#@$% Searchlight &^%#$!!

After all my bragging about my perfectly repaired and working searchlight..I went down to the boat this afternoon, turned on the searchlight and...

Totally Dead!

No light, no motor movement. Nothin' but a very light "click" in each position of the joystick. Maybe the relay couldn't handle the stress of actually operating perfectly for several days or some other electrical gremlin - and it is definitely electrical - has reared its extremely ugly and VERY annoying head. The breaker is on and there is power at the relay in the searchlight but the relay is not kicking on. Ohmmeter reading shows the relay coil is fine and if I jump it, it will energize. Perhaps a problem in the light's circuit board because the relay is not getting power to energize.

So...off comes the light again, out come the circuit diagrams again, out comes the multimeter again, and out comes the rum (Mt. Gay). Actually, that's out of order. Out comes the rum now and the heck with the rest of that cr@p until this weekend!

Went to the boat first thing this morning - on my way to work. Turned on the searchlight - worked perfectly! Nothing harder to diagnose than intermittent stuff. Oh well, this weekend is devoted to engine de-winterizing so the searchlight will have to wait a while.

Gotta be the connections.
Try recrimping your butt connectors.