SWITCH PANEL LIGHTS
Submitted by Flat Chat on Mon, 2008-11-24 15:15
Q. and assistance please regarding BEP backlight 6 switch panel.
Does anybody else experience some of the switches LED lights staying on for a few moments only gradually dying rather than off straight away? Getting differing opinions on this being "normal" and "ok" to " nah somethings wrong!"
AND WHY would this be happening? Only 2 do it!
hlokk
Posts: 4290
Date Joined: 04/04/08
Are the lights supposed to
Are the lights supposed to go off quickly, or stay on? The two switches could be running different loads to the other switches (e.g. capacitive load, or the voltage regulators are overloaded and drop power, or draw too much power to light the led as well)
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Always interested in someone to go fishing with
Flat Chat
Posts: 17
Date Joined: 22/11/08
I would have thought they
I would have thought they would go off immediatley when the switch gets flicked to off? The other switches light all go out straight away so I cant work out why these arent!
I am definitley not electrically minded.. but wanna know if this is something that other ppl have experienced or there maybe something to be looked at!
The switch panel I am talking about is BEP brand. It is backlight when the nav lights are on the panels glow( like a dash in the car when headlights get turned on) The backlighting is fine. Then there are individual LED's for each of the 6 switches indicating the swith is ON. These are the lights that dont turn off straight away..they dim till they go out sorta like power is draining away from them instead of being cut like I woulda thought a switch should...
Thanx in advance for any replies..hubby thinks I am a nutter but it irritates me thinking something MAY be not quite right!
Donna
mt-ed
Posts: 39
Date Joined: 05/08/08
Nothing up with them
Nothing up with them matey,
A lot of LEDS do the same thing when you turn them off.
I can't explain it to you as I know Feck All about electrics but I do have a lot of things with LEDS on and most of them do power down when they are turned off.
Think it might have something to do with the capacitors on the circuit board, just had a thought, the TV does it when you turn that off and there is nothing wrong with that.
Keith
The
West
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Turtle
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mt-ed
Posts: 39
Date Joined: 05/08/08
Oooops that should be
Oooops that should be Mateyess
Keith
The
West
Australian
Turtle
Society
hlokk
Posts: 4290
Date Joined: 04/04/08
What exactly connects to
What exactly connects to each switch? Are the nav lights switches the switches that dim out? Do the nav lights go off fairly instantly (as fast as any incandescent bulbs go off)?
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Always interested in someone to go fishing with
Flat Chat
Posts: 17
Date Joined: 22/11/08
The photo shows the switch
The photo shows the switch panels I am referring to.
Only 2 of the switches on the bottom panel have the issue with the red led dimming to out slowly (can count to about 4 or 5)rather than immediatley off. The switches concerned are power to the GPS and the SOUNDER.
Turn batteries off..LEDs go off instantly.
Turn panel switches off - the GPS and Sounder off straight away...
The PLOTTER used to be switched through the panel also but now runs direct power as we are having an issue of it turning off each time the motors are restarted.but not coming back on....we thought maybe that would stop that but it hasnt... the GPS, Sounder and Plotter all turn off when we restart engine to move spots only the Plotter doesnt turn itself back on again!
Originally I thought (remember I aint electrically technically advanced!) that maybe the LEDs were dimming rather than off straight away because power from the units "drained" out to them if such thing could happen BUT nah that doesnt seem right -cause if i go down and turn the battery switch to off the lights go out straight away like I thought they should!!!!! ????
Maybe someone can explain to me whats happening? Have been googling the net for a while seeing if anyone has experienced similar sto no luck... I cant work it out ...dont think its major....just bugs me there MAY be something that needs to be sussed out!
Thanx for replies
DONNA -ess!!
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
Batterie/s
If your equipment is switching off when you start the motor it's simply because the voltage is dropping too low for them to stay on when the motor turns over,do you have a second battery if so make sure you electrics are connected to that one only. if you have two and one is low and you start on both the low one will draw power from the good one having your electrics connected to just one ensures you keep at least one charged for starting you just have to remember to throw the battery switch occasionaly to recharge your electrics battery
To all the virgins..............Thanks for nothing!
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Ahh my boat is single
Ahh my boat is single battery and the sounder throws up some horrid warnings when I kick the motor. Its pretty scary seeing a battery warning for 9v when you're drifting out to sea at a couple of knots mwahaha.
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
Solar charger
I'm actualy considering a solar charger for my second (electronics) battery as I forget to flick the switch sometimes and it goes flat meaning I have to flick the switch and charge it rather than the main (most important) starting battery
To all the virgins..............Thanks for nothing!
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Solar charger sounds
Solar charger sounds interesting, but how about a charger circuit? That way they batteries get exactly what they need and you do nothing!
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
Charging circuit?
the solar charger would just be connected to the second battery and not the main one the engine charges that then I can switch over to both or the second to start if the main gets low. having said that there are modules for charging both and would change over as neccesary automatically (I think)
To all the virgins..............Thanks for nothing!
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Thats the sort of thing I'm
Thats the sort of thing I'm thinking about, it charges each battery as they need it.
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
I don't think its an issue,
I don't think its an issue, its probably just a capcitor in the line keeping them topped up till its drained.
Flat Chat
Posts: 17
Date Joined: 22/11/08
Thanks till. Makes me sound
Thanks till. Makes me sound like a goose! BUT why doesnt the capacitator thingy-majigys keep top them up to glow a bit when the battery switch is turned to off? Would have thought a power switch is a power switch?
See told ya I am not electrically technically advanced!
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
A cap stores a little
A cap stores a little charge, you flicked the off switch on the battery, but it hasn't drained the cap.
Imagine a battery as a water tank on the hill, when you open the tap you get "current". Now imagine a little tank halfway down the hill, being topped up by the first tank. If you turn off the tap at the top, the tank halfway down the hill still has to empty itself, even though its no longer being filled. That is why you still get a bit of light after you flick the switch.
hlokk
Posts: 4290
Date Joined: 04/04/08
I'm going to guess two
I'm going to guess two options:
1. The sounder/gps have soft starts/offs
2. Power regulator capacitors are driving the led even after the device is off. This would seem counter intuitive as you would expect the battery switch not to have an effect. However, thinking about it futher, it could be that the battery switch disconnects all the switches, effectively shorting one side of the switch/led. I.e. the battery switch would be a master switch. It wouldnt necessarily have to do with the battery itself though.
In laymans terms: If the battery switch cuts off the circuit before the capacitor line rejoins it then it wont light up because the switch (and led) will be a 'dead end'.
Bit of speculation without knowing how its wired up though. A multimeter would tell you though :p.
I wouldnt worry about the switch, but I have no idea on the electronics (depends how they designed it).
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Always interested in someone to go fishing with
feral1975
Posts: 638
Date Joined: 22/02/07
You will find each positive
You will find each positive side of the switch board has a capacitor which soft starts / ends eachside , therefore smoother power and no spikes as modern electronic's and outboard motor spikes disagree with each other . It should be common practise to turn off your sounder , gps ect before you start your motors as the spikes that can occur shorten the lives of this equipment , its a pain if you are drifting as you have to wait for your gps to acquire satellites but it will save you in the end , cheers feral
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