10" Rayline searchlight repairs

My searchlight continued to not work properly so I finally broke down, ripped the thing off and disassembled the sucker.

Removing the light is fairly straight-forward. The only minor PITA part is that in addition to a 9-pin quick-connector for the control wires, there are two power wires to the light that do not use quick-connectors. They are attached to screw-terminals on the circuit board in the light base. The terminals are partially obscured and difficult to get onto with a screwdriver. Also, the two wires are fairly short so there is not a lot of movement available for the searchlight until those wires are disconnected. But it's why God made wirecutters!

I'll be adding a 2 wire quick connector for these wires.. It seems strange to have an OEM quick connector for all the wires except two.

I found three problems that are probably fairly common.

1 The 9-pin connector (which contains 8 wires) had one of the electrical pins corroded away.

2 The upper motor's gear set was totally locked-up due to corrosion. It could not turn. These are enclosed gearsets which are attached to the motor and are

3 The upper motor was also seized and would not turn.

All the gaskets, including the O-rings used to seal the wiring hole on the base and on the searchlight head, were shot, allowing moisture into the head and the base. Moisture in the base was the cause of the problems.

I purchased a new 9 pin connector which I will install this evening. I disassembled the gear set and finally managed to free/clean/lube everything.

I drowned the motor - which is maybe an inch in diameter and 1.25 inches long, and can't be disassembled, with Corrosion-X. A few minutes later it was spinning away!

The other motor and gear were working OK but based on the amount of corrosion I found in the non-working one, I decided to open its' gear set and clean/re-lube everything as well. I used lubriplate for the gearsets and a small drop of 10Wt oil where the motor shaft protrudes through the bronze motor bearings.

The searchlight's shafts and clutch assemblies were slathered with white grease. This doesn't look right to me since friction clutches in my experience, aren't normally lubricated. However, since I don't have the assembly instructions, I don't know for sure whether Rayline called for grease on the clutches or not. I called them but the expert on these old units, Dave, is not in today. I'll give him a call tomorrow.


I was surprised at how small the motors and the gearsets are but there is a rather large gear reduction so the actual torque required on the motors is very low. I was also diasppointed that the motors are crimped together and cannot be disassembled without destroying them.

I concluded that if you are having any difficulty with transversing or elevating the light, the problem could very likely be n the motor/gearsets. Lack of lubrication and possible corrosion will lock up either or both motors. It could, in the initial stages, cause the motor(s) to operate only at full speed where it would have sufficient power to overcome the added friction. It could also cause the motor to not work initially at all, and then, as you continue to switch it off/on, eventually overcome the friction.

Based on the amount of corrosion I found, I'd suggest this cleaning/lubing of the gearsets be done every couple of years at a minimum. You can't remove the motors/gearsets without disassembling the mechanical guts of the searchlight first.

There are set-screws on the gear that elevates the light, the shaft/fork holding the searchlight head to the base, and on the brass retainer on top of the base. Loosen the hex-head screw on the bottom clutch retainer before you unscrew the brass retainer on the top of the base. Once the screws are removed from the retainer on top, it can be unscrwed and the rest of the guts will fall out the bottom when you lift up the base.

Despite the fact that the motors are running ok at the moment, I couldn't clean them properly since they don't come apart. For that reason I'll ask Rayline Dave tomorrow if the little motors are still available. If so, and if the price isn't stupid, I'll put two new ones in.

Wow...this got a lot longer than I had intended. I may have to get some brevity lessons.

pls keep us posted on your outcomes. I have the same unit on a 53'MY that has the same problem. I am very interested on how you get it fixed. Mike <53'MY "Finally">

Talked to the Rayline rep - they cannot replace the motors, they are no longer available. They can rebuild them at an approximate price of $90 per motor.

He also confirmed my belief that the clutches should have absolutely no lubricant. In fact, he laughed pretty hard at that one, saying that commonly people do exactly that (slather grease all over everything), thinking it somehow adds corrosion protection. All it really does is screw up the mechanism.

I had already cleaned the clutches up with lacquer thinner so the Search light is ready to go back together and I will mount it this evening. On the test bench both motors are whirring away contentedly so there is no reason for me to send them in for a rebuild.

And working perfectly! I'm a happy guy. I added a power-wire quick connect to make installing/removing easier and replaced the corroded pins in the 9-pin connector. I thought I would have to replace and resolder all the wires/pins in the connector but only one pin in the male and female side were bad. So I only had to replace one pin instead of the whole thing. A little corrosion-X on everthing to clean it up and that was that.

The (now) dry clutches work very smoothly and positively and the external adjustment for the clutch tension now functions as it should since there is no grease on the clutches. There is no hesitation or sluggishness at all. There is no lubricant of any kind in the mechanism now except for the lubriplate inside the gear cases and a bit of oil on the motor bearings.

It's always a nice feeling to take mechanical things that aren't working and put them right. It's especially nice when the entire cost of repair is a few ounces of cleaner , a few drops of oil, a little lubriplate, one small electrical connector, and a pair of electrical pins.

Since it is exposed to rain/spray it is now on my "maintanance list" to disassemble/clean and lube the motors/gearsets every other year.

..with fixing something that well is that when you're done it's too nice to put back on the boat. Maybe keep it at home and get a hand-held for the boat?:D Just kidding..

When it was done - and the unit all reassembled and shined/polished up - I was thinking what a shame it was to put it back out into those horrible elements that exist outdoors! :rolleyes

Mike,

Another thing to feel good about is the 1300-1500 bucks you saved instead of sending it to Rayline like I did. BTW I still don't have mine back yet!!!!!!!!!

Dennis

Mike,

Does your "slow - fast" setting also work now? Mine has always worked perfectly, but only at one speed. As you say, maybe that's the "fast" speed so the motors can overcome the friction.

Doug

The slow/fast works fine now.

I think the main mechanical problem with these lights develops from the lubricant in the motors/gearboxes turning to glue over time. I suspect that although there may be some attention paid to the clutches, the motors and gearboxes are ignored.

The previous owner told me he had the clutches replaced several times and had constant problems with them. But the clutches are extremely simple and easily adjusted so I can't see how they can be an issue. There really isn't that much stress on them at all.

I suspect that whoever worked the light just kept lubing and re-lubing all the mechanical parts, including the portion of the clutches that is supposed to be dry. But there was no evidence at all the the motors/gearboxes had ever received any attention.

And yes, I'm very happy I was able to fix it for nearly nothing - mainly because I didn't charge myself labor! ;)

I couldn't afford me if I did. :lol

Damn ! You can't afford your self ! Then I probably couldn't afford you either and You got so good at it. I was going to send you mine to repair. Now I have to repair it myself. Well thanks Mike for the repair tips. Good job. I hate paying Myself. I always get a warranty though. But there is no one to complain to and the first mate never listens. Bill