connections to the toggle switch and the connection between the in-line fuse holder and the wire from the lights with a liquid vinyl electrical sealant.
Warnings
- This project involves working with electrical systems. Appropriate caution is advised.
Writer Bio
Will Charpentier is a writer who specializes in boating and maritime subjects. A retired ship captain, Charpentier holds a doctorate in applied ocean science and engineering. He is also a certified marine technician and the author of a popular text on writing local history.
